A visit with Yoshi and then we are off catch the ferry to Shikoku
This is our final day in Osaka…where has the time gone? We have suffered from jet lag like never before. Nonetheless, we have enjoyed our time in Osaka and have loved revisiting one of our favourite places to stay, the people and some of the highlights. Today, we are going to visit Yoshi at his Recumbent bike shop. Over the past 3 trips we have enjoyed getting to know him. He has been so helpful with our trikes and he has become a dear friend. But first, we will ride around the grounds of Osaka Castle….we have visited many castles in Japan, but Osaka Castle is a special place for us. It is a well used public space, free for all. . Many castles restrict entrance to the grounds unless you pay whereas here, the expansive grounds welcome all. Families, walkers, school groups, baseball and soccer teams, tourists, etc.
First we dropped by the Shrine on the Castle grounds. It is often popular for weddings.
Osaka Castle is proudly maintained. The elevator on the left allows visitors with disabilities to completely tour the castle and enjoy the splendid view.
We always meet interesting people, often accompanied by their pets…cats, dogs, turtles propelled on mini skate boards, birds, etc. Today, we had a different experience with a man who brought his puppet for a day out.
The fellow’s dexterity with the puppet made “Tammy” come to life.
It is Friday and this is a day for school children to be on a school trip. We saw countless groups of kids today having a great time. The colour of their caps, which all children wear, signify their grade level. No matter the age, the children were always excited to see us and we would be greeted by cheers and questions. We got a bit of mixed message from these boys…one had a sign “no photos” and the rest were shouting…”photos yes!” The teacher seemed ok with us, so we took a few photos and this fellow was happy to pose for us. A group of preschool kids with pink caps were shy but so excited.
We finally made it to Yoshi’s bike shop, HC Works. His wife, Shihomi, was there as well with their two beloved chihuahuas. This one is called Yuka and we think she remembered us because she was less shy than before.
Yoshi proudly shows his catch of the day. Shihomi is also an excellent fisher and she has caught fish of this size as well. This passion for fishing is widely shared by many people here.
On our first trip to Japan with our trikes, we chose Osaka as Barry had read about Yoshi on the Azub website (our trikes are made by Azub in Czech Republic). We knew we needed help with their assembly and we contacted Yoshi and he was happy to help. Honza, who works for Azub, had visited him and dubbed his shop the “smallest recumbent shop in the world”. Honza had the Azub banner designed and made to fit his unique space.
This Cruz Bike, with a truly laid back recumbent seat, is quite interesting, made of carbon and has a gold paint finish. Once again, these are made in Taiwan but are an American Company.
Yoshi is bringing in many bikes, as well as Performer Recumbent Bikes that are made in Taiwan by a Chinese company. This tandem is built in the style of Hase Pino, a German bike.
Barry with Yoshi and Shihomi outside their shop. The pleasures of travel for us is so often summed up in the people we meet and our interactions with them. We often think that the world would be a better place if more people stepped out of their comfort zone and interacted with people from another culture or way of life.
This chef is featured on a Netflix show called Streetfood; Asia. On our way back from visiting we went through an area new to us, and Barry recognized this fellow from. Netflix show he had watched called Streetfood; Asia and the first episode featured this man, Toyo, who is the humourous fiery chef of a beloved Izakaya in Osaka
The chef, shown in the above photo, grills seafood with a burner which almost looks like attacking the grill with a flamethrower. Unfortunately we had a distance to go to reach the ferry, or we would have stopped to try his food. Next trip….
Featured at this cafe are onigiri which are rice triangles covered in seaweed with various yummy fillings like tuna.
We are making our way to the ferry terminal which is still many km away. Being Friday night, crowds are out in force and we have just entered the Dotonburi area. This area is always busy, but tonight it is hopping.
Believe it or not, despite the crowds, we will ride (slowly) through this. It still surprises us how adaptable Japanese people are as pedestrians and cyclists co-mingle even in crazy places like this.
This area of Osaka is known for anime and video game stores. It’s hard to know where it is best to ride..sometimes on the sidewalk with the hordes of people or on the road with cars and no bike lane. Both work.
We then rode through Nipponbashi Den Den town - Osaka’s must see Manga and Anime area. The name Den Den comes from the Japanese word denki which means electricity. In addition the Anime and Manga shops, this is,home to camera, video and electronic stores.
At the foot of the tower is a very busy pedestrian area, the Shinsekai area, filled with shops and cafes. The northern part of Shinkesai was modeled after Paris and the southern part imitates Coney Island. The tower is called Tsutenkaku and was constructed in 1912 after the Eiffel Tower in Paris. You can take an elevator up to the top and descend, if you are so inclined, via a 180 foot long slide to the base of the tower. This area has had a negative image, considered to be a dangerous area due to the criminal element that existed the decades before the 1990’s. Also, Osaka’s homeless population live in this area. Homeless elderly men from all over Japan, come to this area to live to escape the stigma experienced in their home towns.
We have reached the Osaka Nanko port and we will soon be boarding. The ferry departs at 10 (we load at 8) and we arrive at Toyo Port on Shikoku Island at 6 am. Gulp…a bit early for us. We will opt for the 7 am time to disembark.
We decided to have dinner onboard, and we are glad we did. The food was very good and reasonable. Mary Ellen had this jumbo shrimp egg mixture over rice…delicious.
The other reason we were happy to have gone to the restaurant for dinner, was that we shared a table with this couple. We had so much fun chatting with Yaku and his wife. They were coming to Shikoku for the weekend to hike up a mountain. Inspiring.
