Overnight Trips
Osaka
About: Osaka, originally called Naniwa, first gained real importance around 593 AD when Prince Shotoku brought Buddhism into vogue in Japan, built a temple in the city, and thus amplified its role as a hub for Sino-Japanese interaction. (1) The city as we know it first really appeared during the Muromachi period when the Hongan-ji temple (later the site of Osaka-jyo) was built and the city grew up around it, gaining its present name based off a point of land or O-saka. After a siege by Oda Nobunaga in 1580 the temple was forced to relinquish its power and was replaced by the original Osaka castle which along with the entire city was unfortunately burned to the ground in 1614 and 1615 due to the Osaka Winter and Summer battles. Rebuilt at the start of the Edo era, the city became an invaluable trading hub which it remains today. With so much traffic however, the subways and train depots are always incredibly crowded, confusing, and smothering. Personally, I felt they were even worse than the Tokyo subways during rush hour!
The third most populous city in Japan, Osaka is crowded and congested(2) Like any big city, there are thousands of shops, bars, museums, cultural centers and restaurants, so many people in Hiroshima go on weekend trips simply to partake of the variety.
Osaka Castle: Though only a reconstruction thanks to allied bombing, the gilt-covered palace is still quite impressive. The bohemian crowd of street performers and food vendors lend a constant carnival atmosphere to the place. The site was first used for the Hongan-ji temple of the Jodo Shinsu sect built in 1496, but conquered by Oda Nobunaga in 1580(3). After razing the original temple, his successor Toyotomi Hideyoshi ordered the construction of the fortress.
Inside the castle is a museum about its history and the important people associated with it. Unfortunately when I visited, it was only a half hour until closing and the crowd was thick so I could not enter. Still, the area around the structure is gorgeous with old and reconstructed stone gates forming the basis of a large city park.
Directions: Pretty much any train you take will eventually lead to Osaka: It is THE main hub of transport.
One little note by the way: if you receive directions to go to Osaka JR station but can’t find it on a map, look instead for its other name, Umeda.
Other Recommendations: The specialty of Osaka is considered Okonomiyaki. Personally, I liked it better in Hiroshima though. Osaka's is the typical Kanto style, the ingredients all mixed into one big omelet like dish.
Time Needed: This really depends on what you want to see. Though I didn’t get to enter Osaka castle as I had hoped, I managed to do some shopping and other things within 6 hours and didn’t feel as though I had missed anything too important. However, most of the people I know spend at least one night there for their shopping trips.
Ise
About: Ise is a relatively small city but of extreme importance to the Shinto religion, resulting in a large annual influx of tourists. Thus, the area besides being holy has also become known as a tourist resort, peppered with ryokan (Japanese inns), B&Bs, hotels, tourist shops, and amusement parks like “Edo Land”. Still, the predominant reason to come to Ise is to see its shrines.
Meoto Iwa: Post card perfect and well known in the west, these “wedded rocks” are considered sacred in the Shinto faith. The larger of the two rocks is the otoko-iwa, the male, while the smaller onna-iwa is the female, and as such they are sometimes associated with the creator deities Izanagi and Izanami (4). A heavy rope binds the rocks together in “matrimony” so that they form a natural gate or torii which frames another stone that is the central focus to the frog-covered Okitama shrine next door. Opposite Okitama-jinja is another shrine with an elegant dragon motif but rather unfriendly priests.
If possible, visit the Meoto Iwa on a clear day since with the right weather, you can actually see Fuji-san from this vantage point. On the other hand, poor weather means that no one else is around, which is always nice.
(Ise) Jingu: Considered one of if not the most important Shinto sites in Japan, the dual shrine at Ise is composed of two enormous complexes that serve as homes to two goddesses in Japanese mythology and draw the faithful year round.
The Naiku, the more important of the two, was founded 2000 years ago (5). Within is enshrined the sun goddess Amaterasu, considered the mother of the emperors, daughter of the creator gods, and overall one of the most important deities in Shinto myth(6). Legend has it that the ceremonies in her honor were originally carried out in the imperial palace until a series of plagues and disasters struck(7). In hopes to stop the destruction, the emperor ordered one of the princesses to move the ceremonies to a temporary location outside the palace, a plan which succeeded. At that point, another princess was charged with finding a permanent place to worship the deity and after some time of wandering came to Ise where the goddess spoke, requesting that the forested area near the waterfront become the location of her new temple. Beside the main temple to Amaterasu there are 91 smaller shrines including one where women can pray to find their life partners, and a plethora of administrative buildings.
The outer shrine or Geku is the home to the goddess of agriculture and industry, Toyouke Omikami (8). A straight walk from the train depot and 6km west of the Naiku, this part of the shrine was founded 1500 years ago, and has 32 minor shrines besides the main altar for the goddess. There is also an attractive lake on its grounds. The founding legend goes that Amaterasu came to the 21st emperor of Japan in a dream and, as she had been suffering difficulties in getting food and clothing, asked him to move the worship of Toyouku Omikami to Ise as well so that the other goddess could assist her.
The shrines are built in a completely traditional Shinto style and although they are replaced every 20 years as is the custom, they supposedly look exactly the same as they ever have (9). Both complexes also have a hall where you can buy charms, fortunes, and other souvenirs though due to the importance of the shrine they’re quite expensive.
Two words of warning: One, be careful on the steps. Although lovely, they’re also lethally slippery especially when wet.
Secondly, although it doesn’t stop Japanese people with their camera phones, you are not supposed to take pictures of the shrines, at least not the inner sanctums.
Directions: The easiest way to get to Ise is to take a train to Osaka, snag a subway to Namba station or a JR train to Tsurubashi, then hop aboard the Kintetsu ltd. which will take you straight to Ise.
Once there, getting around Ise can be a trip. Although there is a tourist bus which is quite nice, it’s a bit pricy and doesn’t run half as frequently as would be useful. However, the distances between the sites of importance, particularly between the shrines and the Meoto Iwa (which is technically in a different town) dictate its use. Luckily, it’s possible to simply hop a city bus if it appears to be going the right way.
Other Notes: Perhaps due to its holy nature, despite the tourist feel Ise itself is not an overwhelmingly friendly place for foreigners or at least not when I was there in mid March. One woman in fact, though as I never spoke and she could not have known my nationality, screamed and yelled about the evil that was America. Old enough to have been a survivor of WWII, her anger was understandable but a bit disconcerting. Other people also seemed almost annoyed at my obviously non-Japanese presence although there were other foreigners present. I am not sure how they were treated as I only saw them at a distance generally.
Time Needed: To see both shrines, I would leave probably 2 hours at the bare minimum. Add another 1.5 hours at least to see the wedded rocks due to travel times, and plan for the unexpected…namely missing buses.
(1)City of Osaka. "Osaka’s History" http://www.city.osaka.jp/city/history/history.html 2005. Accessed 25 Nov. 2005.
(2)Facts and Figures of Japan. (Japan: Foreign Press Center,2003), 7.
(3) City of Osaka, "Osaka's History"
(4)Japan National Tourist Organization. "Mie: Ise." http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/RTG/RI/kansai/mie/ise/ise.html Accessed 25 Nov. 2005.
(5)Religious Corperation. "Ise Jingu Homepage." http://www.isejingu.or.jp/index.htm 2002. Accessed 25 Nov. 2005.
(6) Allan, Tony, Michael Kerrigan and Charles Phillips, Myth and Mankind: Japanese Myth, Realm of the Rising Sun. (Amsterdam: Time Life Books BV, 2000), 7, 143.
(7) Religious Corperation, "Ise Jingu".
(8)Ibid.
(9)Ibid.