Patrick: Fire festival and a lonely stroll through Osaka

Last week on Thursday the DESA students invited us to watch the Gozan no Okuribi (五山の送り火) from a rooftop in the middle of Kyoto city. Given the restriction on building heights in this beloved historical city, anything above the 7th floor would suffice to provide a good view of the illuminated symbols. Here's a quick sketch of the surrounding geography. The old capital city was laid out in a grid pattern with the main axis of symmetry running from the North to South as deemed appropriate by Chinese geomancy theory. The city was and still is surrounded by mountains to the West, North, and East resulting in a horseshoe cap. It is on these foothills that the 6 symbols- (from East to West) 大、法、妙、boat image、(左) 大、tori image - are arranged and illuminated by torches on the day of this festival. The famous 大 that can be seen during the day from the Demachiyanagi Bridge gives the mountain it sits on the name Daimonji-yama (大文字山). The festival that night marked the culmination of the Obon festivities which lasted for about a week and is a period when the Japanese people across the nation take vacations to pay respect to their ancestors' spirits. To tell the truth, I was slightly disappointed by this festival. All the Japanese people I met had hyped up the excitement, and the prospect of seeing these giant symbols lit by torchlight seemed fascinating. Yet a difficult choice must be made to view this festival: 1) choose one symbol and see it close up or 2) head for a rooftop and see all 6 from afar. I'm not sure what it would have been like to see it closer up from, for example, the Demachiyanagi Bridge but the rooftop gave an unobstructed view of 6 specks of light in the distance amidst incessant chattering. Maybe it was just my hunger complaining, though, because getting to see all the symbols at once is a rare opportunity and I'm quite thankful to the DESA students who invited us to enjoy such a great view.

08162007

After bumming around at home the entire day on Saturday I decided to put my free time to good use by exploring Osaka on Sunday. Everyone else seemed to have family visiting this weekend and Megan went off to see her host family so I had to go about it alone.

First stop was Namba in downtown Osaka. I had been here with Hiroki and Mariko before so I still had some landmarks in memory. I ate a quick lunch at a stand-up ramen shop (金龍) along the way to Dotonbori. I had read a recommendation for this shop on some travel site online so I was so excited to see it that I immediately ordered a bowl. Little did I know I would see no less than 5 more of these shops (3 on the same street) as I walked around the area. I headed over to the famous bridge leading to the Shinsaibashi shopping arcade where random guys wait like predators picking up girls as they walk past. This is also the site watched over by the Glico-man in his silly pose, the futuristic Kirin building, and where a snaking line of people lead like a trail of bread crumbs to what has to be the best tako-yaki stand in the area (judging by the everlasting line of people patiently waiting in the smoldering heat to get a plate of 6 that costs 200 yen more than a plate of 8 sold by the stand across the intersection where the cook glared with eyes of envy).

Moving along, I strolled north through Shinsaibashi and headed off East along the way to a district known as American Village or more affectionately, Amemura (アメ村). Here tourists can find McD, American record shops, used American clothing stores, various strangely/fashionably (your choice) dressed young people, American brands, American culture, and Japanese take on American styles. Interesting place. Although the gangsta style was the prevailing trend as none of the stores sold board shorts so typical of Hawaii or SoCal's surfing culture. I asked a store clerk where I could find some and he just laughed and pointed out some overly baggy shorts with glinting silver chains.

After that, I walked a good 20 minutes in the sweltering heat towards Nihonbashi to the East where, according to a website, was located Den Den Town, Osaka's version of Tokyo's Akihabara. It turns out that website was seriously mistaken because after a good hour or so of being lost, I finally managed to find the place right next to Namba station (after a lengthy consultation with a station attendant). Unlike Akihabara where one must weave in and out of alleys, small streets, shops, and street-side vendors, Den Den Town was not so much a town but one major street lined with electronic parts stores, computer stores, adult video stores, manga/maid cafes, model shops, and toy stores. I had had enough of electronics shopping in Tokyo and this day I came on a mission: to return with one of those traditional Gundam models that so characterizes Japan's otaku culture for my brother. And I found just what I was looking for at Osaka Gundam's, a building dedicated to all things Gundams. Luckily it was also the last day of a promotion making everything in the store 20% off.

Lugging the Gundam model around with me and exhausted from a whole day of walking, I headed to Osaka Peace Park to find somewhere to sit and wait for the illumination of the grounds at night. At the park, three bands gave live performances up until sunset and I sat around in the shade watching their groupies. The guy with the Jimmy Neutron hair was cheered on by a small group of guys yelling and dancing along with the music. All the girls were attracted , like iron filings to a magnet, to the center group of four guys who looked the most professional but were drowned out by the ruckus created by the other two bands. The last band had, in my opinion, the best songs but hardly anyone bothered to stop and listen to them. It was a nice day and my exhausted self was grateful for the brief rest but the mosquitoes came out in full force and I suffered bites all over my arms and legs. If only I was with someone with blood more delicious than mine...

When dusk fell, the festival's staff began to light the candles set up lining the streets and the main fountain. They had quite a difficult time because the wind picked up and kept blowing out the candles that were already lit. It wasn't until around 7:30 pm that most of the candles were lit and the skies were dark enough for the illumination to really stand out. I followed the guys with professional cameras and tripods as they made their way along the path leading up to the castle. I'm glad I went to see the castle at night. The candle-lit paths and the illuminated castle was a welcome change to the typical castle sight-seeing that can be done all over Japan.

So by the end of the day, I had thoroughly explored downtown Osaka, managed to find Den Den Town and can finally say that I've been there, and convinced myself to visit Osaka castle with the convenient excuse of wanting to see what the grounds looked like illuminated at night. Now if I had only had some company...

08192007

From the picture below, you can see that I've upgraded to stir-fried vegetables. I had actually wanted to make a salad but realized when I got home that I had bought cabbage and not lettuce. I dunno... cabbage and iceberg lettuce look similar don't they? Besides, I think cabbage is more nutritious. Although, I don't recall ever eating cabbage uncooked..

08202007