JACSE: Japan Autumn Cruise and Shinkansen Experience

I was reminded that I don't have a name for our current trip.   For example, there was My Ultimate Global Adventure or MUGA of 2013, where I flew First Class Around the World in 51 days.  My Ultimate Fantasy Adventure, or MUFA of 2014, was in business class, only in the Orient, and was about a month long. My Global Around the World Adventure, or GAWA in 2015, lasted 65 days.  They were all wonderful.

So I need an acronym or initialization (not sure what the difference is).  Some don't work:

• JAP for Japan Adventure for Pat:  Jap is a nasty perjorative, and I wasn't alone on this trip.

• 
  OFAL for Our Fall Autumn Layover: animal organs don't impart good memories, although, we really did not do much, so the L part makes sense.
• ACE for Autumn Colors Extravaganza:  no, we missed the colors on Hokkaido, and much of what we've seen so far has been spotty.

On this trip to Japan we took a cruise, had too much to drink and eat, slept a whole lot, trained everywhere and did almost nothing.  So what would be the best acronym reflecting those conditions?

• Drink could also be Alcohol, so D and A.
• Cuisine and Food can be substituted for Eat:  E, C, F.

• 
  Fall Colors can also be Autumn, but F, C and E are already covered
• This was a Trip, Journey or Voyage:  T, J, V.
• Can't use anything like Grand or Great, Adventure or Fabulous, for things mostly did not reach any kind of spectacular level.

• 
  Yet, it was Enjoyable, a lot of Fun, Worthwhile, Peaceful and Satisfying:  W, P, S.
• So what about our Japan Fall Colors Cruise and Train Trip:  Our Japan Fall CCaTT?
• Or better yet, Japan Autumn Cruise and Shinkansen Experience:  JACSE?

• 
  Covers where we have been.
• Includes the Diamond Princess and Japan Rail Pass.
• Experience could be good or bad, and while the colors were mediocre, we have very much enjoyed much of everything else.
• This acronym has no meaning, but neither did MUFA, MUGA AND GAWA.

Best we can do for now, but we have a week left.  Any recommendations?

Breakfast at the Marriott Miyako Osaka, beginning with our view.

Noticed two trends that reminded me of 15 Craigside.  First, we have a friend there that wears a baseball cap to meals.  Turns out this is also popular in Japan.

Also, here "Craig" (that robot) is kept pretty busy, shuttling used dishes and utentils back to be washed.

Staff places items in brown tub.

Then into the slots of "Craig."

We've pretty much been there and done that in Osaka.  Today, we seriously considered a light show by teamLab at the Nagai Botanical Garden, but it really was cold out there.

We did take a walk around our building and to this Q-Mall, but not far because of the low temperature.  Beautiful day, though.

Took a photo of our building from below.  We were later shocked to find out that this was the tallest building in Japan, until  few days ago when Mori opened Azabudai Hills in Tokyo.

The only exciting photos were of vegetables and fruits.  Red carrots.

Reddish daikon (turnips).  Sort of like giant radishes.

Yellow cauliflower and purple brocolli,

Expensive fruits.  This box costs $100.

Can't imagine why these grapes cost so much.

We later went to the HARUKAS 300 Observatory, mainly because it was located in our building and we had free tickets provided by the hotel.  Four tickets worth $48.  Then, when I later did research on Harukas 300, I was stunned to learn that the building we are in, Abeno Harukas, was,  at 300 meters (984 feet), the tallest building in Japan from 2014 until last week.  Floors:

• 
  58-60  Harukas 300 Observatory
• 38-55  Osaka Marriott Miyako Hotel
• Rest of floors are offices, Kintetsu Department Store and the Kintetsu Osaka Abenobashi Station, adjacent to the JR Tennoji Station.

The mascot is Abeno Bear.

We had not gone out to a restaurant for days, so we decided to catch the elevator to the basement and had soba and unagi for dinner.

Finally, back to the Executive Lounge for a cognac.

Walked 10,259 steps today,

Tomorrow, on to Kyoto.

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OSAKA

Osaka, which means large hill, has a population of 2.7 million (was up to 3.1 million in 1965) and is the largest component of the Keihanshin (or Greater Osaka) Metropolitan Area, the second largest in Japan, and tenth biggest urban area in the world, with 19 million inhabitants.  

• From the early beginning of the country, Osaka was traditionally considered to be Japan's economic hub, having a major port in the 7th and 8th centuries, and continuing to flourish during the Edo Period (1603-1867), becoming the center for Japanese culture, with Kyoto and Nara in this region.  Our two final stops on this Japan trip are to these two cities.

• 
  Kyoto was the capital of Japan for more than a millennium, from 794 through 1868.
• All changed that year when the capital was moved to Edo, which was renamed Tokyo.
• Osaka was hit hard by U.S. bombing during World War II, particularly just before the end.
• Reconstruction stimulated population growth.
• 
  Osaka hosted the World Expo in 1970, and will again do so in 2025.
• The city's most famous landmark is Osaka Castle, built by Toyotomi Hideyoshi in 1583.
• Is home to Shitenno-ji, the oldest Buddhist temple in Japan, established by Prince Shotoku 1400 years ago.
• Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan has two whale sharks.
• I first went there more than 30 years ago and saw them.
• However, my stop in 2012 reported that Yu-Chan and Kai-kun were away on vacation, meaning they were sick, and they subsequently died.

• 
  Incidentally, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia was selected to host World Expo 2030, beating our Busan, South Korea and Rome, Italy.

I have been to Osaka so many times, I've lost count.  

• I was a minor part of a team nearly a third of a century ago to plan for an ambitious mass transit system around Osaka Bay, and my contribution was to internationalize each train station to feature countries, just like in Disney's Epcot Center World Showcase.

• 
  If this effort became reality, Osaka would have thus become the world capital.
• Imagine one station being Chinese.  They would bring two real pandas, open restaurants and hotels, etc.  The architecture would be from that country.
• Then another from France, etc.
• Thus, more than a dozen mass transit stations, each featuring the lifestyle, cuisine and culture of those regions.

Then came the Great Hanshin Earthquake of 1995, only 7.3 Moment Magnitude, but 6,434 people died, and our project came to an end.  I, however, again used this concept as explained in one of my Huffington Post articles in 2010, proposing the Sustainable Expo of 2020.

To link with the "Lockheed Martin/Disney" platform, rather than set aside a plot of land and have various countries build structures that will become obsolete, there already are twenty ideal locations awaiting inspiration. Honolulu is suffering through the pangs of planning a mass transit system. Funding crises will no doubt appear, again and again. Why not find a way to allow international teams to finance, design and manage these stations? Like in EPCOT Center around a lake, each site would feature a different region of the world interfacing, in principle, with the Pacific Ocean. A China village, with the architecture, restaurants and entertainment otions of that country. Maybe they'll bring and leave two pandas. Same for Japan, Korea, the European Community, South America, Africa...and more.

That Lockheed Martin/Disney platform was to be the first step of the Blue Revolution.

The Marriott Miyako Osaka begins on the 38th floor, and goes up to 55.

This is a Mormon hotel, and three religious books are provided in each room.

The executive lounge is excellent, with a plethora of drinks, quite spacious and an good assortment of appetizers.

Shanghai Soup Dumplings were featured.  Had seven of them.

Ended with a pizza and assortment drinks.

Night view from our room.

Walked 4677 steps today.

Goodnight.

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