The Private Islander

After a good night’s rest, I packed my bags and journeyed to Osaka, the final destination of my trip. Though Osaka only has a fraction of the population Tokyo boasts, it is still the capital’s rival city and Japan’s commercial center. Whether it be in baseball or architectural wonders, their rivalry goes back hundreds of years.

On the morning of my arrival I checked out Osaka Castle. Like most of Japan’s wonders, various parts of the castle have burned down at one point or another and later been restored. Several moats surround the fortress and the area around the castle is frequented by many dog-walkers. Inside the castle is a museum with a strict no-pictures policy.

Afterwards, I found my way to the Umeda Sky Building in the Umeda district. Consisting of two towers connected by a bridge at the top, the building offers amazing views of Osaka from its rooftop observatory. Surprisingly, it is only the seventh-tallest building in the city.

In the background of the picture above you can see smog. Japan has had to deal with pollution from China for some time, an unwanted contribution to Japan’s already problematic pollution.

The night before my visit to the Umeda Sky Building I took a great night shot of Osaka from my hotel window. You can see the outline of buildings obscured by smog by their red signal lights. Along the waterline is a passing train.

Only one page left to go….

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This entry was posted on Saturday, January 12th, 2008 at 5:08 pm and is filed under Features . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.