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| Tennoji Street and the Tsutenkaku Tower |
In the summer in Japan, you have to wake up as early as 3 a.m. to have your Suboh prayer, which lasts until almost 5 a.m. As we skipped the Minami attack yesterday, we started early on the second day to cover Shinsaibashi later in the evening. We had a straightforward western breakfast before traveling to Tennoji's Ebisucho station on the Sakaisuji line. We took full advantage of the Osaka Amazing Pass on the second day.
We visited the Tsutenkaku Tower to enjoy the panoramic view of the Shitennoji area from the observatory deck in the morning. However, we were unable to enjoy the nostalgic Shinsekai (Osaka's new world) experience from pre-WWII, as most of the shops remained closed. The tower was constructed in 1912 after Paris' Eiffel Tower and also homed 'Wakuwaku Land,' which brings the big name Glico.
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| You can find many of these in Japan |
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| Wishlists to the Buddha in the tower |
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| Shinsekai in the morning |
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| Wakuwaku Land is located in the ground floor |
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| Miniaturize a model of the past era. |
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| We will search for this Osaka city sign in Shinsaibashi later |
Walking to the east, we reached Japan's first Buddhist temple, constructed by Prince Shoutoku. The entrance ticket covers the main
temple, but we are
most delighted with the garden, Gokuraku-
Jodo. It took us
awhile to find the entrance, as it was located
on the backside of the main temple. Once we were in, we really had a breathtaking
greener view of the garden. Too bad, it would be more awesome if it was a spring season!
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| The Shitennoji Temple entrance |
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| Everything is odd, 5-story pagoda |
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| The main temple |
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| The Gokuraku-jodo, also known as Honbo Garden |
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| The stream was crystal clear. Rasa macam nak berendam je. |
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| The garden |
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| The Treasure House kept the paintings, scriptures, and other valuable belongings. |
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| Another courtyard surrounded the inner precinct |
By noon, we made our move to Osaka Castle. The
Tanimachi line takes us to the
Tanimachi Yonchome station, which is a 10-minute walk to the Osaka Museum of History situated next to NHK Osaka. This museum exhibits the chronicle history of when Osaka
began as Japan's first capital and site of Naniwa Palace and through the modernization of the city. I just realized that actually visitors can have an excellent view of the Osaka Castle from the top floor :-(
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| The exhibition begins from the highest floor |
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| Too bad.. The museum's lack of English explanation |
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| The Chamberlain |
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| Some of the artifacts kept in the museum |
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| The Naniwa Palace Model |
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| Naniwa used to be the capital city. |
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| The Samurai Sword |
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| Modernization of Osaka City |
We literally enjoy the puzzle games in the museum until it takes us to realize that we are running out of time. We are supposed to be at Osaka Castle by noon since we need to catch the Aqua-Liner Pier. An hour Okinawa river cruise should take us towing around Osaka city and bound for Yodobashi pier. Anyway, we need to pay extra charges for the boat cruise, as it is only entitled to a special rate using the Osaka Amazing Pass.
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| Yeah! Done my jigsaw puzzle of Naniwa temple |
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| Finally, Nu'man able to finish the poultry puzzle with the help of 'magic hand.' |
This 2nd day was really a 12-hour full-day trip and we were able to make full use of the Osaka Amazing Pass. I would suggest for anyone visiting this city to get the pass and maybe extend it for another one or two days to really enjoy Osaka City.
The Tonbori River Cruise experience
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