Osaka/Kyoto - Castles, Monkeys and Temples, oh my.

I've decided I want to jot down a few more of my travels in Japan. I figure that by doing so I'll be giving everyone else a fuller picture of this diverse, beautiful, and yes, often strange country. As an added bonus, it will keep me from forgetting any of the good stuff later. Wise man once say: "Memories are precious, especially in country where alcohol flows like river." I'll try to do these places in chronological order from now on, but no promises.
So today let's take a look at Osaka. I went there with LeeSean just after Thailand, and it was one of my first major cities aside from Tokyo. Osaka is the third largest city in Japan, with a population of 2.7 million. I've been there twice since, having just returned after being there August 11-14 for the massive Summer Sonic rock festival. I think I'll start by giving you the details of the first trip now, and maybe next time I'll have the photos from Summer Sonic ready to do a piece on that.
So first, LeeSean and I went downtown and found a hotel, then wandered aound a bit checking out the many, many clothing shops. Osaka is renowned for fashion, and it's many tragic fashion victims. We then went to Osaka castle, or "Osaka-jo" to the locals. It's a reconstruction, because in the feudal period and in the transition to the modern era, most castles got burned to the ground in "aggressive negotiations" between the shoguns (regional warlords) and the central government. It's still damn impressive though, as the picture shows, and you do feel like you're stepping back in time when you walk onto the vast grounds. The elevator outside the castle kind of gives away the illusion though. There was a museum inside as well, with lots of neat-o samurai artifacts. Much to my disappointment however, they frown on people trying out the swords.
Later that night, we went to an Absynthe bar, the first time for me to try this famous drink. It was good, very sweet, but contrary to popular belief it didn't make me go crazy. Or not crazier, anyway. This was followed by some fantastic Thai food, and we called it a night.
The next day we had set aside for seeing more of downtown, and so we went to the Osaka Zoo. This was pretty good, but the monkey exhibit was a bit sad. These poor animals were stuck inside small concrete cages, did not look very happy, and the whole thing made me want to come back later and stage a jail-break. The elephants and bears didn't look much better. Allow me a bit of a rant here, as an animal lover, because I feel that this exemplifies how animals can be mistreated in Japan (although this problem certainly isn't limited to Japan). Places like the Osaka Zoo and some of the "Hells" right here in Beppu tend to cram animals into small, bland, artificial spaces where the animals have severely restricted movement. Due to lack of stimulation they often develop repetitive movements like swaying or pacing, and their misery is palpable. I also have a neighbor who keeps his dog on a two-foot leash for sometimes six hours a day or more, and it makes me want to pull out my hair. Granted, there are some places that get it right, like African Safari in Beppu. They have a huge space set aside so animals can wander around, feel like they're in a natural habitat and get sufficient exercise. This is how animals deserve to be treated when in captivity, and the message here is, if you can't provide this, DON'T KEEP THE ANIMALS TO BEGIN WITH!!! But I digress. At any rate, after leaving the zoo, a little depressed, we decided to drown our sorrows in some of Osaka's bars, and ended up having a very memorable evening. Further details available upon request through email only, due to PG-13 rating of this blog.
The next day was my last, and since we'd seen a fair chunk of Osaka already, we decided to take a short local train ride to Kyoto. Kyoto is a very old, very beautiful city, and one typically goes for the temples, because there are lots of them. If I remember correctly we saw three: Sanjusangendo, a hall containing 1001 Buddhist statues, Kiyomizu-dera, which displays a spectacular 4-story pagoda, and is a prime location for cherry blossom viewing in the spring, and finally Higashi-Honganji, which was...really big. They were all very unique and impressive, and I took about a hundred pictures. Also, there are still supposedly about 100 geisha left in Kyoto, but they were unfortunately not out that day.
After the last temple, I left Lee, who had to stay for a conference, and took the Shinkansen back to Beppu. Incidentally, the Shinkansen, or bullet train, is a great way to travel...I took it back from Osaka last night actually. Smooth, fast, comfortable, and there's even a lady that comes by with a cart full of snacks and beer. What more could you ask for?
So that's it for now, but I have like a dozen new pieces written that I've just been too busy to publish. I will get them done as soon as the heat and humidity stops sucking the life out of me. Cheers!