Off to Osaka! pt 4: Photos of Osaka Castle and Dr. Yellow Himself

Monday, March 19 marked my last day in Osaka (for now). I checked out of my hotel (Hotel MyStays Shin-Osaka) at about 10 AM and went on some adventures during my six hours of free time. I first headed to Shin-Osaka Station, just a short walk away, and grabbed some more Avocado Toast from Dean and Deluca. After devouring my delicious breakfast, I searched for a locker to store my backpack in so I wouldn’t have to lug it around town. For such a short trip, I packed my bag to the brim. I headed back towards the way I came and boarded the Midosuji Line to Shinabashi Station where I transferred to the Nagahori Tsurumi-ryokuchi Line (NTR) to Osaka Business Park Station, the station closest to Osaka Castle. Osaka Castle is a prime example of Edo era architecture, and it played a significant role in Japanese reunification back in the 1600s. I explored the castle grounds for a couple hours although I never stepped foot inside the castle itself. Before heading back to Shin-Osaka Station, I visited a shop that sold custom engraved chopsticks. I got a pair for myself, my mother, and my brother and after that, I was on my way. I took the NTR line back to Shinabashi Station and transferred to the Midosuji Line. Next, I picked up my backpack, purchased some snacks, and headed to the platform to wait for Shinkansen 166 Nozomi Super-Express bound for Tokyo. I was a bit down today due to some failed plans (not related to Mitsuteru, he’s awesome) but my day was made when Dr. Yellow pulled into the station, parking itself at the platform opposite of me. Dr. Yellow is a special Shinkansen trainset consisting of seven cars filled with cameras, sensors, and monitoring equipment in order to check the conditions of the rails and the overhead wires. Dr. Yellow does runs on the Tokaido Shinkansen about once every 10 days, resulting in great fanfare when he arrives at a station. It seemed people were expecting his arrival as fellow passengers whipped out their cameras to take as many pictures of the train as possible. I even took a couple selfies with this magnificent train (it should be pretty clear that I like trains). Shortly after Dr. Yellow departed Shin-Osaka, my train arrived. Just like my ride to Osaka, my ride back to Tokyo was incredibly smooth and quiet. I was even able to get some sleep on this train between Nagoya and Yokohama while the train was traveling at 170+ miles per hour across the Japanese countryside. Once I arrived at Tokyo, I boarded the Chuo-Rapid line to Shinjuku Station where I transferred to the Yamanote Line back to Takadanobaba. My short trip to Osaka was now complete.

Osaka remains the highlight of my trip to Japan. I’m planning on going back before the end of the program. Mitsuteru, thank you again for all you did for me, especially for speaking English and translating for me.

Here are some pictures from this final day in Osaka.