ENCOUNTERS WITH OSAKA

Having spent over a week exploring the natural beauty of Northern Japan we now find ourselves in the middle of a large, urban, bustling city of 6 million people. We are taken by our guide extraordinaire Sawako to her and Nao's 29th floor condo with panoramic views of the city including the mountains and the rebuilt Osaka Palace. What a sight both day and night high up in the sky! This is living at its finest.

Our first day is supposed to be a relaxing day but who wants to sit around when there is so much to see and experience. So off Clara, Sawako and I went and our first stop after a stroll through the narrow streets of the city was the Osaka History Museum, the finest, most complete and imaginatively displayed collection of dioramas and artifacts I have ever seen, bar none. It only deals with the history of Osaka which is quite separate from say Toyko or other areas of Japan. You start at the top (10th floor) and work down for four floors, beginning with the archeological remnants from the stone age and endings with the modern era at about 1930. You can easily spend a few days and gain a very complete understanding of this area's people and history.

Two fun and unexpected aspects of our visit. First, as we walked in, they handed us a 12-inch wand that contained an audiotour in perfect English in which you punch in a number from 1 to 52 to hear the narrator explain the exhibit in front of you. The second was stunning: as a very high-tech animated film describing the archaeological digs, city plans and findings made at Osaka Castle and other nearby ruins was being projected on the entire upper wall of the exhibit space, suddenly shades covering the lower half of the wall rise up, exposing massive windows that actually look down on the site today, with Osaka Castle as the centerpiece of the panoramic view. Should you ever find yourself in Osaka and love history, plan to spend a day or two going through this spectacular museum. I am so glad that I only had to learn 200 years of American history (not the easiest subject for me) and was not born here and had to learn over 1500 years of a very complicated history with Shoguns, Emperors from many eras, etc.

We then walked a few blocks to walk the grounds of Osaka Castle's walled fortress, built by the shogun Toyotomi, who was the first shogun to come from the peasantry instead of one of the powerful families. It was built, burnt down, was rebuilt, then destroyed, and now lives on in a perfect replica of the original. It is an imposing multi-storied structure complete with a very large moat.

While there we had one of the cutest experiences so far. As we walked the park, which was filled with tourists and school groups, we saw some young school girls run up to an obviously Western couple. I commented that it looked like they had some sort of an assignment and was sorry they did not run to us. We had not travelled more than 50 ft. when a different group of young girls ran up to us and with little pieces of paper in their hands started by saying "Hello!" with great enthusiasm and then asked if they could ask us some questions in English. They were terminally cute and we loved the little quiz: "What country are you from?" "Do you like Japan?" "What do you like most about Japan?" "How long will you be here?" We had another similar encounter in Kamakura from an elderly gentleman riding a bicycle who stopped to ask if he could practice his English with us. He only kept us for a few minutes and then handed us a letter in English telling us a little about himself and his family, and asking us to write to him when we returned home as his greatest wish was to receive a letter from the United States. (It's interesting that whenever a Japanese person has asked where we are from, if we answer the United States there is little reaction but then if we say America there is great excitement and this has happened on numerous occasions. People here seem to like us! We also found it interesting that little girls seemed much more outgoing and friendly but the boys of the same age never approached us or said hello.)

That evening we went to see the house and future surgery/medical education center that Nao and Sawako are building in the outskirts of Osaka. It overlooks the moat of another Emperor's tomb and even by American standards it is quite palatial; by Japanese standards it is off the scale. My words will not do it justice -- suffice it to say that the design, construction and materials are of top quality and their home will be even more stunning once Sawako has completed the design of the garden surrounding the building. It is open and airy with all the comforts of a beautiful home. It even has two dining rooms -- a modern area off the open kitchen next to the living room, and an enclosed tatami room in the traditional Japanese design for entertaining honored guests. There is a separate wing for visitors like us and I think there are at least 3 1/2 bathrooms including the wonderful large bath tub for long relaxing soaks. On the first floor will be the clinic complete with operating rooms and staff space for Nao's ophthalmology practice. Maybe I will have my next eye surgery here!

And then came the coup de grace, Nao took us to his favorite Sushi restaurant near his current practice. I do not remember when I have had a more delectable meal from start to finish. I did skip most of the raw sushi but Clara, Nao and Sawako had the works. And even though I skipped one course I did not feel I missed anything. We started with a beer and some edamame. We then had a dish called Denaku, made with seitan and absolutely delicious. This was followed by a soup called Dobin mushi which had among other things mushrooms (costing 7000 yen each), ginkgo nut, lily bulb and fish. I have got to find Ginkgo nuts, which taste a little like potato but sweeter -- they are delicious and my IQ was raised considerably. This was followed by Puffer fish (yes, the very one that if not prepared correctly by a licensed sushi chef will take not just your money but your life). Fortunately our chef and owner was certified so we all lived to talk about it! As we were eating all of these dishes we had two different types of sake, the rice wine that is drunk most often in Japan, along with shouchu, a potato-based liquor. Very tasty! The three carnivores were served sushi consisting of red snapper, flounder, squid and fatty tuna (tuna cheeks that were no longer smiling). I was given a heart-healthy natto (fermented soy beans) maki roll. I love Natto and have had it four or more times since I have been here. Google it or get the supplement nattokinase as it is very good for the heart.

We were then all given Anago (grilled snakey fish -- hey, I don't make up these names) and Yamagobo maki roll. Finally this feast concluded with Daikon pickles, green grapes and green tea. Nao most graciously paid the bill and I can only imagine how much it cost, Thanks again Nao and Sawako, for one of the most memorable meals/feasts of our lives!

I might mention that the chef/owner was a delight. We sat at the counter as he prepared much of the food and we have enclosed his picture as part of this blog. He was so warm, kind and friendly, as was all of the staff of this tiny three-table and one-counter restaurant. Words cannot express how wonderful the entire experience was. It will be remembered and cherished for a long time.