Alex Quinn's Japan Journal

6/6/2005, Akemi's birthday, trip to Hikone, Hikone Castle, Genkyu-en garden

For Akemi's birthday, I took her to a small city (pop. 109,000) called Hikone, about an hour from Osaka.  Hikone is on the edge of Biwa-ko (lake).  It is most famous for its castle which, like Himeji Castle, is a great national treasure.  So, we set out for the castle.  On the way to the castle, we stopped at a wonderful cafe and had coffee and bread.  A slice of soybean bread (whole soybeans much like you might see raisens in raisen bread), toasted, cost only 40 cents!  It would have been delicious at any price.  It reminded me a lot of Mr. Spot's Chai House in Ballard.  And, since it was a special day, we got a few pictures of ourselves along the way.

The sign in front of us here just says "Hikone Castle, national treasure" and the date.

I tried to do this one myself.

Behind us, far in the distance, is the great castle.

Hikone Castle

After some dawdling, we finally did make it to the castle.

Hikone Castle.

Hikone Castle is special because, like Himeji Castle, it is original.  Many castles in Japan have been burned down, torn down, or otherwise destroyed through the years.  In many, if not most, cases they have been rebuilt.  Hikone is, by and large, the same as it was before, aside from a few handrails, replaced floor boards, and signs.  This shows the wood structure in the ceiling.

Besides being an interesting look at the construction of this great castle, I like the look of these odd shaped pieces of wood.

After wandering through the castle, we made it to the top, where there is a nice lookout spot.

This is looking out over the town of Hikone and Biwa-ko (lake).

Same view, different angle.

Genkyu-en Garden

After leaving the castle, we headed for the traditional Japanese garden nearby.

The garden is structured like a figure 8.  There's a big pond in the middle with a bridge across it, forming the middle of the 8 shape.

And, there's a nice view of the castle.

I really like walking around Japanese gardens.

Definitely my favorite "sightseeing" activity in Japan.

Happy Birthday to Akemi!

In the evening we went out to dinner at a Japanese noodle restaurant at Osaka's main station, Umeda.  The restaurant is called Usu Usu (06-6440-4154).  Nice atmosphere.  A little on the overly hip side, but still a nice place to eat.  Good service.  Decent prices, at $6 to $9 for an entree.  We got deep-fried tofu (agedofu), tempura and cold udon (tenzariudon), and a raw fish sampler (sashimi).  Unfortunately, Akemi was a little under the weather, so I did ¾ of the eating.  But, her feeling was short-lived.  She was just fine shortly after dinner.

I had previously ordered a birthday cake from a big department store in Osaka.  After dinner, we went there to pick it up.  Coincidentally, Akemi said she worked at the same cake shop when she was in college, so she knew their cake very well.  We went home and had a little birthday celebration.  2 people in all, Akemi and me.  I also gave her a very small box of really good chocolates and a gift certificate to the Eddie Bauer store in Osaka.

Akemi and the cake.

The birthday cake.

After our little birthday celebration, we watched a video and fell asleep.  I ended up taking the shinkansen (bullet train) back to Aioi in the morning, just in time for school.

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