Osaka (A day of pure gluttony)

Osaka
大阪市



Osaka has traditionally been referred to as the "nation's kitchen", tenka no daidokoro or the mecca of gourmet food. There is no doubt that we ate plenty of food on this day.

We ate Okonomyaki and it was awesome. Okonomiyaki is a Japanese-style pancake cooked on a hot plate. Made predominantly with pieces of meat, seafood and chopped cabbage, after grilling, a brown sauce is spread on top of the pancake and dried bonito shavings and green laver is sprinkled on top of the sauce. Some people also add mayonnaise to the toppings. Okonomiyaki is eaten all over Japan, but is particularly popular and delicious in the Osaka area. In my opinion today was a day of gluttony.





We also took a subway and went to Osaka tower. We ate again...I couldn't believe it - we went to a Kushikatsu place. Kushikatsu is “food grilled on a stick” made up of pieces of pork and vegetables fried on a skewer after being coated in bread crumbs. There are many types of kushikatsu shops around Osaka including those that offer freshly fried kushikatsu with a dipping sauce. I somehow didn't take any photos of this food which is pretty astounding but I did get a shot of the sign outside of the Kushikatsu shop and a street view. It's pretty cool.



Here are photos of us being up in Osaka Tower. Osaka Tower (大阪タワ) is an observation and radio tower built beside the headquarters of Asahi Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) in Kita-ku, Osaka, Japan. Besides functioning as a radio and television tower, it also relays radio communication for the taxi companies.

Here's a a photo of Cliff and Makoto at the top



While at the top of the tower we saw Billiken. Who is Billiken you ask?
Billiken was a charm doll created by an American art teacher and illustrator, Ms. Florence Pretz of St. Louis, Missouri, who is said to have seen the mysterious figure in a dream. In 1908 she patented the Billiken who was elf-like with pointed ears, a mischievous smile, and a tuft of hair on his pointed head. His arms were short and he was generally sitting with his legs stretched out in front of him. And he’s naked….you even see the crack of his ass depending on which statue of him you happen to be looking at. A replica of the statue was placed in the second-generation Tsutenkaku Tower in 1980. Presently he resides on the fifth floor observation deck (that’s where we were) and has become closely associated with the tower. Each year thousands of visitors place a coin in his donation box and rub the soles of his well-worn feet to make their wishes come true. In October 2008, the Billiken of Tsutenkaku took a journey all the way from Japan to its founding city of St. Louis where it was visited by students of St. Louis University High School, whose mascot is also the billiken. Bet you didn’t know that little tidbit of info. Pretty wild if you asked me!



This is a shot of Billiken's butt! I couldn't resist. :-)


I think this would be an appropriate ending!
Hope you enjoyed it.