Day 68 – Osaka
Today we met up with our Canadian stalker friend, who had arrived in Osaka a few days before us. We met up outside Hotel J Ship and went for a walk around town.
Our first stop was Namba Yasaka Shrine, which is known for the Lion Head Shrine. There is a conventional shrine there also, but the lion head definitely overshadows the other shrine. After spending some time here, we walked down to Osakakizu Market, which was mainly a seafood market, full of heaps of live seafood.
Lion Head at Namba Yasaka Shrine 
Osakakizu MarketTsutenkaku Tower
After the fish market we walked to Tsutenkaku also known as Osaka Tower. We entered the tower but didn’t end up going to the observation deck. Inside the tower there is a souvenir shop and a few photo op props.
Isshinji Temple Buddha Statues made from ashes of the dead
From the Tsutenkaku Tower we stumbled across Isshinji Temple. The temple was founded in 1185 but the most interesting part of the temple was the Buddha Statues. These statutes known as Okotubutu are made out of the ashes of the dead.
We then arrived at Shitennoji Temple to check out the ancient pagoda. While we were there, we were invited to a traditional prayer ritual, which ended with everyone getting a blessing from the monk/priest. Was a cool and unique experience.
Our final site with our friend was the view point / garden at Abeno Harukas. Here we had free views of Osaka from a mid level garden, which was very cool. I believe you can go all the way to the top if you pay a few Yen but we all decided against it. After lunch maccas we said our good byes and went separate ways 🙁
Abeno Harukas Mid Level Garden Views from Abeno Harukas Views from Abeno Harukas
We then caught the train to Osaka Castle, which our Canadian mate had already done. The castle’s grounds are impressive and large. The castle is 5 stories high and the insides have been converted into a museum that covers the fall of the Samurai and the rise of the Empire.
Green moat around the Castle Impressive stone blocks
The views from the top level at sunset was very pretty. We spent some time up here before heading back down into the grounds. We found a couple taking some cool photos in front of a small pond that reflected the Castle and decided to copy them.
After this full day, we had a few things to do as this was our last full day in Japan. We then met up again with our mate and headed down to Dotombori for a quick dinner and to see the running man. We ended up walking around town a little more before we decided we really should head back. After packing and doing our laundry, we went to sleep at 2am. ZZZ