My wife and I explored Dotonbori every night in Osaka. We went on a food and drink tour. Went down hidden alleys and streets with shrines of most covered buddhas, hanging red lanterns, and candles. We loved Osaka. If Tokyo was the mega city and Kyoto was the small town vibes, Osaka was the medium sized but very alive city. It was like Tokyo’s dirtier, grungier, rocker brother. If Tokyo felt like a futuristic city, then Osaka felt like an American version of a Japanese City.
Still we loved it and would highly recommend it.
Our room in Osaka
Our room was small. Very small. All of our rooms have been a bed that takes up most of the room, a desk and a small bathroom. As budget travelers we have to be okay with small rooms. We really aren't spending anytime in the room so we are okay with small accommodations. Obviously Abby fits everywhere nicely. Me, on the other hand, well I find myself ducking or hitting my head a lot. If I come back with a hunch you'll know why.
Free Food and Drink Tours
Osaka is known as the kitchen of Japan and that it was. We had the best food there. On a free tour we had:
Cabbage pancakes with veggies and protein called okonomiaki;
made our own takoyai (octopus balls);
fried vegetables, incredible marinated japanese bbq cooked at the table with 3 different kinds of sake.
On our tour were two gals in their late 20s from Israel and one gal from the US named Nancy. It took a stop or two for us to start talking more, but it was fun the whole time. The tour guide did a wonderful job of guiding us through the food, drink, history, culture, and language.
As we walked by a famous theatre, she shared with us that her grandmother was a famous Comedian in Osaka who performed there many times. She said she didn't get the public speaking gene but enjoys guiding small groups of people on tours. I understand that. I get stage fright too, but small groups are good. She had an awesome sense of humor. She looked no older than 43, but shared that she was a grandma at 55. She said she loved being a tour guide on the side to show people her city that she is passionate about. Her day job is working in sales for Disney. Says she recently went to Orlando for a big sales conference.
In Osaka they have these massive buildings where you would expect each door or each floor to be an office but each floor is filled with 20-30 themed restaurants and bars. We settled into a shiny black-bricked Japanese whiskey bar.
If you go to Osaka, don’t skip the ice cream either or the donuts, cream-filled with oreo cream.
Tiger Temple, St. Mary's Cathedral, Animal Cafe, Sushi, Guitar, Onsen
Guitar Break
Onsen
Onsen at the hotel: Met Szilamer, a civil engineer, who lived in Calgary. We became best friends instantly, moving from 5 mins in the hot tub to 3 minutes in the freezing cold buckets together continuing our conversations about the bullet train, then life in US and Canada vs. Japan, then cool things we’ve seen and done in our travels.
Don’t wait until you’re about to leave the country to experience an Onsen or a Seito. Both are public baths. You can enter with a towel but you shower first to get clean then enter the hot, warm, and cool baths, and sauna naked. We were nervous about it, but it was quite liberating. Plus everyone else was naked and it wasn't a big deal. The buildup is always scarier than the real thing, isn’t it? It’s very relaxing. If you are walking around a lot. Go to an onsen/sento everyday if you can. It will refresh you.
Tamatsukuri Catholic Church: St. Mary’s Cathedral (Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception)
This church is a must see. Outside on either side of the entrance are statues of saints during the Shogun or Samurai period. The first statue: Blessed Justo Takayama Ukon
Was a samurai who was born into a feudal lord family in 1552 and was baptized at the age of 12. As a Feudal Lord (Shogun) he openly protected and professed Catholicism. He fought in many battles over the decades. Eventually, in 1614, the Emperor Tokugawa Ieyasu outlawed Christianity and Blessed Justo was asked to renounce his faith. He refused knowing they would take his and his family’s land, money and role in society away. They accepted this willingly and were exiled with hundreds of other Japanese Christrians to Malaysia.
There is also a memorial out front to what happened in Fatima, Portugal in 1917 when an apparition of the Virgin Mary appeared to 3 children under the age of 11 and told many things, among which was that she would appear on certain date. Word spread about the prophecy, and it is recorded that 50,000-70,000 people were in attendance to witness something. Believers, atheists, young and old, men and women, and everyone in-between attended to either witness a miracle or to prove the children wrong and ridicule them and their story, but something did happen and it was recorded in the newspapers by the atheist journalists.
It is known as the miracle of the sun. It is well documented. According to Brittanica it has been described as a miraculous solar phenomenon where the Sun appears to be falling towards the Earth. It has also been described that a veil fell over the Sun making it easy to look at and it appeared as though the Sun was dancing in the sky. This stunned and scared people until after 10 minutes the Sun appeared to set back where it should be and there was an explosion of joy from the crowd. It is also documented that it was raining that day, torrential downpour, and when the miracle started, everyone was instantly dry. This occurred after the last apparition shared with the children that the final battle between Christ and Satan would be fought over marriage and the family. Other requests conveyed by the apparition of our Lady include recitation of the Rosary for world peace, and sacrifices on behalf of sinners (who know not what they do).
This event was a direct and very convincing contradiction to the atheistic regimes at the time, which is evidenced by the fact that the first newspaper to report on the miracle on a full front page was an anti-catholic, masonic newspaper in Lisbon called O Seculo. For more information about this incredible event check out this link from the MagisCenter.
Each time the Virgin Mary apparition appeared to the children she urged the children and the world to pray. This is consistent with all the Virgin Mary's apparition appearances throughout history. She also appears in whatever ethnicity of people she is appearing to. There are many notable ones and they all involve miracles of Christ acting through our Lady: Our Lady of Guadalupe, Our Lady of Lourdes, Our Lady of LaSalette, etc.
On the other side of the entrance is Hosokawa Gracia. Blessed Justo was named Blessed by Pope Francis in 2017. Hosokawa story is a bit different, but still interesting. Here is link if you want to read more about her: https://thesengokuarchives.com/2021/04/16/a-case-for-canonization-hosokawa-gracia/
Brief History of Christian Evangelization in Japan in the 16th and 17th Century
Christianity was first introduced to Japan in 1549 by the Jesuit missionary Francis Xavier and other Portuguese Catholic missionaries and traders.
Here's a brief overview of how Christianity spread in Japan initially:
In 1549, Francis Xavier arrived in Kagoshima and was granted permission by the local daimyo (feudal lord) to preach Christianity.
Xavier and other Jesuit missionaries like Cosme de Torres made many converts, especially among the peasant population, in Kyushu and parts of western Japan in the 1550s.
By the 1570s-1580s, there were perhaps around 100,000 Japanese converts to Catholicism.
The Christian outreach efforts received some support from powerful daimyo like Ōmura Sumitada who converted.
In 1585, Toyotomi Hideyoshi became regent and initially tolerated the Christian missionary activities.
However, by the 1590s Hideyoshi grew wary of the Christian presence and foreign influence and began restricting missionary actions.
Despite some persecution, Christianity continued growing, hitting around 300,000 adherents by the early 1600s.
Brief History of Christian Persecution in Japan in the 16th and 17th Century
Here are some estimates on the scale of Christian exile during this time:
In 1597, the famous "26 Martyrs of Japan" were crucified in Nagasaki, marking the start of the persecution era. This included 6 Franciscan missionaries and 20 Japanese Christians.
In 1614, when the anti-Christian edict was issued, it's believed there were around 300,000 Christian converts in Japan.
In 1613-1614, over 100 Christians, both foreign missionaries and Japanese converts, were executed in the Sendai Domain by torture or burning at the stake.
The "Great Martyrdom" in 1622 saw 52 Christians burned at the stake.
From 1624-1642, regular public executions took place in Nagasaki and Edo (Tokyo), often by torture, burning or crucifixion. Hundreds perished annually.
The "Martyrs of Nagasaki" in 1632 saw 16 Christians decapitated.
In 1637-38, the Shimabara Rebellion of 37,000 Christian peasants was crushed, with thousands executed afterward.
Over 200 cases of individual executions are recorded between 1625-1650 for not apostatizing.
Some sources estimate the total number of Japanese Christians who went into exile between 1614-1650 may have reached 10,000 to 30,000 people.
However, many other Japanese Catholics opted to practice their faith secretly rather than face exile. The famous Kakure Kirishitan ("hidden Christians") practiced their religion in secret for generations. If you watch the movie, Silence, directed by Martin Scorsese startting Adam Driver, Andrew Garfield, and Liam Neeson, you will witness this brutal and significant time in Japanese and Christian history.
Overall historians estimate that between 3,000 to 10,000 Japanese Christians were likely executed by authorities for their religious beliefs during the first century of the Tokugawa shogunate's harsh crackdown on Christianity. The large-scale executions sharply reduced the Christian population in Japan by the 1660s.
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