Charis: We got into Osaka fairly late and unfortunately our lovely host, Kaishini was away in Tokyo for work. So we settled in, picked up some groceries, did some washing and prepared for our next little trip out to the Gyokuzoin Temple.
One fun thing we did do in town before heading out was go to a vegan gyoza and ramen making class with a local retired chef, who had in her day been a pastry chef in a Michelin starred restaurant in France before coming home and starting a few Japanese restaurants of her own. She welcomed us into her house and, with her husband acting as translator, talked us through preparing some truly delicious gyoza and ramen.
We were highly impressed by how thorough all of her prep was, she was obviously an amazing home cook and had 4 different types of homemade miso in her fridge and was getting started on a batch of soy sauce!
Derek: We’d seen many Buddhist temples already, but wanted to experience the practices personally. In the hills above Osaka, and part of the way back to Nara, the Gyokuzoin Temple is a training site for monks and offers some rooms in the Shukubo accomodation facility to visitors. A train brought us to the bottom of Mount Shigi and a bus wound its way to near the top. I hadn’t realized that the temple was one of many in a large cluster, the Chogosonshi-ji Temple complex, and our walk to the accommodation was lined by hundreds of granite lanterns and great views of buildings nestled into the hillside. The main deity of Gyokuzoin is Bishamonten, one of the seven lucky gods and seen in the previous post where he was guarding the Buddha Tōdai-ji temple. A giant (the world’s largest…) paper mache tiger welcomed us on the trail as well. I’m a little vague on exactly how the tiger ties in, but the several stories all involved a prince making a prayer on the mountain.
We arrived mid-afternoon and had a rest before joining some other tourists and one devout for an Asokukan meditation session. Charis and I have been using Headspace for meditating at home and so have some familiarity with silent sitting. This meditation included some guidance from a temple monk and making audible breaths.
After meditating we went back to the accommodation for dinner. Shojin Ryori is the standard food eaten in Buddhist temples around Japan and do not include meat or fish, making them often mostly vegan. Gyokuzoin offers fully vegan meals as an option and we had a bit of an adventure trying the variety included in the set meals.
After dinner we were free to walk through the temple complex, almost entirely alone and under the light of a large moon. A long set of steps ascended the mountain and we didn’t know how far it was to the peak, but started climbing. The walkway passed a number of shrines (no surprise) including one to a castle which had once stood on the mountain. Torii arches stood over some of the path, and after quite a climb became almost a continuous tunnel, we spotted this mantis on one! At the top was a large Shinto shrine surrounded by lanterns and smaller shrines. I tried capturing the view out over Osaka, without success.
Quite thoroughly tired we turned in, and rose at 4 AM to view a daily ritual. The Goma Ritual is performed by the head priest and is centered on burning away negative energies, thoughts, and desires. The Esoteric Buddhist practices were fascinating to watch. Numerous shiny bowls of oil, incense, carved wood sticks, chiming of spoons against the bowls, and recitations from a book all were used and done in this small room who’s ceiling and walls were blackened by countless years of smoke.
Before leaving we traced a sutra with inkpots and thin brushes before adding our own names and wishes for the future. I can’t find a sutra which exactly matches the translated text, but it contains several affirmations including “There are countless wonderful things to do.”
Charis: And by the time we got back Kaishini was home! We had made plans to check out a third TeamLabs exhibition, this time an outdoor, night-time show held in the Osaka Botanical Gardens, which was beautiful.
The following day we headed into town and visited the Kamigata Ukiyo-e Museum woodprinting museum (where we got to make our own simple prints!).
Kaishini took us to Ichiro Sake, a little hole-in-the-wall bar on the third floor of a non-descript building in the Shinsaibashi area. The bartender had a helpful pamphlet of info about the varieties and styles of sake, which we didn’t take photos of. We tried one each of the four main types; fruity, smooth, full-bodied, and mature. Charis and I both really liked the fruity one, Azakura “Apple Chan”. The mature and full bodied were both a bit intense and funky, though I liked the smooth as well. The translated names of the types vary, but I think we’ll be trying more of the “fruity” kunshu variety in the future.
After sake we wanted a bit of food and tried vegan takoyaki in OKO Takoyaki, a very cool little punk restaurant. These small dough balls are a very common street and festival food in Japan, were first created in Osaka, and usually have octopus inside. They were very very soft, but apparently that’s correct. We aren’t huge fans, but it was fun to try them. The kushikatsu was much better. This mixed tempura dish was tasty and the thin, crispy batter layer was perfect.
Whilst Kaishini was at work, Derek and I ventured out to see the impressive Osaka Castle. We didn’t actually go into the castle as it is a concrete modern reconstruction, but the gardens and walls were very scenic and fun to walk around.
Derek: I had been traveling with a cheap and cheerful wedding ring as I was pretty sure it’d get dirty, damaged, or lost at some point. Thankfully titanium is pretty hard to scratch and very easy to clean. Turns out it is also easy to leave behind at a hotel so I stopped in to Glänta to have another travel ring made. They offer brass, silver, and gold metals in a variety of widths, with a selection of styles and finishes. You can see many of the options in the photo. They make the ring right in front of you in less than 10 minutes. So, now I have a 4mm wide brass ring with a hammered design and glitter finish!
Charis: That evening we headed to an underground jazz club hidden beneath one of the city shopping centres and went to see Casiopea P4, a funky jazz quartet. Afterwards, we had dinner at a very popular Mexican restaurant El Pancho, complete with a pitcher of margarita before heading home. A great way to finish up our time in Osaka!
After that it was back on the Shinkansen for one last trip, headed for the ferry terminal at Shimonoseki and we were off to Busan!