A Day Trip to Osaka!

Konnichiwa, Tyson, Audrey, Charlotte, and Christine!

We wonder if you have watched it before, but Disney On Ice, a Disney figure skating show, comes to Japan every summer from the US, and we have been going to watch their show every year since Yuki was 5!

This is Osaka Castle Park. They host this show at Osaka Castle Hall. It was a beautiful (and hot) day!

Every year when we go watch Disney On Ice, we wonder if we could see Joe again... Joe is the man who comes to Japan every year with Disney On Ice and sells pamphlets. He is definitely one of the reasons why we go watch Disney On Ice every year! Can you believe he is 88!? And he remembered us from last year, too...!

We cannot forget the souvenir... We got some shaved ice in Dolly-shaped cup!

The show was very magical! Time flew so fast, and before we knew it, it was over... Now we cannot wait to come back next year!

After Disney On Ice, Tag wanted to eat takoyaki again! He must have loved it very much the last time he ate it!

Many Japanese restaurants have displays of their menu like this outside.

This is how they make takoyaki!

And this time, we also ordered our yet another favorite Japanese food, okonomiyaki! We would describe it as cabbage pancakes. It is a mixture of sliced cabbage, eggs, water, and flour. You can add some meat or seafood with your preference.

After eating, we decided to take Tag to Osaka Castle, which is right next to Osaka Castle Hall, where we watched Disney On Ice!

In 16th century, Japan was divided into many provinces, each governed by bushi/samurai (Japanese warriors), but bushi and their clans started to fight with each other, trying to conquer and unify Japan. One of the last bushi who came very close to unify Japan was Oda Nobunaga. He actually allowed many Western cultures to come into Japan, including guns and Christianity. However, right before he was to unify Japan, he was killed by one of his retainers. Then, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who was Oda Nobunaga's favorite retainer killed the retainer who killed Oda Nobunaga. He was the one who started the construction of Osaka Castle in 1583, and it was completed in 1598. It was the largest castle at the time.

There are 2 moats surrounding the castle!

They had a performance right in front of the castle the day we went. Also, you might be wondering what the glass box on the left side of the castle is... Osaka Castle went through many reconstructions and renovations over the years, and that glass box is actually an elevator, which was added to the castle not many years ago!

We got to take a photo with this guy dressed in bushi/samurai outfits!

Toyotomi Hideyoshi passed away and his son succeeded, but his son was soon defeated by Tokugawa Ieyasu, who became the one to actually conquer and unify Japan. Sadly, Tokugawa Ieyasu persecuted Christians, and Christians in Japan had to go through many hardships.

In 19th century, Osaka Castle was used as an arsenal, where 60,000 people manufactured guns and bombs. During World War II, Osaka Castle was targeted for many bombing raids as an arsenal.

In today's Japan, Osaka Castle is a very popular landmark where many tourists come visit. They also hold many concerts at Osaka Castle Hall and we often go to Osaka Castle Park for picnics, etc.. We never really knew that it played a major role in the unification of Japan in 16th century Japan or that it was used as an arsenal after 19th century until we read about the history of Osaka Castle to write this blog! It was bizarre to think about all the history behind Osaka Castle, but it gave us a chance to realize history really is a part of our lives!