Shittennoji Temple and Plastic Sushi
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Day 18 (Saturday): Taking it easy in Osaka is a challenge! This is a go-go city that seems designed to keep visitors on their feet at all times … at least, unless they’re willing to pay for a drink or meal in exchange for the privilege of sitting down. More photos added to the Osaka album.
I headed out for Tennoji Park, hoping to find a nice green space where I could kick back and relax for a few hours. Since I find the subway prices in Osaka extortionate, I walked down through Nippombashi’s Den-Den Town, geek heaven for electronics and anime/game afficionados, to Shin-Sekai, the run-down “New World” part of Osaka wherein stands the Tsutenkaku Tower, a rather homely landmark in the bright light of day, although photos of it lit up in neon at night make it look attractive enough. There I turned under one of the many train lines that shadow the streets and followed the sign pointing to the park, which instead took me a long a walkway past the Tennoji Zoological Gardens.
Despite casting back for forth for some sign of a park, I just couldn’t find anything that wasn’t part of the zoo. Is it all zoo? I don’t think so, but for the life of me, I couldn’t find a bench under a tree. So, resigned, I set up Ousaka Slope, figuring that as long as I was in the area, I’d go ahead and visit Shitennoji Temple, one of the major sights in Osaka.
On the way I stopped at pretty little Isshinji Temple, which I think is a nicer spot than Shitennoji; it’s green, full of benches and steps, surrounded by grave monuments, and at the time I was visiting was full of incense and chanting from services. It also boasts a very architecturally interesting torii gate with modernist guardian statues; apparently the current high priest is also an architect. Although noted for its Buddha statues made of human bones, I didn’t see them; either they’re tucked away in some corner I didn’t get to or off-limits to casual visitors.
From there, I kept walking uphill to Shitennoji Temple, founded in 593 as the first state-established Buddhist Temple in Japan, dedicated to the Four Guardian Kings, or Shitenno. There is virtually no English-language signage in any site in Osaka, but if you pay to enter the central temple precinct, you’ll be handed a little pamphlet with some English descriptions, which helps. Tourist books don’t help much, either, since Osaka is given short shrift in most of them. So I’ve accepted that while I’m here, all I can do is wander around only half-comprehending what I’m seeing, which is occasionally frustrating for an academic but the best I can do until/unless I ever learn Japanese. Fair enough; how many of the less-well-known tourist sites in the U.S. offer Japanese explanations? Shitennoji Temple doesn’t stand out much, given the many more interesting ones I’ve seen elsewhere; it feels a bit dry and barren.
From the temple I retraced my route back to the Minami area of Dotombori, where I found myself walking through the Sennichimae Doguyasuji shopping street, which is dedicated to culinary supplies. I asked permission to take a photo of one shop’s plastic sushi display and I think the shopkeeper just sighed as she nodded; I’ll bet American tourists do that all the time! By the way, it turns out that those plastic slices of sushi and bowls of shabu-shabu are darn expensive, so don’t sneer the next time you see a windowful of dusty plastic food in some Japanese restaurant in the States.
Finally, starting to feel the exhaustion, I collapsed at a Doutour Gourmet Coffee Shop for an ice-cold matcha latte and a sandwich. Whew!
So I didn’t get much rest on Saturday, at least not until I returned to the hotel later that afternoon. Today (Sunday) I’m going to take the train to Osaka Bay, where I’m planning to visit the Maritime Museum (I adore maritime museums, even though I realize that the odds of finding any descriptions in English will be slim to none) and hoping to find the restful bench that I couldn’t find yesterday.
drupagliassotti @ June 5, 2010