Well as you can see we are now in Osaka. I am sitting in a super technical internet cafe unlike no other one that I have been into in my life! You even get to choose your chair- from a standard all the way through to a massage chair in a private booth- they also have double booths for 2 people where loads of people are chilling out watching DVD's. You can spend 8 hours here and it's not a bad deal at 15 quid- much cheaper than a hotel and there are free drinks, magazines, DVD's and thousands of Manga comics lining the walls! Hmmm actually just noticed that the guy sitting next to me is watching porn- could he not have opted for a private booth instead of one open to anyone?!

Anyway yesterday we spent a lovely afternoon in Kyoto at Emi Hirayama's traditional Japanese house doing a cooking lesson with her (http://www.kyotouzuki.com) There was just the two of us in her kitchen and together we learnt to make all sorts of yummy treats- two types of hand rolled sushi (we are so excited about this) Fish in a traditional winter glaze, spinach salad with roated sesame seed dressing and Kyoto white miso soup. It was such a nice way to spend the day and Emi was so welcoming- with very few people speaking English and our Japanese limited to hello and thank you we have not really been able to get to know anyone and that was as rewarding as the cooking. Poor Charles is not very well and so it was also good for him to not be walking around in the freezing cold. After finishing here we headed to the train station and made the short journey to Osaka.

Osaka is very modern as it was bombed flat but it is still a nice place to visit. Today we went to see Osaka castle which was an emblem of the power and fortune of shogun ideyoshi Toyotomi. In 1583, Hideyoshi began construction at the former site of Honganji Temple and completed the magnificent castle, which was reputed as being unparalleled in the country. Hideyoshi, having employed the castle as his stronghold, succeeded in quelling the wars which had continued for more than one century, thereby unifying the entire nation. After Hideyoshi's death, Ieyasu Tokugawa, who worked for Hideyoshi as his chief retainer, was appointed to the Shogun and he established the shogunate (government) in Edo (Tokyo). In 1615, Ieyasu ruined the Toyotomi family and destroyed Osaka Castle (in the Summer War of Osaka). Thereafter, the Tokugawa shogunate reconstructed Osaka Castle. It held the castle under its direct control until 1868, when the Tokugawa shogunate lost power and the castle fell.

In 1931, the Main Tower of the Castle was reconstructed in the center of Osaka Castle, which was used as a military base, with funds raised by the citizens.
The present-day Main Tower is the third generation. It follows the Main Tower from the Toyotomi period, which was destroyed by fire during the Summer War, and the tower from the Tokugawa period, which was struck by lightning and was burned down. So although it is modern it is still very impressive and on the 8th floor at the top they have a viewing gallery that looks out over the whole city so it's a good place to climb up to.

From there we got on the subway to Nipponbashi and visited the Sennichi- Mae and Doguya- Suji arcades. The first is a crazy, loud, neon lighted strip that was featured in the film Bladerunner as the future- I hope the future is not like that though- although the tat shops are good to look in once you wouldn't want it to be your high street! Doguya- Suji is the place where people who have restaurants go to for their supplies. There were loads of things that we would love but don't have room for and loads of things that look cool there but would probably be ridiculous when you got home- giant red lantern anyone?! We did buy a mould to make nigiri sushi though that we had used at Emi's so everyone can look forward to being served that when we get home! Tomorrow we are going to go to Kobe to sample the famous beef and then back to Tokyo....