Monday, June 22, 2015

Day 11 Osaka Castle and Nara "Big Buddha" Temple

Grant:

We went to Osaka Castle in Osaka. The walls and moats surrounding the castle were beautiful and we went to the castle itself, which was huge and amazing. 


The entire castle was a museum, so we learned a lot about the City of Osaka’s history and about the construction of Osaka castle.




The first floor was really nothing, but the second floor was about Osaka history, and how much it’s advanced since then.

The 3rd and 4th floors you were unable to take pictures, it was artifacts from that age. The 5th and 6th floors had displays about a famous battle for Osaka, and the 7th floor was the observation deck.

It was a lot of stairs, but it was so worth it!


Raymond:

On our way out of Osaka, Grant and I were stopped by this old grungy dude and really all I need to say about him is that he asked Khalil (our African-American companion) if he was a Confederate. So, there it was.



Then we went to Nara, but Pa-Ying showed up a little late. So while we were waiting, Evan bought some deer food, but his shirt was apparently very tasty as the deer took some nips. After Evan "de-deered” his shirt, we went into the giant and amazing wooden temple building.


One of the big draws of this temple is the huge statue of Buddha. [One column has a hole cut into it the same size as Buddha’s nostril, that people can try to fit through.] I don’t know which nostril, but I assume the left one. Everyone made it through except for Tyler and me. I guess the other people just have nostril luck. 

According to the fortune from my Omikuji, I have “no luck” and “shouldn’t travel”. Whatever, the temple still looked awesome!





Afterwards we went to the Jyoko Technical High School, where the students are also volunteer "employees" of their own companies in the school. They repair toys, engage with local residents, and manufacture some items.




They had made some interesting pencil cases and pass cases, which they gave to us! They even had a little tag showing their "company" name!


We gave them Starburst, Skittles, and Sour Patch Kids candy.



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