Japan: Osaka Castle

It was our final day in Japan & Osaka and we had one thing left to do: visit Osaka Castle. We were lucky enough to go on a day with beautiful weather so the view from the top was clear.

Here's the history of the Castle:

Toyotomi Hideyoshi, a Japanese general in the late 1500s, oversaw the construction of the castle. He wanted it to resemble Azuchi Castle, except be better. The castle was completed in the same year Hideyoshi passed away, 1597. Over the years it served as a fortress for successfully fought battles, was captured, got burned down by lightning, was rebuilt, restored, and finally rebuilt again in 1995.

The final restoration made turned it into the museum that it now is.

While it appears to have five floors from the outside, there are seven floors on the inside. I'm not sure if this is how it was originally, or just how it is now. Except, you couldn't access floor 6. It went 5 then 7. Not sure what the reasoning is behind this.

But anyways, on the top floor you get an amazing 360 degree view of the city. Then you go down a flight into the museum area. On one of the floors you can even try on a kimono or samurai outfit (I opted for the kimono).

After making our way through the castle we explored the very touristy courtyard. It is comprised of souvenir shops, food shops, and, most importantly, ice cream shops. See, all along I had been opting for green tea ice cream because, well, let's face it, green tea ice cream is amazing. But Japan also offers sakura (cherry blossom) ice cream. さくえあｲｽｸﾘﾑはおいしですね！(Sakura ice cream is delicious!)

Then we left the castle, stopped for shabu shabu for lunch, and went to the airport. (Please note, this post is SO much shorter than the last one! Also, there are fewer pictures, so you can reasonably get through them all ^.^)

Just a panda advertising something or other...
SO cute, <3 Japan!

The outer section of Osaka Castle

Cherry blossoms!

and more cherry blossoms!

They're just all so pretty, and the lighting in this one is
particularly good.

Osaka Castle from a distance, rising into the sky

Japanese love, there were hearts built in
to almost everything traditional

The view from the top of the castle

See? More hearts.

In case you should fall as you try to look down,
here's some metal wiring to catch you, :) ;)

No 6th floor. No clue why.

The inaccessible staircase that leads to the missing 6th floor

Me in my kimono, Parth and Ann in samurai outfits
(it should be noted that this picture was sniped from Parth) 

The balcony is the 6th floor

Cherry blossom ice cream! (and Parth's hand)

...more cherry blossoms...

The restaurant we ate at for lunch

Shabu shabu: endless food cooked by you at
the table until you can't possibly eat anymore.

Sleeping Boram

At the airport... :( ...at least it's a pretty cool airport though

Crepes <3 ...but more specifically, American crepes with
hotdogs and cheese?

Because apparently Hawaii is different from America? And
apparently America is comprised of the US, Canada, Mexico
and BRAZIL?!

Yummy yummy airplane food: sushi, noodles, and green tea :)

So this concludes my adventures in Japan. If you didn't manage to catch on, I fell in love with Osaka and Japan. I definitely plan on making it back there; I still need to see Tokyo and Mt. Fuji, after all.

But as for now, it is 1:30 am so I'm going to leave this as it is.