It was a chilly morning, I was wearing my Australian Wind Alliance beanie, and
we walked beneath these decorative wind turbines near the aquarium in Osaka.
I couldn't resist a selfie.
(Over the last ten years or so I have spent a lot of time and effort in countering the lies, exaggerations and misrepresentations made by those who oppose
wind power.)
The Ferris wheel just happened to be in the same area.
Photo taken 2017/10/19
Approaching the aquarium in Osaka.
The ferris wheel (shown in the photo above) would be out of sight on the right.
Photo taken 2017/10/19
The aquarium was as impressive as might be expected in a city such as Osaka;
the highlight was two whale sharks, one to be seen on the right in this
photo.
We were fortunate enough to see them being fed.
Buckets of small fish or similar were tipped onto the surface of the water
and the whale sharks sucked in what must have been 50-100 litres of water
including the fish, filtered it, expelled the water and retained the fish.
Photo taken 2017/10/19
Washing, scrubbing, and vacuuming up the dirt from paving bricks on the footpath
near the Osaka Ferris Wheel.
Only in Japan?
The traffic on the bridge in the background was crawling bumper-to-bumper all
the time we were in the area; and a large proportion of the traffic consisted of trucks.
Photo taken 2017/10/19
A view of Osaka from near the top of the Ferris Wheel; the same bridge as in the previous photo.
It looks like much of Osaka, like Tokyo, is low lying and will suffer from the sea level rise to be expected with
climate change (as will
low lying Tokyo and the delta areas of
Vietnam).
Photo taken 2017/10/19
Before going to Japan the impression I had of Japanese castles was one of
beautiful buildings with many oriental style roofs stacked up something like a
child might imagine when building a castle out of mud.
What we don't see without going to Japan is the hugely impressive and
multiple kilometre-long walls and moats made of colossal stones that surround the central 'castle' buildings.
This photo shows a small part of the extensive walls surrounding Osaka castle which was completed in 1597. (For more information see Wikipedia.)
The biggest stone in the walls of Osaka-jo has been measured at 59
square-metre surface area and estimated at 108 tonnes weight.
Imagine the skill, organisation, resources and learning involved in cutting these stones to the right shape and size and then moving them into place without the machinery available to us today!
Photo taken 2017/10/19
The only way that I could see to do justice to Osaka-jo on this page was to
include this map.
It shows two concentric moats, each of which was bounded by tall walls made
of huge stones.
Photo taken 2017/10/19
A panorama of a part of the wall on one of the two moats around Osaka-jo.
The angle in the wall is actually about 90°.
I believe that the wall that people are walking across on the left (see the
high-definition image – click on this image) would be
the Tamatsukun-guchi entrance to the castle proper (shown at the lower right of the map above).
Photo taken 2017/10/19
The stone that has the little sign on it is the one mentioned above: the
biggest stone in the walls of Osaka-jo, measured at 59
square-metre surface area and estimated at 108 tonnes weight.
For comparison, the Great Pyramid in Egypt is made up of stones that weigh
about three tonnes each.
My Son Ken is in the foreground.
Photo taken 2017/10/19
The central part of Osaka-jo (Osaka castle).
A beautiful building certainly, but dwarfed by the fortifications surrounding
it.
Photo taken 2017/10/19
A part of the inner moat – boat tours available
Photo taken 2017/10/19
A panorama taking in a wider angle of the inner moat view above.
Photo taken 2017/10/19
