Posted in Food, Osaka, Sake on May 27th, 2008 No Comments »
Sake brewing in Osaka began in Japan’s Middle Ages with a famous monastery, Amanosan Kongoji. Standing in Kawachi-Nagano, this is still a great Esoteric Buddhist temple. The sake, Amano-shu, was provided to the Ashikaga shoguns and also Hideyoshi is on record as a fervent admirer. Technically, this sake was also advanced - it was brewed […]
Posted in Architecture, History, Museums, Osaka, Technology on May 15th, 2008 No Comments »
The title says it all: this is a museum about the ancient Sayama Irrigation Pond (the oldest in the country) and the most important exhibit is a huge slice of mud of the dam built to create the reservoir 1,400 years ago (and enlarged over the centuries). This mud wall (62 meters long and 15 […]
Posted in Food, Osaka, Technology on May 2nd, 2008 1 Comment »
I have written a recent post on the birth of kaiten sushi or conveyor belt sushi exactly 50 year’s ago - an invention made in the great city of Osaka, but I still had to visit the shop where that happened: Mawaru Genroku Sushi in Fuse, Osaka.
Fuse is just a few minutes by Nara-bound Kintetsu […]
Posted in Book, Food, Japan, Manga, Osaka, Tokyo on Apr 22nd, 2008 No Comments »
Food manga are not always about gourmet food, even when they are called The Solitary Gourmand (Kodoku no Gurume). For there is not a shred of fancy food in all these stories. Instead, they introduce us to the daily dishes and common eateries of the ordinary Japanese, and that is all the more interesting.
The setting […]
Posted in Culture, Food, Osaka on Apr 20th, 2008 3 Comments »
Osaka often seems to be playing second fiddle to Big Brother Tokyo, but it actually is a city of many firsts. Calculators were invented here in 1964, the first automatic ticket gates appeared in Osaka in 1967, vacuum packed foods as curry were introduced in 1968, and the famous cup noodles made their first appearance […]
Posted in Nature, Osaka on Apr 3rd, 2008 No Comments »
[Magnolias near Osaka Business Park. Photo © Ad Blankestijn]
On the banks of the Neyagawa River near Osaka Business Park (Kyobashi Station) stands a row of magnolia trees which were in full bloom last week. They do not last long, so yesterday during lunch time I hastened out with my camera cell phone to get a […]
Posted in Animation, Food, Japan, Osaka, Technology, Web on Apr 2nd, 2008 No Comments »
This somewhat creepy, robotlike Japanese woman follows your cursor with her eyes as you move it over the screen! The technology was developed by Japanese company MotionPortrait. (Via Jean Snow)
Billiken, the fiendish-looking God of Good Luck in the Tsutenkaku Tower, Osaka, has celebrated his 100th birthday.
During the ceremony, a birthday cake was presented to […]
Posted in History, Osaka, Temples, Travel on Mar 19th, 2008 No Comments »
Toyotomi Hideyoshi built Osaka castle in 1585, five years before he completed the reunification of Japan. The donjon was five stories high on the outside and eight on the inside, making it a fitting symbol of the generalissimo’s rule.
[Osaka Castle - Photo © Ad Blankestijn]
After his death in 1598 Hideyoshi had himself deified and […]
Posted in Gardens, Osaka, Travel on Mar 18th, 2008 No Comments »
This year I have been writing about various plum blossom viewing possibilities in Tokyo, but until yesterday I did not yet have a chance to see the plum blossoms of Osaka.
[Plum Garden of Osaka Castle]
Yesterday in balmy weather I grasped my lunch-break chance to see the plum blossoms in the park of Osaka Castle. […]
Posted in History, Museums, Osaka on Feb 26th, 2008 3 Comments »
Chikatsu-Asuka is an area in southern Osaka Prefecture rich in ancient history. There are over 200 tumuli graves (kofun) from the 6th and 7th century, and also the famous Prince Shotoku is said to be buried here at Eifukuji Temple. It was therefore the obvious choice for a museum dedicated to tomb culture. The new […]
Posted in Art, Museums, Osaka on Mar 12th, 2007 No Comments »
Although I made a special study of Japan’s art museums, it remained long hidden even to me that Osaka has a modern art museum. I am not talking about the Osaka Municipal Museum of Art (this Tennoji Park museum is anyway in the first place dedicated to ancient art forms, although it hosts temporary modern […]
