The tea ceremony’s tranquility lingered through yesterday evening, setting the stage for arrival in Kobe. We’ll be docked here overnight…and get to explore the sights and sounds of Kobe under darkness. Until then, Osaka here we come.

Traversing Kobe on the way to Osaka is easy using the elevated highways that snake their way over city streets. The motor coach rumbles along, taking us past the nondescript architecture that is surprisingly ubiquitous to Japan. I expected much more creative design but 90% of it is utilitarian and practical. Perhaps that is just the Japanese way.

Osaka Castle is our destination, and as we arrive along with many other tourists (it is cherry blossom season – a very popular time of year to come), a guard house perched atop the edge of an enormous moat comes into view. The moat’s width and depth is astonishing, to say nothing of the stone walls holding back the water and elevating the castle grounds…and the effort it took to build these walls! Noble families at the time were required to contribute; family crests are carved into the stones. There is both an outer moat and inner moat (they really wanted to keep the marauders at bay!).

We approach the main gate, and the castle comes into view. It’s spectacular, and quintessentially Japanese. In spite of the crowds, there’s a peacefulness and display of strength at the same time in this amazing complex. Toyotomi Hideyoshi was a samurai and feudal lord who began construction in 1583, taking 16 years to complete it. After hundreds of years, countless conflicts, and a variety of natural disasters, it’s not surprising that much of what we see is a reconstruction but it is still inspires awe.

Inside the castle, what do we see first thing? Costumes! Of course Martine and I are game…

The “Osaka Castle History” museum is tucked into the nooks and crannies around the perimeter of the tower on each floor. It’s a tight space, so they really can’t fit much. We poke around and soon find the “up” stairs (there’s an elevator but the line is crazy long), and we slowly make our way to the top behind the masses ahead of us. We are rewarded with a glorious view of the grounds and surrounding city.

A few pics and oohs and aahs later, we make our way down and out across the castle grounds. There is a “street performer” entertaining a large crowd, and we stop for a moment before passing by vendors selling food and drink – who of course provide tables and chairs since you cannot walk and eat or drink at the same time. It’s just not done in Japan…

While we were in Tokyo, someone said “you are going to be Templed out by the time you are done with this trip,” and we are getting a sense of that…as we head to Shitennoji Temple. It’s a buddhist temple whose site dates back to the 6th century; it has been rebuilt many times (as it seems many of the sites in Japan have). The gates and temple houses and perfectly raked gravel on the central square harmoniously exist in here, the hustle and bustle of Japan’s 3rd largest city unable to penetrate the spirituality. 

We have a little extra time…to explore a flea market/swap meet! It’s just outside the temple complex, primarily for locals given the stuff people are selling – books and clothes and toys and kitchenware and old art and sculpture and dishes and even vinyl records. We think just maybe we’ll find a really unique treasure here, but alas no, but I do find some beautiful hand-crafted chop sticks and rests that I buy from the local artisan. I will think of this place every time I use them. 

And not long after, it’s Friday night in Kobe! And what must a person eat in Kobe? Beef, of course. “Kobe Beef” is protected by Japan similar to France and champagne, and Mexico and tequila. It’s a particular type of cattle, raised in a particular way, and even after slaughter, the meat is graded for its texture and marbling. The most “perfect” is the most expensive, and the least quality cannot even be called Kobe Beef, with many grades in between.

Just like in Tokyo, places are hard to find, even with the address, but the taxi driver manages to get us close enough and we look to the 2nd floor for Hana Houbi, a teppan steak house. It’s very intimate – perhaps they can fit 16 in here? The chef cooks everything perfectly, and even the veg is done just so, presented in two bite-size pieces made for chop sticks. And the beef? You’ve never had sirloin like this…

Sated with too much food and smiling from a couple glasses of sake, we emerge into Kobe at night. It’s bright and busy and the people are chatting and waiting for tables or shopping or hanging out in alleys outside of small bars. The place is alive and fascinating and a bit overwhelming. If we linger, where would we go? Which doorway would draw us in?

As we wander, looking like the awe-struck tourists that we are, a taxi stand appears. We decide to make our way back to the ship, having had a night to remember in this amazing foreign land…that isn’t so foreign after all.