After a lot of sleep last night that I probably needed, I think I woke up around 5am. Some might think that I am still suffering from the time difference between Japan and America. However, even when I'm home in New York, I often wake up before sometime between 5 and 6am. (Many of my friends think this means I'm sick in the head; I assert that there are plenty of other reasons that mean I'm sick in the head, and this is the least.) I coordinated to meet my friend around 12:30, so that means that I would have a few hours to explore.
It seems that Osaka Castle Park is as good a place as any to begin a tourist excursion in Osaka. To be honest, I wasn't even all that excited to see Osaka Castle; if I were to miss it, I would not be too bothered. However, there was another very interesting museum that I did want to see, and as fortune would have it, this museum is located in Osaka Castle Park. I knew from the pamphlet the lady gave me that the Osaka Peace Museum would open at 9:30 am. I decided to go to the park and walk about the whole place while it was still early, then I could go to the museum and then meet my friend.
By the time I got to the park, it was about 7am. It was nice because neither the park nor the subway was crowded yet, and although it was already a bit hot and humid, this was probably the best weather that the day would see, and so I was quite comfortable walking. It was a fine park, and I quickly learned where the small museum was, and then began towards Osaka Castle.
Off in the distance, I could see the white walls, green roof tiles, and gold ornaments. The gold really made it stick out for me. Maybe I would go to visit the castle, after all. In fact, the castle was the main fortification of Hideyoshi, my favorite of the medieval warlords. Ok, for Hideyoshi, I will go out of my way to see this castle.
Even during my first trip to Japan, the castles that I saw did not strike me and stay in my memory as much as I would have thought. This castle, however, would. I could tell that before getting very close to it. I was trying to navigate the moats, and figure out where the shortest route might be to get into the inner area of the castle.
Just before the entrance gate to the castle, there was a Shinto Shrine. I might have said earlier that during my last trip, seeing so many shrines got to be a bit repetitive, and even boring. Well, that was six years ago, and since nothing is new under the sun anyways, I was excited to see this Shrine. (I am embarassed to say that I forgot the name of the Shrine, but a quick internet search will turn it up. I will leave it to the reader to do this if she is so interested.)
Once I was finished exploring the shrine grounds, I headed to the entrance gate of the castle, which was just across the road. Entering the main gate, and walking the curved and crooked path that was designed to deter invading armies, I came to a wide open space with a few trees. In addition to the castle, there was also a large 19th or 20th century building. I don't know what purpose it served, nor did I ask anyone. However, it's my guess that it was the original Osaka museum of history, since the current location is a beatifully designed work of architecture that looks like it was constructed within the last 20 years, located at the corner of the park. In any case, being that it was so early in the morning, the park was practically empty, and it was as though I had the whole place to myself, so I ran around the place, and took as many pictures as I could from all sorts of different angles.
When I got up close, I discovered that the castle museum opened at 9am, a half hour before the Osaka Peace Museum. I wondered if I could squeeze in visits to both of these museums before I had to meet my friend. I decided that I would go for it, and I would start with the Osaka Castle museum.
Perhaps one of the reasons that the facade of Osaka Castle marked such an impression on me (besides the beauty of the architecture, and the color scheme of white, green, and gold) is that it is amazingly pristine in appearance. It doesn't look like a four hundred year old castle, but almost looks like it was made yesterday. Well, that's because it was made almost yesterday. Over the last four hundred years, Osaka Castle saw much warfare, and was destroyed and rebuilt several times (most recently, after World War II). I have had more than one friend complain about this fact regarding Osaka Castle, complaining that we are not seeing the real thing.
Perhaps I am crazy, but I don't quite buy that argument. Afterall, how many works of art that are over 400 years old have not been retouched and restored in one way or the other. I hear someone complaining that it is a different thing altogether to restore a work of art, and to remake it completely. I am not so sure of that. Now, clearly there are magnificent works of architecture that are thousands of years old, and we see the same bricks that were laid down thousands of years ago. Certainly the Parthenon in Greece, the Pyramids in Egypt, and the Colosseum in Rome are such examples. But what about some others? Just last year I sat and marvelled at Leonardo's Last Supper in Milan. That particular painting was falling apart before Leonardo had even been put in the ground. I think it is fair to say in that particular painting (and several other masterpieces by Michelangelo and others), we are not seeing the paint that Leonardo applied to the wall. I do dare say that the painting we see in Milan today was created by restoration artists only a few decades ago.
And so what? I don't understand this issue about authenticity, or originality. I myself stole a phrase above when I noted that there is, in fact, nothing new under the sun. When I looked at Leonardo's Last Supper, I am still overwhelmed by the gravity of the work, by the emotional context it creates for me today. And so it is for this rebuilt Osaka Castle.
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