#The fall of Osaka Castle

[playitagin]

1615-Siege of Osaka

The siege of Osaka(大坂の役, Ōsaka no Eki, or, more commonly, 大坂の陣 Ōsaka no Jin) was a series of battles undertaken by the Japanese Tokugawa shogunate against the Toyotomi clan, and ending in that clan's destruction. Divided into two stages (winter campaign and summer campaign), and lasting from 1614 to 1615, the siege put an end to the last major armed opposition to the shogunate's establishment.

*(left)  Toyotomi Hideyori (豊臣 秀頼, August 28, 1593 - June 4, 1615) was the son and designated successor of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the general who first united all of Japan. His mother, Yodo-dono, was the niece of Oda Nobunaga.

*(right) Yodo-dono (淀殿) or Yodogimi (淀君) (1569 – June 4, 1615) was a prominently placed figure in the late-Sengoku period. She was a concubine and second wife of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and Hideyori's mother, who was then the most powerful man in Japan.

* The fall of Osaka Castle: On June 5, 1615, Tokugawa attacked Osaka Castle, an attack known as "the summer Siege of Osaka". After another series of shogunate victories on the outskirts of Osaka, the summer campaign came to a head at the battle of Tennōji. The smaller force led directly by Hideyori sallied forth from Osaka Castle too late, and was chased right back into the castle by the advancing enemies; there was no time to set up a proper defense of the castle, and it was soon ablaze and pummeled by artillery fire.

Hideyori and Yodo-dono took refuge in a fireproof warehouse, as much of the castle was in flames. Ōno Harunaga sent Hideyori's wife, Senhime, with his father Hidetada to be forgiven, and to plead for the life of her husband and mother-in-law. Without waiting for answers, Toyotomi Hideyori and Yodo-dono committed seppuku in the flames of Osaka castle, ending the Toyotomi legacy.

The final major uprising against Tokugawa rule was put to an end, leaving the shogunate unchallenged for approximately 250 years.

#Jun.4.1615 #date of death #Toyotomi Hideyori #Yodogimi #The fall of Osaka Castle #end of Toyotomi clan #history today

[wanderlustfuldays]

Osaka Castle Osaka, Japan

#japan #2023 #jpn23 #osaka23 #osaka #photography #places #lensblr #photographers on tumblr #photo #travel #wanderlust #travel photography #architecture #buildings #castle #palace #trees #autumn #fall

[karin0punx]

Autumn in Osaka

Osaka-jo, Osaka, Japan.

Friday, 02 December 2022.

#Osaka #Osaka-jo #Osaka Castle #大阪 #大阪城 #日本 #Japan #Autumn #Fall #Photography #Street Photography #Solo Travel #Solo Trip #Traveling #Trip #Trip to Japan #day-3

[fallauween]

autumn at Osaka castle by Marcel Bisig

#osaka #castle #japan #fujifilm #fall #autumn #tree #trees #foliage #clouds #sky #japanese #flickr #Autumn Aesthetic #Autumncore #Fall Aesthetic #Autumn Cozy #Fall Blog #Photography

[demonslayedher]

Sugoroku: The High-Key Divorce AU

While @reicchel / @sweetreichel was visiting, I wanted to play KnY Sugoroku (which is essentially Shoots and Ladders with events, and it also happens to be Zenitsu's favorite game). You might recall I have two game board versions from pizza boxes and one from the Osaka Metro collab, but I got a wonderfully terrible idea.

Instead of playing one board, we played all three.

With ten characters.

We stayed up until 3am whispering and choked for air as we nearly died laughing, being the silly fangirls we are.

(Read more below for the digest, with a few illustrations)

Also, you might recall that she has inspired a lot of my Low-Key Married GiyuShino AU ideas. That spelled trouble. She wanted to play Giyuu since he is her favorite, and I always play Shinobu. Right away, we kept spelling more trouble as we started assembling the rest of the teams.

So that was our set-up. Giyuu and Shinobu were getting a divorce.

Giyuu assembled some Pillars on his team (it was him, Inosuke, Rengoku, Uzui, and Murata), while Shinobu took most of the kids (it was her, Tanjiro, Nezuko, Kanao, and Zenitsu.

On the first turn, everyone but Murata wound up on the same square, mostly for having fought some demons in a castle and advancing there. Murata got a stomachache after eating too many Osaka specialty foods.

We very soon determined that the reason for this divorce was a very terrible argument over baseball.

You see, Giyuu landed on the square that says "yay, you watched a baseball game and your team won, move forward two spaces" while Shinobu landed on the square that says "you watched a baseball game and your team lost, go back one space." She landed here twice. The only other time I played this Sugoroku board, she also landed here, and spent the rest of the game being very sour about it. At least in the realm of my Sugoroku canon, Shinobu is VERY invested in her baseball team.

So this was a disaster waiting to happen. The only other character to land on these spaces was Tanjiro, whose team lost, so we understood why he initially took Shinobu's side in the divorce. Giyuu didn't have to gloat!! However much the loss stings, though, Tanjiro is a forgiving person, and he spends most of the game trying to get them to reconcile.

Rengoku also becomes invested in trying to get them to reconcile. He lands on the "lose one turn shopping in Osaka" square right after Giyuu does, and Rengoku loses that turn because he's talking Giyuu out of making things worse by purchasing huge amounts of baseball merch to gloat and rub things in.

Uzui, however, at times later in the game became very invested in keeping them divorced when Giyuu was desiring reconciliation. He's competitive and on Giyuu's team and doesn't want to lose, after all. Granted, this is only after Uzui has had some major setbacks after having spent the first half of the game constantly rolling sixes and staying ahead of everybody (except Nezuko, how in the world did she gain on him so fast??? Didn't she fall asleep on the wrong train somewhere?? (She did.)).

Ah, yes. At the end of the Osaka board there's a "a strong demon appears, retreat for now! Go back one space" square. When Rengoku landed here, we could only assume it was Akaza, though it wouldn't be characteristic for Rengoku to retreat. However, he joined Giyuu on that square he retreated to, and in the following turns they both rolled 3's and advanced to the following board. We interpreted this as the two of them having teamed up and defeated Akaza together.

By the time Shinobu got stuck at this space a couple times, though, nobody was there to help her. She fell further and further behind, preparing herself for what was likely to be her final battle, against Douma. She's had a really long day--her baseball team losing, getting divorced--but somehow she barely survives this battle that should had killed her! Now what? What does she have left to live for?

Right after this, Inosuke landed on a "Shinobu helps you (with medical treatment), lose 1 turn" space, but we flipped the tables and decided Inosuke went back to help Shinobu instead, since she's in bad shape. This helps her at the start of the first of the two Pizza-La boards, and Inosuke thereafter has totally forgotten there were different teams in the first place. Shinobu soon goes on to get stuck in a long, repetitive argument with Haganezuka. She's having a very, very, very long day. (Later I accidentally moved her to the wrong space because we were having a very long night. I then moved her to the correct one, where she lost a turn because all the other Pillars were very disappointed in her for cheating.)

Very early on in the Osaka Metro board, Kanao beat Rengoku in a speed bentou eating contest. He was very impressed and immediately asked her to be his Tsuguko, which she declined. On the second Pizza-la board, she and Rengoku are also the only ones to land on the "the bentou is umai! move forward 3 spaces!" square. Every time Rengoku sees her, he greets her as his Tsuguko, but she simply says "I'm not your Tsuguko." (This is all fun and games until you realize Kanao probably gained her skills for eating that fast because when she was little if she didn't eat fast, she probably didn't eat at all.)

One of those other chance rolls is "Fix a train with Giyuu! If you roll a 2, you succeed, move forward two spaces! If you roll a 6, you failed, move back three spaces." Murata landed here. Giyuu was already on the following game board by then, so he tossed him a wrench. Murata rolled a 6, so the wrench hit him in the head.

Nezuko continued moving very smoothly through this game, though she did get a little stuck when she kept startling a Kakushi and had to go back to the square before. She won pretty early (giving Shinobu some satisfaction that her team won), and Kanao joined the Winner's Circle not long after (giving Shinobu even more satisfaction).

Zenitsu was just kind of Zenitsu and didn't do anything especially interesting in the game. He joined Nezuko-chan in the Winner's Circle without much difficulty. Inosuke also didn't have much trouble.

Funny, the kids were generally doing much better than the Pillars were. I think Murata even joined them around the middle of the game, but I forgot when because no one pays that much attention to Murata.

Not Tanjiro though. Tanjiro sucks at this game.

Roughly one after another, Uzui, Giyuu, and Tanjiro all hit the same "return to start" Muzan square at the end of the second board.

So, since it's canonical, we had them all lose arms (but gain experience, as Rengoku went on to continuously remind Tanjiro). We did spare them having to go back to the previous board, though, and instead had them go back to the start of that second board. They struggled their way through with some low roles, but in a tender turn of events, Giyuu and Tanjiro both landed on the "you pass Urokodaki's training, go forward two spaces" square. How touching that Urokodaki was able to see that they had survived the encounter with Muzan! He helped them work on one-handed techniques. Uzui, however, avoided that square because one-handed or not, he's awesome and doesn't need training.

Shortly after this, although Shinobu's day doesn't improved much, Tanjiro lands on the "receive medical treatment from Shinobu, lose one turn" square. She is stunned to see Tanjiro in this state, and then in comes Giyuu, too. Giyuu, by this time, is desperate to try to patch things up with Shinobu, but Shinobu knocks him out with medicine while giving him medical treatment. She's very worked up about his condition, out of concern for him as a Pillar. After all, they are Pillars first, and whatever-they-were second. Uzui skips the medical treatment square; he's awesome and doesn't need it.

So eventually--a long eventually--later, everyone left winds up kind of around the same spot on the third game board. Rengoku and Tanjiro wind up on the same square and Rengoku is using that chance to teach Tanjiro some Breath technique to help them against Muzan, who must be showing up soon. Shinobu lands shortly ahead of them, and then Giyuu winds up there too.

Alone together at last!! At long last!!!

They has things out, they patch things up, and they agree never to speak about baseball ever again. Rengoku and Tanjiro have been eavesdropping from their square and they cheer. Uzui just wants to hurry up and get this game over with.

They all wind up moving like a pack toward those last squares. They are ready to face Muzan together!

And they are all fine, except for Uzui, who blazed ahead of everyone only to wind up losing an eye to Muzan this time and having to start over on this third game board. Everyone watches from the Winner's Circle and goads him as he grumbles his way around the board, including landing on the "the Pillars put pressure on you, lose a turn" square. So it was like everyone who wasn't already in the winner's circle assembled just to shake at their head at him and be disappointed in his for letting his ego get out of control.

But you can't keep a good Uzui down. He then lands on the "Go forth flamboyantly with Uzui! Go forward 4 spaces!" square, which helps him find his stride, and this time he plows through Kibutsuji Muzan. The end.

#kny silliness #GiyuShino Low Key Married AU #kny sugoroku #my dumb art #but I love that face on Giyuu so much

[tvdramas]

✽  —  [  he/him, trans man, 32  ]  —  this season on barbosa rules, the crew will be following [ castle veteran ], the wonderful [ keiji furukawa ] ! they are working as a [ bartender at nymphas club ] this summer, and have travelled all the way from [ osaka, japan ] to do so! rumor has it, they [ participate in a not-so-legal fighting ring ] . silvia barbosa knows them to be [ impatient & disorganized ] , but they make up for it by being [ confident & loyal ] .

001. STATISTICS …

GENERAL DETAILS.

FULL NAME: keiji furukawa. NICKNAME(S): kei. AGE:   thirty2. DATE OF BIRTH:   october 21st, 1991. PLACE OF BIRTH:  osaka, japan. CURRENT LOCATION:  persephon�� fortress. GENDER:  trans man. PRONOUNS:  he/him. ORIENTATION:  bisexual. OCCUPATION:  bartender @ nymphas club.

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE, ETC.

HEIGHT:  5'8. TATTOOS:   wouldn't you like to know? PIERCINGS: none. CLOTHING STYLE:  good question! whatever is clean at the moment.

HEALTH.

ALLERGIES:   none. SLEEPING HABITS:   terrible. non-existent sleep schedule. SOCIABILITY:  8/10. extroverted. DRINKING / SMOKING / DRUGS: socially / yes / socially. MISC:  hard of hearing and does not use hearing instruments. uses sign language when possible and reads lips. 

PERSONALITY.

TRAITS:  aggressive, nosy, ruthless, unorganized, confident, abrasive, hard mouthed, impatient, insincere, loyal. LIKES:  fights, making fun lil drinks, classic literature. DISLIKES:  being told what to do, thinking of home, losing. FEARS:  none that he (i) can think of. HABITS:  smoking, lying. HOBBIES:  video games.  

FAMILY, RELATIONSHIPS, ETC.

BIOLOGICAL PARENTS:  dead. ADOPTIVE PARENTS:  estranged. SIGNIFICANT OTHER:  none. BEST FRIEND:  tba. EXES:  tba. SIBLING(S):  yuji & renji, estranged. CHILDREN:  none. PET(S):  a goldfish named hammerhead.

002. BIOGRAPHY / HEADCANONS (very quick and very messy)…

[  trigger warnings:  parental death, violence.  ]

middle child... parents died when he was 7 in a disastrous house fire. older brother yuji got him and their younger brother, renji, out before it was impossible to go back in and get their parents. 

they were sent to live with their maternal grandparents who outright didn't like their daughter's choices (ie... marrying the man that she did) so they were a little wary of taking in her children. in the end, they decided they were only capable of properly raising yuji since he was the oldest and could take care of himself to some degree. in frustration, the night that decision was made, yuji and keiji got into a physical fight. 

after some time in temporary homes, renji was adopted by a foreign family and moved out of the country with them, while kei was taken in by a rich family in the pharmaceutical business

his adoptive parents wanted him to follow strictly in their footsteps, but kei was never one who really enjoyed doing so. he always acted out to the point that his parents gave up on him and had him sent to various boarding schools. 

etc etc etc at some point in his teen years he became close with someone who taught him how to fight properly, and he really, truly enjoyed getting into fights. why? idk don't look too deep into it he's sooo normal.

blah blah blah . he ends up travelling with some (much richer) friends as a new adult. does not go to college because fuck that noise... ends up settling in greece and hopping between bartending stints for a while

very much enjoys his lil job here. it's fun! he meets new people all the time and gets to fool around with people and make his silly lil drinks and if he clocks in with a black eye or fresh stitches, please mind your business. he does not participate in a fight club what gave you that idea. leave him alone. 

003. CONNECTION GUIDE …

PLATONIC unfortunately for everyone else, keiji is a very all or nothing type of person. it's either he likes you enough to get into bed with you or he hates you (likes you?) enough to punch your lights out. very few people fall into this middle category, but rest assured that he will literally kill for you if needed. fiercely protective over the few friends he does have. attack dog vibes you know? ROMANTIC keiji will sleep with people and pretend like he doesn't know them the next day. bad news: if you show keiji one ounce of affection even if it is a normal interaction misinterpreted as such, he will be at your door every day like a lost dog. if you somehow manage to figure him out, anyone that he sees as a threat against you (physically, metaphorically, whatever) … they're so done... he's got that attachment + abandonment issues combo, do with that what you will.  ANTAGONISTIC he's will seek out 'enemies' if only for attention and to instigate a fight (physical, verbal, whatever...). will punch first! but mostly he wants to goad others into hitting him so he can hit back. if you are his friend, your enemies are now his enemies. 

#mhq * intro

[samuraifacts]

Yukimura and Shakespeare

So, because time is hard to imagine across continents, I want you all to remember something. Shakespeare, and Sanada Yukimura were contemporaries. Shakespeare died in 1616, one year AFTER the fall of Osaka castle and 16 years after Sekigahara.

#Sanada Yukimura #yukimura sanada #william shakespeare #shakespeare

[rike0528]

Nach einer Nacht, in der wir wieder gut schlafen konnten (und euch die schlaflose Nacht im Bus auch ein wenig vom Jetleg geheilt wurden), war gestern unser erster voller Tag in Osaka.

Wir begannen mit einem Ausflug zum Osaka Castle, bei dem wir ungeplant den halben Tag verbrachten. Das Gelände lud zum Schlendern ein. Und im Gegensatz zu Tokyo gibt es hier auch fast überall Bänke und Sitzgelegenheiten zum verweilen, snacken und pausieren! Insgesamt macht Osaka einen weniger formellen Eindruck, sondern wirkt entspannter und weniger streng. Es wird auch mal im Gehen oder in der Bahn gegessen, die Leute rauchen auf der Straße (wobei ich die rauchfreien Straßen in Tokyo extrem gut fand!) und auch der Kleidungsstil der Menschen ist weniger formell.

Zurück zum Castle: wir landeten im Pflaumen-Hain. Die Pflaumen blühen etwas eher und vermutlich durch die zurückliegenden milden Januartage, haben schon viele Bäume begonnen zu blühen. Auf dem Weg konnten wir auch die ersten Warzen Sakura(Kirsch)-Blüten sehen!! Wenn die dann in voller Blüte stehen und die Korschblütensaison los geht, werden aber auch einige Menschen mehr unterwegs sein! Wir sind gespannt, ob wir die Gelegenheit bekommen, das zu vergleichen! Wir wollen auf jeden Fall Ende der Woche nochmal zu den Pflaumen, weil sie uns so gut gefallen haben! Außerdem wurden wir auch interviewt von einem jungen Mann aus Osaka, der mit Reisenden spricht. Das war auch ein etwas seltsames Gefühl, aber ein sehr sehr nettes Gespräch!!!

Abends ging es dann noch nach Dotonbori! Dem Streetfood-Viertel! Nora traute sich an echte Takoyaki und wir kosteten allerlei frittiertes Gemüse Okonomiyaki (Ei-Teig-Irgendwas mit diversen Füllungen)

[dayseternal-blog]

☆ Share 3 fun facts about you, then pass this to three of your mutuals! ☆

:D Thank you alexis513, @happyocelot, and @lavdiiaa for the tag/ask!! 💖

I was in Japan last week! We went to Universal Studios Japan in Osaka for a day. Then in Kyoto, we went to Arashiyama, Kiyomizu-dera, Teramachi & Shinkyogoku, and Fushimi Inari Taisha. Last we went to Shirahama, Kimiidera, Doujou-ji, and Wakayama Castle in Wakayama! We were so busy.

I just finished reading a short book while on the trip: The Sound of Waves by Yukio Mishima. It was the most wonderful little love story about two young teens who fall in love but the girl's father objects to their relationship due to an awful rumor. With the counsel and support of their role models, the two of them hold out for the day they can be together again.

I took these pics of early-blooming sakura at Doujou-ji. It was raining all day, but Japan is super lovely in the rain. These are probably the best pictures I've ever taken of sakura.

#alexis513 #happyocelot #lavdiiaa #tag game #ask game #about me #3 fun facts

[kei-zama]

ULTRAMAN: MYSTERY OF ULTRASEVEN #5 COVER

Finally the proper image of ULTRAMAN: MYSTERY OF ULTRASEVEN #5's cover was uploaded to Previews page! I'm so happy I could work with Josh Burcham again! I really hope we can do more Marvel works together!

I was said I can choose favorite Kaiju from classic series, it wasn’t easy to decide but I chose the most favorite one, Gomora. I made some layout sketches of King Joe version, anyway I drew Ultraman & Ultraseven vs Gomora.

At first there were Osaka castle on line art, but it was deleted by a kind of reason. haha

The story of Gomora in Ultraman series is one of my favorite story. It was kinda… Strange? Weird? Funny?? Sentimental??? Anyway interesting story, Gomora was not bad guy but just troubled by human's ego. And SSSP doesn't work and Ultraman/Hayata had stupid mistake (is he keeping beta capsule while being Ultraman?? And why does it fall so easily lol,) the scene of Osaka Castle was destroyed completely, I could not help laughing, honestly. And that's why I wanted to add Osaka Castle, the second victim of this story.

Story aside, Gomora is the coolest look and powerful, my favorite Kaiju of Ultra series so far. Pleasure to draw Gomora for the official comic cover!

ULTRAMAN: MYSTERY OF ULTRASEVEN #5

Line art: Kei Zama

Colors: Josh Burcham

Client: Marvel Comics

Release date: March 1, 2023

#works #cover art #kei zama #josh burcham #ultraman #ultraseven #ultraman: the mystery of ultraseven #gomora #kaiju #tokusastu #toku

[live-the-fangirl-life]

i would love if you'd shared everything that might be in aelin's list in a world away, all the dream places she wants to go or already went 🤧🥺

First of all - I am so sorry it’s taken me so long to answer this ask 😭

Second - this list is in no way complete. I could probably double it if I gave it some more time (and maybe I’ll edit this post and add some later) but I wanted to answer this ask.

Third - some things listed are cities, some are attractions, some are landmarks or monuments…it’s really a mix of everything. And some major landmarks that cover more than one country are only listed once.

A World Away

So, without further ado, please enjoy

Aelin’s Incomplete and Ever-Adapting World Travel List ✈️

Antarctica

Argentina

Iguazú Falls // Patagonia // Rainbow Mountains // Buenos Aires

Australia

Melbourne // Sydney // Gold Coast // Great Barrier Reef // Adelaide

Austria

Vienna // Salzburg // Hallstatt

the Bahamas

Belgium

Bruges // Brussels

Belize

the Great Blue Hole

Bhutan

the Himalayas

Bolivia

Salar de Uyuni

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Stari Most Bridge // Mostar

Brazil

Rio de Janeiro // Christ the Redeemer // Amazon Rainforest // Lençóis Maranhenses National Park // Sao Paolo

Bulgaria

Cambodia

Angkor Wat

Canada

Niagra Falls // Vancouver // Banff // Toronto

Chile

Easter Island // Torres del Paine National Park // Marble Caves

China

Great Wall of China // Beijing // Shanghai // the Summer Palace // Potala Palace // Tianmen Mountain // Reed Flute Caves // Zhanye Danxia

Costa Rica

San Jose

Croatia

Dalmatian Coast // Diocletian's Palace // Krka waterfall park // Plitvice Lakes // Zagreb

Cuba

Havana

Czech Republic

Prague

Denmark

Copenhagan

Dominican Republic

Ecuador

Quito // Galapagos Islands

Egypt

Cairo // The Great Pyramids & Sphinx // Nile River // Valley of the Kings // Luxor // Aswan

England

London // Thames River // Stonehenge

Estonia

Tallinn

Fiji

Finland

Helsinki

France

Mont-Saint-Michel // Louvre // Eiffel Tower // Alsace Lorraine // Paris // Notre Dame // Sacre Coeur // Versailles // Nice

French Polynesia

Bora Bora // Tahiti

Germany

Munich // Berlin // Black Forest // Oktoberfest // Neuschwanstein Castle

Greece

Santorini // Athens // Parthenon // Roman Agora // Acropolis // Mykonos // Oia // Fira // Corfu // Meteora

Greenland

Hong Kong

Tsim Sha Tsui

Hungary

Budapest // Capitol Hill // Bath Houses

Iceland

Reykjavik // Northern Lights // Egilsstaðir //Ring Road // Blue Lagoon // Vatnajökull National Park // Kirkjufell // Húsavík // Akureyri // Thingvellir National Park

Italy

Roman Colosseum // Amalfi Coast // Florence Duomo // Venice at Carnival // Piazzale Michelangelo // Cinque Terre // Pisa // Venice // Pompeii // Milan

India

Taj Mahal // Varanasi & Ganges River // Golden Temple // Agra // Mumbai // New Delhi

Indonesia

Bali // Komodo Island // Blue Flames at Ijen Volcano // Jarkarta

Iran

Hall of Diamonds

Ireland & Northern Ireland

Cliffs of Moher // Giants Causeway // Galway // Blarney Stone // Trinity College // O'Neills // Belfast // Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge // Cobh

Isreal

Dead Sea // Jerusalem

Jamaica

Japan

Tokyo // Mount Fuji // Wisteria Gardens // Osaka // Kyoto

Jordan

Petra // Amman

Kazakhstan

Kenya

Maasai Mara National Park // Lake Victoria

Kyrgyzstan

Luxembourg

Madagascar

Avenue of the Baobabs

Malaysia

Kuala Lumpur // Batu Caves

the Maldives

Male

Malta

Valletta

Mexico

Cabo // Teotihuacán // Chichen Itza // Cabo // Yucatan Peninsula // Mexico City

Mongolia

Gobi Desert

Morocco

Casablanca // Hassan II Mosque // Marrakesh // Chefchaouen // Sahara Desert

Myanmar

Bagan's Temples

Namibia

Nepal

Mount Everest // Kathmandu

the Netherlands

Amsterdam // Van Gogh Museum // Tulip Festival

New Zealand

Auckland // Queenstown // Kawarau Suspension Bridge // Milford Sound // Tongariro National Park // Hobbitton // Dark Sky Sanctuary // Waitomo Caves

Nigeria

Lagos

Norway

Oslo

Panama

Panama City

Peru

Machu Picchu & Huayna Picchu // Lima // Aguas Calientes // Andes Mountains // Huacachina

Philippines

Palawan // Manila

Poland

Krakow

Portugal

Lisbon

Romania

Russia

Moscow // St Petersburg

Rwanda

Volcanoes National Park

Saint Lucia

Samoa

Saudi Arabia

Al-Masjid an-Nabawi

Scotland

Edinburgh // Loch Ness // Inverness // Glasgow // Scottish Highlands

Singapore

Marian Bay Sands

Slovenia

Lake Bled

South Africa

Capetown // Johanessburg // Isle of Elephants

South Korea

Seoul // Jeju Island

Spain

Barcelona // Madrid // Sagrada Familia // Mosque of Cordoba

Sweden

Stockholm // Sweddish Lapland

Switzerland

the Alps // Bern // St Moritz

Tanzania

Mount Kilimanjaro // Serengeti

Thailand

Bangkok // the Grand Palace // Phuket

republic of Türkiye 

Cappadocia // Istanbul // Hagia Sophia // Pamukkale

Turkmenistan

Darvaza gas crater

Turks & Caicos

United Arab Emirates

Dubai // Burj Khalifa

United States

Grand Canyon // San Fransisco // Honolulu // Kauai // New Orleans // New York City // Seattle // Portland // Los Angeles // Antelope Canyon // MOMA // Las Vegas

Vanuatu

the Vatican

St. Peter's Basilica // The Vatican Museum // Sistine Chapel

Vietnam

Ha Long Bay // Hoi An // Hanoi

Zambia

Victoria Falls

#a world away #awa #ask #anon #rowaelin

[rkhemlani]

June 20th - Osaka Day Trip (Last Day)

Wow, this is the last blog post and I am definitely in my feels writing this. This past month has been real and it’s definitely going to be hard to say bye to both Japan and the people on this trip. I really hope that we meet up in the fall and do something fun, maybe during sylly week or for Chelsea’s sign-night. This group is definitely a little weird, but I love it. However, I do miss home and all the things that come with that including hooping, going to the beach, playing poker, and spending time with friends and family. Whether it was going to see a kabuki play or sipping a much-needed drink on the top of a gorgeous rooftop bar with beautiful views of the city, this trip has been nothing short of amazing and I am definitely glad that I was able to visit this interesting country with such interesting people. I do hope that my peers feel the same way. I’m going to miss playing Uno and gaslighting people to buy me ice cream the most. Ok, now that the sentimental part is over, time for the actual blog post. Today, I woke up extra early and went to Starbucks (where I didn’t see girl Sam surprisingly) and got a strawberry donut and did some work. I came back and got ready for the day. Today’s lecture really just consisted of our favorite parts of the trip and what we thought the professor could’ve done to improve it. We commenced our Osaka day trip with an hour-long train ride, which we were able to pass the time through a shared music experience through Spotify. Imagine having Apple Music, I feel sorry for you. We got to Osaka, where we immediately split for lunch and our group got cut off from the small group of five that had the best curry on the trip unfortunately. Our katsu was ok. We met with the class again and headed to Osaka castle. We took pics here and it was hot so I kept kidding around by pretending that I was at a prom after-party by unbuttoning all my buttons on my white shirt. You had to be there. Vishnu likes taking strange pics of me when I randomly lick my lips and had my shirt unbuttoned. I also taught the group how to properly griddy here (that’s a dance move mom). I felt cool in the moment because I hit it well and then flipped my fan out at the same time. Afterwards, we hopped on the train again and went to a neighborhood that was supposed to mimic American culture, but other than the McDonald’s, there wasn’t anything distinctly American. Then we kept walking where we eventually split for the last time as a group in the heart of Osaka. I had a strawberry ice cream, thanks to Vishnu. We then did some thrift shopping, but at first I couldn’t find anything. Xander and I also took a break and we got smoothies; I got an acai flavored one that was extremely refreshing. Everyone was buying goods, and my wallet was itching to spend money, because I love shopping but wasn’t finding anything. Eventually, at the last store we went to, I found a lovely Dior sweater that I believe was reasonably priced for what it was. After that, I led the group of Xander, Sebastian, Nico, Aulora, Casey, Chelsea, and Eliza to team-labs Osaka. Vishnu met up with us because he had gone to the Osaka aquarium. It was cool and relaxing to walk through the garden that was decorated with changing lights and interesting designs. Some of us (Xander, Vishnu, Aulora, Chelsea, Casey, and I) headed to a local restaurant, where most of us got pork yakisoba. After that it took us a while to get back to the hotel because there were delays on the train due to a derailment. I showered and got ready to go to bed, but Nico and I went to Family Mart first to get some sweets and have a good chit-chat. We love chit-chatting and talking chisme (gossip). 

Academic Reflection

By the end of this course, it is evident that all of us students have learned so much, even if we haven’t always done the dense readings. We learned about the youth sub-culture of Japan with anime and manga, while also learning about the traditional aspects such as tea ceremonies, history of cities, and Buddhism. I found it incredibly interesting that on one street, one can find beautiful traditional temples with ornate gardens and then several blocks over, the entire street would be adorned with lights, colors, advertisements, and anime characters. 

The previous reading was concerned with the urban organization/planning of Osaka and Kobe (shoutout Vishnu). As Professor Smith explained, Osaka was previously a major merchant city that heavily relied on movement and trading of goods, which fostered a more casual environment and societal structure. In class, we discussed how buildings are constantly being destroyed and taller, more modern buildings are constructed, leading to a constantly new skyline. It also contributes to a decrease in traditional buildings. This method contrasts that of Europe, in which many cities will purposefully place regulations to keep the traditional scenery of the city. Cities in Japan definitely display a greater mix of modern buildings with traditional buildings compared to cities in Europe that typically have separate zones for traditional building areas and modern building areas. 

[vishnu2004]

June 20 - Osaka Day Trip

Last post :( As my time in Japan comes to a close, I’ve come to treat this departure with more of an appreciation for what I’ve been able to see and do rather than experience remorse for everything that I will miss. At the same time, I will most definitely miss and remember this trip, the people, and everything that I got to experience. Apart from the sappy talk, today was our day trip to Osaka! I’d been looking forward for this trip for some time; many people like Matthew had already been to Osaka several times before today, but this would be my first trip. I was especially looking forward to the food; I even saved a famous ramen spot that I saw on TikTok.

During today’s nostalgic morning lecture, where we discussed what worked and what didn’t during the study abroad, I proposed the idea of taking a day to go to the beach for next year’s study abroad. My comment was a hit, getting laughs and several sponsors. On the way to Osaka, many of my friends shared music using Spotify. Again, my Apple Music Family Plan subscription excludes me from a vital friend making moment. Regardless, I took the time to listen to The Weeknd’s new releases from his new show: The Idol. Raj, Nico, and I have been watching new episodes of The Idol every night they release. The show is subpar, but the memories are priceless.

In Osaka, we began with food. I had some not too bad tonkatsu with some friends. Afterwards, we visited the Osaka Castle before heading to America town and visiting the famous streets lined with street food shops, many featuring eccentric displays with moving crabs, animatronic faces, and more. It was truly something special. Professor Smith did his final “Gather Up, Alligators!” to our collective cringe and simultaneous sadness. After splitting, I went on Google Maps to find a surprise. My saved TikTok ramen restaurant? Just a 3 minute walk away. I told everyone I’d meet up with them later…

It was the best ramen I’d ever had. Slow braised pork on top, soft noodles and savory, salty broth underneath. Perfection. I shopped for a couple hours afterwards, but to be honest, I couldn’t find anything. Shopping and the ramen made me reallyyy sleepy. This was all before Aulora texted me the classic: “Wya.” I met up with the larger friend group to make a plan: everyone else would continue to shop and grab lunch. Me on the other hand? Rush over to the famous Osaka aquarium before taking the hour long train across the city to teamlab Osaka with everyone else. It was a plan.

The aquarium was beautiful. So many penguins, jellyfish, a whale shark (yes really), crabs, and more! I was expecting a little more, but it was perfect for my speedy run through. Teamlab was not as awesome as I expected; maybe the one in Tokyo set high expectations, but this outdoor botanical gardens style wasn’t doing it for me. It was definitely relaxing and cool to see, but Tokyo CLEARS. We finished the night off with some dinner at an okonomiyaki place (I had yakisoba) before taking a really long hour and a half journey back.

What a trip. I’m honestly sadder now writing the end of this blog post than I was when I started. I’ll miss everyone and everything dearly. I know I’ll be back and likely see many of my friends in the Fall. Thank you for joining me on this Tumblr blog.

Academic Reflection

The reading primarily discussed urban planning! It discussed a number of things that I’m incredibly interested in, including the fact that Japan tends to tear down and rebuild their housing structures rather than treat these structures as investments that need to be preserved, as many homeowners do in the U.S. I believe Japan has the right take on this. It has promoted extensive growth and importantly, allowed for the housing stock to grow in line with population growth in Japan’s major cities. If you look at the graph data, you can see that housing supply in major U.S. cities has remained stagnant or barely increased while population soared; this comes in contrast with Japan, which has seen massive increases in housing supply that correspond to population increases. This has limited extreme increases in housing costs and given tenants far more power in the housing market. Why? Because Japan’s housing market is a lot more reminiscent of an actual marketplace than the U.S., where adding new supply is so difficult that the country faces a shortage of millions of units. I could write about this on and on, but the point is there. Japan, 1. USA, 0.

Walking around Osaka, I could see these principles in broad daylight. The urban planning is not as homogenous, separated, and pre designed as in the U.S. Rather, it represents a mishmash of different uses ranging from housing to retail to workplaces, all placed in large part according to the marketplace desire at each particular location. In the U.S., our preplanned, separated communities tend to create communities where marketplace demands aren’t met (i.e. homeowners may want a Walmart within walking distance of their home, but zoning laws make it impossible in this scenario). I’m a huge, HUGE fan of this style of urban planning because I strongly believe that it brings communities closer together through the ability to walk and interact with your fellow neighbors, it encourages and reinforces a wide array of marketplace choice in housing, restaurants, retail, and workplace, it pushes people to welcome new neighbors rather than reject them, it massively reduces costs for residents who don’t need to buy a car and spent money on gas, insurance, maintenance, and it creates safe, functional cities that serve the people, not a select group of influential politicians and urban planners. I digress. Maybe I’m just loving Japan a little extra because I’m leaving so soon. Or maybe (more likely) the U.S. could learn a bit about urban planning from Japan and the vibrant city of Osaka.

[neobrogrippa]

Why Azai Nagamasa?

Someone from Final Fantasy XIV asked me yesterday about why I like the Azai and particularly Azai Nagamasa so much.

To me the event that says so much about Nagamasa's character is at the fall of Odani castle, funny enough when the Azai are destroyed.

If you look at the fall of Odawara (the Hojo), or the fall of Osaka (The Toyotomi), entire clans getting destroyed and mass sepuku weren't uncommon. Nagamasa, however, insists on sending his wife and children to Nobunaga. Ultimately it is Nagamasa, and the Azai retainers, who commit sepuku in the castle.

To me that act speaks volumes both about his concern for his family but also about who he was as a person.

#Azai Nagamasa #nagamasa azai #azai #Azai Clan #asai nagamasa #nagamasa asai #asai clan #浅井 長政

[eienoah]

May 28 - Himeji-jo

I woke up today thinking the rain was going to be bad, but not as bad as it actually turned out to be today. Today marked our trip to Himeji Castle. being that this was supposed to be the last day of our trip I fully believed it to be our Magnum opus. I would’ve absolutely loved to have seen the castle on a nice bright sunny day, but we decided to change our plans, so that way tomorrow we will be able to see the deer in Nora under those conditions. The trip over to Himeji was just around two hours as we rode the same train we did to Osaka but didn’t get off for another hour or so. We got to ride close to the water for a little bit of the trip, which was really cool with the whole rain going on but it didn’t make up for how cold and wet it was today. When we arrived in Himeji, we took a short break for everyone to go find food and me and a small group went over to the station's food court where we all kind of split up. I went and got some form of katsu that was incredibly tasty, but I wish I remembered the name of it. After that short break, we started our walk towards the castle in what felt like a 5 mile walk through a thunderstorm. By the time I reached the castle, my shoes were completely soaking wet. My socks felt like I was walking around with little plastic bags filled with water. My entire left arm was soaked, and the front of my pants were soaked as well. In addition to that the wind was blowing like crazy so my umbrella kept flipping up and it had gotten incredibly cold. Compared to pictures that I have seen of sunny days, a rainy day at the castle really was just not what I was looking for. I’m definitely gonna have to go back next year to get a better experience for what I truly wanted. But that’s just kind of how life goes. Sometimes you just have to take that L. We started our tour of the castle going to the princesses quarters through a long hallway where we had to take our shoes off. It felt absolutely horrible as if I was disgracing ancient history walking through wooden floors with soaking wet socks on. We kind of flew through her hallway as everyone was probably anxious to just leave as fast as they could. After that, we walked over to the actual castle part in what felt like an actual siege on the castle minus the fighting. The wind and rain that forced my umbrella back as if there was a middle-age man constantly pushing me every single time that I tried to take another step forwards. The winding roads that led to the interior of the castle really simulated that whole siege experience during the typhoon. When we got to the actual castle interior, the stairs were incredibly steep and I was very worried that many people were going to fall but fortunately no one did. It was I want to say six floors upstairs that we had to climb but I could be wrong. When we got to the very top, the scenery in the surrounding area was kind of breathtaking… I guess. I feel like it would have been so much better on a bright sunny day, but you can’t get everything you want. After the castle, we went to go see the well that was supposed to have a ghost rumor coming from it. Everyone kind of just looked in the well for like 30 seconds, and then was just eager to leave as fast as possible. We started our walk back to the station where everyone was so soaking wet that they kind of just gave up on avoiding puddles and just started walking back as fast as they could. I myself was very very cold and wet.

[thisisryderinjapan]

May 25 - Osaka

Today we ventured into Osaka. I was wondering if we were going to take the Shinkansen or not, so I was excited when we got on the Thunderbird, which is actually the fastest train in Japan that isn’t the Shinkansen, reaching a top speed of 80mph (I looked it up), which is literally so crazy because it doesn’t feel like 80mph at all, just like the Shinkansen doesn’t feel like 170. The only time you feel like you’re going fast is when there’s a small bump in the track and you end up almost falling over because you’re going so much faster than you realize. The only unfortunate thing about the trip is that the thunderbird is a busy line which means there’s a good chance you’ll have to stand for the entire thirty-minute ride which is a little bit annoying. Once we got to Osaka, we went to Umeda tower which was cool because I’m always down for a lookout tower. Then, we went to Osaka Castle, but did not go inside because it has been renovated and isn’t the same as what it was, so it isn’t super authentic. After our academic activities for the day, we shopped a little, but I have had to cut myself off because I have bought too much stuff and spent too much money. The last thing I knew I wanted to get was another pair of sunglasses and I did that but now for the rest of the trip I’m committing myself to no more big spending (we’ll see how long that lasts).

Academic Reflection

Something that I thought was interesting from today’s reading was how Osaka is the more blingy and in-your-face city of Japan. We actually discussed in class how the joke about Osaka is that the traditional greeting is “How’s business” (as opposed to something else like “Hello” or “How are you?”) and the answer that you’re supposed to give according to the lore is “Not so good” because you don’t want anyone to know that your business is doing well because then they will want to have a piece. After learning what to expect from Osaka, I can see what we were talking about in our class discussion: the advertising from the stores seemed larger and there was definitely a high concentration of commercialization. What I thought was the craziest was just outside of the big train station in Osaka is a series of interconnected shopping malls basically and they are so dense the sidewalks are literally just teeming with people constantly. The entire time we were there the crowds never dwindled and it was literally packed railing-to-railing. Overall, it was cool to see the alleged cultural differences in person. My one regret is that I did not ride the ferris whell, but I will probably just end up doing that with my mom.