Osaka or Bust

Sunday I decided to finally head out of Kyoto with hopes of getting to Osaka and checking out their festival occuring fairly soon, and to just get out of Kyoto. Had to get going on the JR pass and see more of the country, as the cities were starting to get to be more of the same.

Got to a late start though, and wanted to hit up Nijo-jo (Kyoto's castle) before leaving, which I did, but had to hurry as they closed at 4 pm (yeah, real late start--I had some internet after getting out of the hostel). Very nice castle, enjoyabe difference to the temples. They aso had some mannequins that took the place of the shogun, daimyos, and other retainers of the period and such. Gave it an interesting, historicl, and more lived in and politically charged atmosphere. Had flashbacks to the many days of L5R LARPs done, with ideas of how to envision future palace settings. Ah, nostalgia for such underhanded schemes. Nonetheless.

Also, while I was at the coffee shop next to the Uno house getting some internet before shoving off, I noticed a small flyer for a local art exhibit of rather cute fairy artwork. It wasn't far from the Kyoto Station, so I decided to give it a check out. After eventually finding it (without too much trouble all things considered), a small artisans gallery had several paintings and postcards with the arstist on hand. Managed to get through the language barrier, had a smal cup of tea and cookies, bought some postcards. Very cute and pretty artwork (pics soon).

And then off to Kyoto Station and the activation of the golden ticket... I mean, JR Pass. Had to wait in line for a good while, but after it was all done, it is a joy. As long as I'm on JR lines, which is most everywhere, but not usually about half the subways around big cities, my ride is included. I bought the pass ticket in Hawai'i for around $530 or so (￥57,700 at whatever the going rate was), and I'll probably end up using it for somewhat more than that. I'm not going to keep track now, but it is very cool, and convienient if nothing else. Aparently, going from Tokyo to Hiroshima and back adds up to bout that much or more--which will at least be done. Yay.

Took a short Shinkansen to Osaka and was getting pretty late. Found the capsule hotel there and thought I'd give it a try since I hadn't yet. Best thing so far. It was fairly cheap at around ￥2700 and also had a very nice, two floor sento for only ￥500 more. Very nice indeed. Did that, found some food, and eventually passed out after watching the TV in my little cubby. Alas, this one, and most of them, are only for men. Decidedly men's club kinda feel to it though--and fairly quiet. A little too quiet actually, but that's Japanese culture for you.