Weekend Trip to Osaka via 12-hour Overnight Ferry

Yep, I went to Osaka this past weekend… and it was really fun!  Monday was a national holiday – Respect for the Aged Day – so it was a 3 day weekend.  Osaka is where I stayed in summer 2003.  It’s one of the largest cities in Japan and is one of the most expensive places to live in the world.  I took the overnight ferry from Moji (which is in Fukuoka Prefecture on Kyushu) with Meng, Cheryl, Nia, and Ian.  We all live in Yamaguchi Prefecture except for Ian – who is an ALT in Saga… which is where I did my homestay in 2002. 

Friday after work I hurried home, changed my clothes, and headed over to Ube Shinkawa Station to meet up with Meng.  One of my Japanese Teacher’s of English who I teach with on Thursdays at Ube Kogyo (the technical school) offered to give us a ride to Moji because that’s where she lives.  It’s pretty far away too, so that was really nice.  Here's a map of the route that the ferry took:

Once we got to Moji we hit up the KFC for dinner and bought some snacks for the ferry at the convenience store.  We were dropped off at Moji Station where the free shuttle to the port leaves from.  Nia and Cheryl met us there because they were coming from Shimonoseki city which is only about a 10 minute train ride to Moji.  We caught the free shuttle to the port, but Ian missed it, so he had to pay for a taxi.     

The ferry was pretty big.  On the way there we were in a Japanese style economy room… which meant that we were in a room with a bunch of strangers and given a mat and a really hard rectangle pillow to sleep with.  But it was the cheapest option, so that’s what we did.  It left at 7:50pm Friday and arrived at 8:20am Saturday (about 12 hours).  It wasn’t so bad.  There were a lot of motorcycle guys on board who entertained us.  They were nice… I really think they have some affiliation with the Japanese mafia because they had so many tattoos… and that’s an indicator of the mafia.  Haha, but that’s definitely stereotyping.  On our return trip we were in the "western style" economy room which meant we got to sleep on a bed with a pillow that wasn't a brick rectangle.  Here are some pictures from the ferry:  

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When we arrived at the port in Osaka it was rainy and crappy, but by the time we got to the center of the city it was fine and sunny the rest of the weekend.  We found our hostel and then got food.  We found a Subway and I ate an entire foot long.  I miss turkey… I miss American food.  Osaka is known for really great food.  I had a lot of good food while I was there over the weekend.  It was also pretty neat to see how the city has changed in the 5 years since I was last there.

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We eventually made our way over to Kishiwada.  The main reason I wanted to go to Osaka this particular weekend was because of the Kishiwada Danjiri Matsuri – which is a famous festival in Osaka.  It was really cool!  All weekend long people run around the city pulling these huge floats (danjiri) that weigh tons and tons.  It’s really cool to see.  Check out my pictures!

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Saturday night I met up with Mina who is my friend from when I was there back in 2003.  We met at Matsubara High School 5 years ago and had kept in touch.  She still lives with her parents in Osaka City and goes to law school.  Some of her friends came to dinner with us too.  It was nice.  Then we went to Starbucks for some coffee.  

After dinner with Mina she went home and the people who I came to Osaka with headed out.  We all went out and enjoyed Osaka night life.   I had an interesting start to the nightlife though.  See, my friend Nathan, who I met at Chicago orientation and who is from Indianapolis met up with us in Osaka.  He’s an ALT in Shiga which isn’t TOO far from Osaka.  He never booked himself a hotel or hostel because he thought it wouldn’t be a problem finding one once he was there.  But no, he couldn’t find one because they were all booked due to the 3 day weekend and the Kishiwada Danjiri Matsuri.  I walked around with him forever trying to find a place before he decided to just rent a room in a love hotel just to take a shower and get ready.  Love hotels are hotels that people go to… to hook up.  There isn’t any VISIBLE staff because they don’t want people to be embarrassed or ashamed.  So you use a machine to check in.  Once you’re in, you’re in for the night because you don’t get a key.  So you can’t leave and come back.  So he drops about $100 for this room to take a shower.  I have to go with him because you have to have 2 people in order to get a room – and they know because they monitor who comes and goes on cameras.  So we get in, he showers, and then it’s time to go.  You have to check out using this computer screen in the room.  Well, I just hit the red button not knowing what it did and we get LOCKED IN.  Oh my gosh.  I was pissed.  Our door locked and we couldn’t get out for a good 10 minutes.  I was so pissed.  I thought we were going to be stuck in there ALL night and I just wanted to go out and have fun.  Eventually I kept hitting buttons and it let us out.  It was very traumatic.  But anyway, after that experience, it turned out to be a really fun night.

Sunday we checked out of our hostel, went to lunch and then me, Cheryl, and Nia went over to Osaka Castle to check it out.  It's in a nice park and that day there were some bands performing.  It was a nice afternoon.  Here are some pictures:

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We all met back up Sunday evening and then headed back to Osaka port to catch the ferry back to Moji.  Again, it left at 7:50pm Sunday and arrived at 8:20am Monday morning.  It was a wonderful weekend and I hope to make it back to Osaka sometime in November  : )

As for work, teaching is going a lot better!