Well this actually took place the first weekend I was in Japan (May 31/June 1), but I decided to abandon the idea of backdating all my posts because it got a little bit too complex. Three years ago when I was studying at JCMU, I participated in an event at Kyoto Women’s University. Basically, JCMU sent four of us Americans over to eat free food and chat with the English students. While there I met Megumi. We exchanged emails for a while, and she even walked around Kyoto with me on a weekend after we met. When I went back to the states, we started to exchange mail and send Christmas presents to each other. She even visited me for a few days while she was studying in Toronto over the summer.

So when I finally got an arrival date, I emailed Megumi and she was really excited that I was coming. She lives in Osaka with her family, and invited me over for dinner the first weekend that I was in town. On Saturday she drove over to my apartment, and took me around to some stores in the area so I could buy some essentials. A drying rack and hangers, fan, towels, trash can, iron, dishes, sheets and a pillow. You wouldn’t believe the number of stores we had to go to just to find a pillow. We dropped off my stuff, and then drove over to Megumi’s family’s house.

Megumi lives clear across town from where I live in Miyakojima, near the Osaka Aquarium in Osakako (or literally, Osaka Port). They live in a high-rise apartment building, where every apartment has its entrance on an odd numbered floor, with the kitchen and one room on the first floor, and a bathroom and two bedrooms on the upper floor, or at least that was how their apartment and her grandmother’s apartment (who lived in the same building) was set up. Compared to my apartment theirs was quite large, but compared to my house back home, it was very small. The only common space outside of the bathroom was the kitchen, which was smaller than my bedroom.

Her mom greeted us at the door, as well as her younger brother. Her mom spoke a little English herself, so we were able to speak in both languages. But mostly I tried to stick to only Japanese, and I think I did pretty well. Her brother was too shy to speak to me in either languages. Eventually her dad came home from work, and we all sat around the kitchen table and had some delicious sukiyaki. I really had a great time talking with her family while eating and over tea after dinner, and her father was really really nice and funny, which is a great departure from that distant father stereotype that we seem to have in the US regarding Asian families.

After dinner, Megumi and I walked over to a large ferris wheel that was in the same area as the Osaka Aquarium, which up until two years ago was apparently the largest ferris wheel in Japan. It was a really clear night so I was able to get a few nice pictures. From the ferris wheel, you can see in the first picture Osaka Aquarium which looks pretty cool at night. On the second picture is Universal Studios Japan, which was setting off some fireworks only a few moments before I took this picture (you can still see the smoke blowing away).

Hey looks theres sweaty me and Megumi on the ferris wheel!

We walked around the shops near by and played some arcade games (I managed to win us something from a claw game, affectionately called ‘UFO Catchers’ in Japan) before returning to her parent’s apartment. Because their apartment was so small, we gathered our things and went one floor up to her grandmother’s apartment, because she had a guest room that she let me use. We both took a shower/bath, watched some television and went to sleep.

The next morning, Megumi’s mother served us scrambled eggs, bacon, toast and fruit. After everyone was ready, we all piled into dad’s car and drove across town to Sumiyoshi Taisha. Here are some pictures:

Here is the bridge that the shrine is famous for. Its called Taikobashi, which literally means “drum bridge” for the noise it makes when you walk up and down the sides of it:

More views of the rest of the shrine, including a pond and sacred tree and water fountain:

Before we left the shrine, Megumi’s father bought me a a little omamori (like a sacred amulet) as well as an ema (wooden prayer votive). I used to collect ema from every shrine and temple I would visit, write on the back the date I visited the shrine, whom I visited it with, and maybe a special note. This time I had everyone in Megumi’s family sign their name on it.

After the shrine we drove a ways to a large shopping center and a okonomiyaki restaurant for lunch. People call okonomiyaki a “Japanese pizza” but honestly the only thing relating it to pizza is the fact that its a round shape. It was my first time going to an okonomiyaki restaurant, the type of place where they make all the food right in front of you, and while I had a great time sitting there observing it all, honestly I wasn’t that excited about the food. Its mostly cabbage, held together with batter, and shrimp/squid/pork/beef/vegetables or a combination of any of the above mixed in. Top it with mayonnaise (they just love mayonnaise in Japan, I can’t understand it) and a sauce and then you eat it. Well, at least now I can say I’ve tried it.

The shopping center was situated right on the port of Osaka, and here you can see some pictures:

After shopping and eating (we passed by some place that was selling old car license plates from the US, with tags and dirt still on them, no idea why anyone would want to buy them), Megumi was nice enough to ride back on the subway with me to my apartment, which she then helped me to clean. We spent 3 hours scrubbing the floors, scrubbing the windows, scrubbing everything. The place was filthy. In the mean time Keiji, the land lord, stopped by with a few items, including: a pillow and a blanket, two glasses, one large and one small bowl, two tea cups with saucers, a ridiculously oversized skillet, cutting board, and an assortment of cutlery. It wasn’t much but, at least I won’t have to buy it.