Hanshin Tigers, Osaka Baseball 2016

We went to a baseball game in Japan! This was high on Kevin's to do list, but when we were planning our trip I initially rolled my eyes. We bought tickets to a game at the end of the week though and it ended up being perfect because the main thing to do in Osaka is eat all the food (so good!) and by the end of the week my feet were just giant agony blisters. Sitting and drinking beer was the best plan ever.

Me and Kevin in Koshien Stadium

Kevin loves baseball and he was pretty excited to be there. Plus it was really interesting to see the differences in an baseball outing. First of all, people were as nice to us as they were anywhere in Japan. Nicer. Someone showed us where to exchange our voucher for a ticket and a random person bought us two whiskey drinks during the game. Woah.

These young women serve draft beer from tanks!

Koshien Stadium is home of the Hanshin Tigers, sometimes called the Osaka Tigers. They were playing the Hiroshima Carp, which really doesn't sound like a sufficiently scary mascot.

Hanshin Tigers 

Hiroshima Carp in red

Eventually, we got hungry, and the food in the stadium was really strange. Also, each baseball player seemed to be advocating a different dish, so who was I supposed to believe?

I decided to listen to Shintaro Fujinami...

... and get this. It was delicious!

Whiskey from random Japanese guy! Thank you!

Also the Hanshin Tigers have this strange tradition that before the 7th inning everyone gets these provocatively shaped balloons in the color of their team - yellow for Hanshin Tigers and red for Hiroshima Carp- and then they release them at the same time.

Getting ready

Chanting songs and whatnot

Release!

Balloon-gasm!

Osaka Castle and Park 2016

On Friday, we went to the main site in Osaka, the Osaka Castle and its park. The castle is surrounded by two moats which have been partially but not completely rebuilt after numerous historical misfortunes. Depending on how you approach the castle you might not notice one or the other moat. On the way to the castle we didn't really notice the outer moat.

The Aoyamon Gate to the inner moat

Kevin in front of the inner moat.

Moats are cool that's why.

Have fun storming the castle! (That never gets old.)

Me and Kevin in front of Osaka Castle

There aren't that many sites in Osaka, and though we would have liked to eat all the delicious food all day we just couldn't. So even though we knew the inside of the castle isn't supposed to very exciting we went in it anyway. It wasn't that exciting.

Top of the castle

View from the top of the castle

Diorama of an ancient battle

Ice cream and beer break! Woo!

This bring me to a point about beer in Japan. It's available the way soda is in the US, and it's fine to just have one wherever you buy one. It seems very normal and civilized.

Japanese wedding! Gorgeous!

Back of wedding dress/ outfits

Kevin being interviewed by school children

We walked around outside the castle for a little while. There was more to explore but it was Friday already and my feet were just one big blister. We were both excited to head to the baseball game. Kevin because he loves baseball- and me because I was excited to sit for hours!

Toyokuni Shrine

Outer moat!

Fountain in "Citizen's Forest"

Dotonbori, Osaka 2016

Thursday evening we took a train from Kyoto to Osaka. People actually commute between Kyoto and Osaka so it's easy to take an express train. Unfortunately, we hopped on the local by accident. It was our first- though very minor train mistake.

We'd heard that the main place to go at night was Dotonbori ((道頓堀). After we checked into our Osaka hotel, we headed over.  The area is crazy as you can see from the pictures. It's the area betweenthe Dōtonbori canal from Dōtonboribashi Bridge to Nipponbashi Bridge in the Namba district of the Osaka's Chuo ward.

It was crazier than it looks even

We'd heard you were supposed to have octopus balls in Osaka, so we did. They were definitely meatier and more octopus-filled there. I vote in favor of the Kyoto octopus balls though.

Buying octopus balls in Dotonbori

Eight octopus balls to go!

After we ate and had some beer, we wandered the side streets. The side streets are also weird. In an awesome way.

Is this a bar? A temple? A fortune teller? We don't know.

Kevin had a drink at Bar Core, a TINY but fancy whisky bar.