A Weekend in Osaka

9/15/08

We had a holiday here in Japan on Monday (respect for the aged day) which gave me a long weekend I could use to travel on. I used the opportunity to head into Osaka and meet up with my friend Atkins for a weekend on the town. One of the pluses to this outing is that I got to meet other Nagayama JETs, and there was a big festival here called Danjiri which is in Kishiwada (just outside Osaka).

I traveled by sleeper bus and left Sasebo around 9:20pm and arrived in Osaka around 7am the next day. Danjiri Matsuri is much like the running of the bulls in Pamplona except they aren’t running from animals, they are running from gigantic shrines that are rapidly jerked down the street by hundreds of very drunk men and (not drunk) children through narrow, crowded corridors. According to Wikipedia the shrines are believed to contain spirits and/or gods and that a considerable amount of preparation goes into the display of the shrines. They are normally rigorously consecrated and decorated with fresh flowers, bells, a taiko (drum) etc. A man with large fans dances on the top as it races through the street criss-crossing with other shrines in near fatal collisions that thrill audiences. All the while, performers on the shrine play taiko and the flute. On the ground, hundreds of Japanese men and children (maybe some women?) pull the shrine through the street chanting ka-ke … go-e (heave ho). There are even taskmasters who beat the adults with fans when they want them to move faster.

As exciting as danjiri was, however, Atkins and I could only enjoy so much of the same thing over and over, so by noon we were ready to head into town and find our capsule hotel. What’s a capsule hotel you ask? Well, basically exactly what it sounds like. You sleep in a tube. Ok, granted, I know that sounds incredibly, well, uncomfortable and claustrophobic, but for budget travel, it beats a hostel any day in my book. While you are indeed in a capsule, it’s actually reasonably large, with your own radio, television, alarm, temperature controls, and a nice comfy mattress. Further, there is no tatami (knit Japanese straw they like to sleep on that smells like a barn and houses bugs) to be found anywhere. The bathrooms are quite nice, and they even include a large traditional Japanese bath. I had never done a Japanese bath before, but Atkins assured me it was a good time…

What I discovered however, is that bath house = naked time. Let’s just cogitate on that a moment. I’m supposed to disrobe and share water with a bunch of strange, random Japanese men? I need to clean and groom myself in a room full of nude or disrobing strangers? I need to shower while sitting on a stool? How and with what do I wash? Jesus take the wheel…

Furthermore, one of the things I’m not (totally) afraid to confess is that I’ve always been bathroom shy. Further, a naked gay guy in a room full of straight naked men is just an uncomfortable situation to ponder. I’m not saying I haven’t been accepted here, that’s not the issue, but it’s just that inevitably there is always that question of how do we fit me into the otherwise natural order of things. It’s not discrimination in the slightest, and it doesn’t mean you aren’t accepted, but it is a reminder that you are different and even more so because you are in a strange country.

That apparently was not an issue for Atkins. Though we never actually verbalized any of this, you gotta love it when a down-home Mississippi boy basically fails to see the complication in the issue. You and I get naked, we wash ourselves, we get in the hot water, and we relax… how is that confusing? I can talk about Atkins because he doesn’t read my blog and feel confident in admitting that that’s a first for me. Never had a straight guy be that, um, unconcerned around me. “Oh, hey (naked) Jacob, you need to be sure wash off all the soap, they get really pissed if there’s any bubbles in the water.” …seriously? Is this happening for real, or is it just one of my random weird dreams and next thing I know I’ll be sharing water with a Care Bear Cousin and discover the bath area is really an alien rocket ship? To be honest, it was nice. Once I relaxed a bit, despite the nudity, I felt… shockingly normal. He has my gratitude, though I’ll never tell him. That would just be weird.

From that point, we had a disco nap (disco nap = a nap you take so that you are awake and lucid to stay up and party all night), met up with the other Nagayama JETs, and went to a Irish bar to watch drunk Australians and Irishmen drink Guinness and hang on each other. The beer was delicious, as I hadn’t had anything but Japanese beer since arriving. The drunk guys… not so much. You could tell Atkins and one of the other JETs was getting heartburn just from watching the situation. We decided to leave and do karaoke. I was asked to please find a way to ditch the drunk Aussie strangers, and because I’ll never see them again I played the “oh, I’m new here and wanna do my own thing, and I travelled sooooo far” card. It worked, and after a great day in the city, I was all too happy to be a pariah for a good cause.

We decided we needed to do nomihoudai (all you can drink) at a local hip-hop bar called Dream or something. Nomihoudai is a bit of a waste on me since I have a couple beers and like to be done, but it was worth getting a chance to check the place out. It was, well, a Japanese hip-hop bar. There were little caves (not kidding) carved into the sides of the walls, a dance floor, and lots of English hip-hop music. I had an awesome time dancing and talking with my friends, and meeting new Japanese people, but after midnight I basically got tired and decided to go back. I knew these kids would go home the next day and sleep, but I needed to make the best of a whole day before I could head back (ticket home was for 9:20pm). Further, it was becoming crowded, and the folks around us were slowly progressing from “fun drunk” to “tragic drunk.”

So anyway, I slipped out, got some good sleep in, and the next morning we all did some shopping and then I said goodbye to everyone. There was talk of Atkins and I trying an onsen (Japanese hot-springs), but he looked a bit out of it, and I have a tattoo (on my left shoulder) which is a big no-no for onsens because it keeps the Yakuza (Japanese gangsters) out. No, I didn’t make that last sentence up. One of the girls suggested that I try Osaka-jou (a castle). That sounded good, so I made my way through the subways and found it.

WOW! So, this was supposed to just be a footnote in my trip, but it turned out to be one of the best parts. There is no good way to describe the castle. It’s just so big and so beautiful. It’s like being transported to another time. I’m hoping the pictures and video give you some idea of the scope of the castle. It’s simply gigantic. The video only shows a corner of the palace grounds and one of its guard towers. While up in the tower, I ran into another JET who told me I should eat okonomiyaki before I leave. It’s been a weekend of firsts, so why not?

I found a place who’s Kanji I thought said okonokiyaki, and the good part is I was right about that. The kanji I didn’t understand was the part about having to cook it myself. Yikes! So, um, it was really cool… they put you in your own tatami room complete with a grill and telephone to call for help. Then, you choose the kind of meat you want, and they bring you the mix and some instructions (in English). So, apparently okonomiyaki is a kind of omlet with other stuff in it. It’s made with eggs, rice, cabbage, meat, and crunchy things and is cooked on the grill like a pancake. Then you cover the crispy exterior with a sweet sauce or a salty sauce if you prefer. It was really oishii (delicious)! I became an expert okonomiyaki maker.

What a day, what a weekend! I had some ice-cream at a local coffee shop and waiting on my bus. I slept quite soundly all the way home, happy to be back in Sasebo, where I’m happy to call home.

Please have a look at the Pictures and Videos from my weekend. Enjoy!