Osaka Castle to Umeda
This morning I took off early to get to see Osaka Castle inside and to take some video of the Japanese Waxwings that have been hanging around outside the keep of the castle. I took 2 subways to the castle and when I got there, the Japanese Waxwings were being photographed by the hordes of bird photographers. There must have been more than a couple of dozen bird photographers snapping away.
I found out what the Japanese names for the birds were and then did an internet search to find the English names for them. The Japanese names were Hirenjaku and Mahiwa. I still have to edit the video yet, so that will be next post. (Edit) I have finally finished the video and uploaded it so here it is very late.
Birds of Osaka
I then went into the castle and had a look at the exhibits. I liked these little action figures of the Battle of Osaka. I think it was about the 17th century.
There was also some very interesting newspapers from a couple of hundred years ago. They were printed from wood blocks and I cannot begin to imagine how difficult it would be to carve out Japanese script in a mirror image. Oh, maybe they used a mirror. doh! This is the view from the top of the Osaka Castle. Pretty impressive and ironic as it looks out over the modern city.
Osaka City Skyscrapers from the ancient Osaka-jo
After that I took the subway to Umeda and had a look around but there was not much there, it is just a huge terminal for trains, subways and buses. So, next post I will hopefully have the bird videos edited up and ready to go.