It's cold in Osaka. As you may remember, I started this journey in December, planning to visit the US. So, I packed two warm blouses, 2 pullovers (sweaters to Americans) and warm trousers. This morning, I got them all out of the suitcase under the bed.
Awoke after about 3 hours of sleep (St Patrick's Day party +) and got ready to go to Nara, the old imperial city. At the Namba station I ran into Sandrine, the French hostess aboard and 3 of the pursers who were going to the Osaka castle - I had forgotten about it. Quick change of plans.
Sandrine is Parisian - chic, self-assured (aren't they all?) and lots of fun. She sings in the crew talent shows and I hope she will do M'LORD next time.
She charmed a subway ticket agent and he escorted us to the correct line. Two trains and lots of stairs from the subway to the street, we emerged into the rain. If I thought there were lots of stairs coming out of the subway, they were nothing compared to the stairs to and inside the castle.
There is an elevator in the castle, with a sign saying, "Elevator does not open on this floor". Unfortunately, it was the same sign on every floor. So, I climbed and climbed and realized that I should be doing more stair climbing on a regular basis. I will, I promise, as soon as the blisters heal.
The castle, used in the tv movie SHOGUN, is beautiful, if formidable. On a promontory and surrounded by a moat, the setting makes it easy to imagine the shogun wars and the defense.
Inside, there is a museum which details the history of the castle with exquisite exhibitions including screen panels, about 12 feet wide (about 4 m) based on fragments of a screen dating from the 16th century. It took the artist 5 years to complete. My favorite "room" was a recreation of the shogun's golden tea salon - small and perfect.
There were Shinto shrines outside and I took a minute to say a prayer. Later, I stood on the castle wall, loking down at a zen garden with cherry trees beginning to blossom and birds singing,and was mesmerized by the tranquility emanating from it - this in the middle of a mega-city with gridlock despite 8-lane highways.
In the evening, back on the ship, HORIZONS, a 3-man Motown group performed in the Royal Court Theater and one of the singers came down, had me stand up and then told the audience that he had been looking for me, I was his ex-wife. He kept up the routine for about 2 minutes leading into the song SHOUT. He is so gorgeous and sings so well, I would never have let him get away.
Nagasaki is very much like a small Osaka. I did not go to any memorials but spent quite a bit of time at the Glover Garden. Glover was a 19th century merchant who established a fishing company in Nagasaki and founded a dynasty there. He build a Western-style house on the land overlooking the harbour.
Beginning in the 1970's, I think, the park was established and other Western-style houses in Nagasaki were dismantled and rebuilt in the garden. There is a statue of Giacomo Puccini, author of tragic-heroine operas, especially MADAME BUTTERFLY, set in Nagasaki and apparently based on real people. The fountains and waterways within the park, along with birds singing, reminded me of the Osaka castle gardens.
As I was feeding the largest goldfish I have ever seen, a camera crew approached and asked where I was from. When I said, "Washington, D.C.", an interview followed.
In the 1920"s the Japanese government presented a large number of cherry trees - sakura - to the American people. The trees were planted along the Potomac river and there is a festival every year when they blossom. It is a magnificent sight and one of my fondest memories of Washington.
So, on April 25th and May 2nd, my interview will be broadcast on Japanese satellite tv and the internet. Autographs will be available shortly thereafter.
Shanghai tomorrow but not for me - no visa.
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