When I was young and living at home I remember that at home we always had a small Gingko plant in a flower pot on our terrace. The Ginko is originally from China but I always associated East Asia and Japan.
We saw many Ginkgo trees at the castle.
It is an ancient plant. Here is what ChatGPT says: “Ginkgo biloba is a type of tree that is native to China and is considered a living fossil because it has remained unchanged for over 200 million years. Its leaves contain compounds that are believed to have medicinal properties, and it is commonly used in traditional medicine to improve memory and cognitive function.“
Quite a bit of time has passed since I was at the Castle in Osaka. However, I remember walking around the vast compound and gardens and seeing the Shinto and Buddhist temples.
One thing that I remember well is the fortune strips, omikuji. This small piece of paper that people had left at the entrance of a temple. They were all folded in a simple knot. These knots helped keep the wishes people had left behind at the temple door. Keep it tight. They avoided that the wishes flew away, taken by the wind.
Most buildings in the compound of the Castle of Osaka have a roof made of copper tiles. I found the lines and the contrast in those roofs quite interesting.
This week I want to go back ten years or so. I was living with my family in the Philippines, and we took a short trip to Japan in August. We decided to travel only to central Japan. We only had a little time. It is always better to stay in a region rather than trying to ver a whole country in ten days. Our first stop was Osaka.
This week I am posting photos I took at the Castle of Osaka. The images are a bit grainy. The resolution is different from what you can get today with the newer cameras and lenses. I like that, it is a look back in time.
I remember my excitement at being in Japan for the first time. Then, finally, I was there. Finally, I saw with my own eyes what I had read in the books I had read in my youth: Mishima, Kawabata, Murakami, etc.
It was hot. Humid. Summer thunderstorm clouds in the sky. It felt like summer in my hometown back in Italy.
I was alone with my two young daughters for the first part of the trip to Japan. That seemed quite unusual to some people we met on the tube. They asked me how come I was travelling alone with them. How old they were. It was remarkable for them to see a father alone travelling with two young daughters. People were curious. So was I about their country.
I arrive at the central square, Koskikeskus. This is the old market square. People walk around. They meet each other. They walk together. They wait for someone or a bus.
Monochrome downtown.
Waiting, Tampere 2023Where is the bus?, Tampere 2023
