June 17, 2023

We visited Kobe in 2019 and chose to see Kyoto that time.  Kobe is the fifth largest city in Japan and is famous for its Kobe beef.  We heard that they massage the cattle and feed them beer.  That is apparently what makes the beef so delicious.  I can’t attest to that since I don’t eat it!

This time we booked a tour called “Highlights of Osaka”.  Our tour guide was Matta.  We learned that Osaka is the second largest city in Japan and is the old capital.  Matta explained that while there are many parks and green spaces in other cities – especially Tokyo, Osaka “only spends money on making money”  not on parks, so it is a very dense city of commercial buildings and factories. 

Our first stop was the Shitennoji Temple which is one of the oldest temples in Japan and the first to be built by the state.It was founded in 593 by Prince Shotoku who supported t he introduction of Buddhism in Japan.

The surrounding gardens were also beautiful.  Matti told us that turtles and cranes are sacred here.

We visited the Osaka Castle which dates back to the end of the 16th century.  It is an imposing structure that is surrounded by three moats.  Two are dry moats.  There have been changes over the years, including fires which resulted in some reconstruction.

People could dress up in the kimonos and the shogun gear and have pictures taken.

We ate this delicious cheese filled pastry!

We were in Kobe overnight, so after the tour we walked from the ship to the market area of Kobe in search of a nail salon. We found two but they were booked.  We did a LOT of walking and saw many places to eat and many shops. 

Onboard tonight there was a local traditional show called the Arima Geiko Show.  These women shared the culture of their costumes, wigs and traditional music and dancing. It was interesting to hear that the wigs are very heavy and are made from human Mongolian hair because of its thickness.