JAPAN Days 11 + 12 + 13

October 31 / Nov 1 + 2 - Interlude Osaka

Words: Sebastian + Images: Araceli

Osaka is the midway point of our journey. In many ways, a fantastic pause, a mini-break of three nights before making the journey back to Kyoto.
We are eager to arrive, our good friend, Andy, an international man of mystery, has named Osaka his port for the season. Seeing Andy is a rare, and always enjoyable prospect. I could write an entire book about Andy. But he's shy, so I won't.
Weeks ago we had agreed to meet at the lobby of the Imperial Hotel Osaka .
The train ride, a smooth 15 minutes from Kyoto Station is uneventful, fast, and smooth. Check-in at the Imperial Hotel is even smoother. A grand old hotel, they take service seriously. The hotel is a trip down memory lane for many reasons. It is full of old-school charm: a wide lobby with a fantastic flower arrangement in the middle, carpet everywhere, a cloakroom, and a bellboy desk. Five analog clocks display the time in some of the world's capitals.
By the elevator, there is always someone to greet you, whether you are going to your room or coming down from it.
Each room's door has a small shelf for the day's newspaper, delivered daily in the morning. By the bedside, the central control device is a blocky black box. It controls the A/C, the curtains, the black-out blinds... There are three music channels (BGMs) to choose from. The first being classical of course, and if that wasn't enough, it plays simultaneously in the bathroom. Speaking of which, the water pressure is astounding, and, the mirror, radiates heat. The type of perk you didn't know you needed. These amenities were once standard for any serious hotel, at the Imperial, they never left. Somehow it feels old but refreshing. Like something that has gone but should have never left. Sometimes constant innovation is not the answer, some things don't need to change.

As promised, Andy was waiting for us in the lobby, his faithful newspaper spread open. We decided to catch up at the tea lounge, around some Montblanc. Montblancs are everywhere in Japan during the fall season. The traditional pastry made its way to the island and found a place in people's hearts.
With a live flute background performance, we spent the bigger part of the afternoon sharing, asking, laughing, and conversing. Until Andy says: Did you know they have an Imperial Bar here at the Imperial Osaka hotel as well? No, but let's figure out if they're open. They would open at 5, the sign outside says. Perfect, a great opportunity to go out for a walk, get some groceries, and come back for a drink before it's time for dinner.
At 5:00 sharp, we are back to enter the temple. Sharp is also a good term to describe the entire team at the bar.
Nowhere else in the hotel do we feel Frank Lloyd Wright's influence more vividly than at the imperial bar. Every element is a testament to his legacy. The light is low, almost dark, but perfectly clear. The spotlights above the bar counter create bright disks on the surface. The back bar is a stained glass masterpiece, echoing FLW's design, and so are the chairs, tables, and carpet. The side lamps are also geometric marvels. And that's before talking about the glasses, all small, thin, and etched with tiny squares. The cocktail pins are silver, and the bone china motifs are the same as the stained glass wall.
If I had my own bar, I would serve forgotten classics, that we don't find in most bars. People only drink what they know, the majority following trends. Not expanding their horizons.
Well, the Imperial Bar does just that. To each main spirit, a selection of classics, known and lesser-known. Salty Dog, Harvey Wallbanger, Aviator, Boulevardier, Gin Fizz. Come to us all right now please.
Drinks are prepared by a single bartender, all bottles and glassware placed in front of him first. The movements are quick, sharp, without hesitation. No jiggers needed here, everything is free-poured. In less than a minute, all three drinks are at our table, every single time. We down two cocktails each and reluctantly get on our way to dinner. With the promise that we would be back for a nightcap.

-Dinner tonight is Yakitori . I took great care to choose a restaurant that specialized in chicken meat rather than chicken offals. Beer and skewers were a great way to continue our conversations. The chicken necks and butts were not everyone's favorite, but I liked them both. -

Back at the Imperial Bar , we continue our talks and record the opportunity to order dessert. A fruit platter and a selection of chocolates. We marvel at how everything is just perfect. If I had a bar, I would serve forgotten classics and an incredible selection of chocolates. No pictures were taken apart from this one from the entrance. We will keep this moment secretly to ourselves.

DEJECTED. Our second day in Osaka is free and easy. We plan for a spa day, sauna, and swimming pool. The hotel has a large spa complex, perfect!
We go through the hotel, past the bridge leading to the annex, and arrive at the spa's reception. We would like to swim and use the sauna please, we say. She took a quick glance at us and mentioned: I'm sorry, no tattoos in the swimming pool. She pauses, and thinks for a second, but, you can swim with this long-sleeved jacket, she says as she brandishes the swimsuit. I have tattoos on my legs too says Araceli, smiling. Hmmm. Then no swimming, I'm sorry. The sauna is also impossible. Then think some more. If you want, you can shower, the cubicles are private. We smile, thank you but not thank you, we can shower in our room. Oh well, no worries, we tried. Some stigmas die hard.
With that unforeseen development, we ponder and think about our next steps.
Never mind then, we will walk around the neighborhood and visit the Osaka Castle . We start our tour at Hiraoka Coffee , one of the city's oldest kissaten. Tiny and quaint, we love it as soon as we enter. There is a free table and we take a seat. Once again we notice the difference in proportions. The table and chair heights are a tad lower than what we find in the west. We love this format, I believe in some places we took out a meter to measure the same heights.
We order the specialty, doughnut, one fried, one baked, along with a Colombian and Tanzanian pour-over.

From there, we walk towards the Osaka Castle grounds. We tour the premises, walking at our own pace, quickly realizing the closer we get, the more crowded it is getting. We talk about our aversion to crowds, and how, instinctively, we take paths that are less and less crowded. We arrive right behind the castle building, in an area devoid of people, with an old shrine. We read about Inari, the God of rice and fertility, we read about all the towers that used to be there but were burned during the Meiji Restoration.

We visit the plum gardens, where we find no plums, no leaves, but crows and an old closed Lawson's.
The large tour ends around the moat and then the river leading back to our hotel. The afternoon is spent resting, learning about the shogunate, and waiting. Waiting for the Imperial Bar to open again.
At 17:00 sharp, we are back at the door, eager to spend more time in this legendary space, and wanting to be part of it as much as possible. We settle down, order a couple of drinks, and set to update the journal, read, and talk.
We order finger sandwiches, a Caesar salad, and some more drinks, and we are happy. The finger sandwiches, once again, surprise us by their simplicity but flawless execution. In a world where everything changes at breakneck speed, it is refreshing to enjoy classics, things that will and should never change.
It is now bedtime, we retire to our room smiling from ear to ear. Tomorrow is another busy day.

Our third and last day in Osaka is dedicated to Andy , who had managed to move a few things around in order to spend the whole day with us. The day starts with a Japanese Breakfast on the top floor of the hotel. Our sets come on trays, a myriad of small bowls, plates, and boxes, all lacquered, containing pickles, eggs, vegetables, fish, and soup. What else do you need?

We take our time, talking, and laughing. We make our way back to the lobby to enjoy a cup of coffee before settling on sofas and getting some work done. By work, we mean reading, and journaling. We struggle with crosswords before Andy finishes them in 5 minutes.
Lunch is up, we decide to let luck guide us and walk towards a busy street filled with restaurants and shops. It's a bit late, so not all restaurants are open. We settle therefore for a pizza at a restaurant that has a Vera Pizz Napoletana seal of approval. Dessert is back at the hotel, there were some items we hadn't tried yet at the tea lounge: the Eaton mess and strawberry shortcake. Again, all of this is an excuse for our real objective, the Imperial Bar , where we find ourselves once again at 17:00 sharp. A few drinks later, we are on our way to dinner, our second Tempura Omakase . Shunten-Shin is a one-man show, with the chef cooking, prepping drinks, clearing, serving, and washing by himself. We are impressed at how seamless it is, nothing is rushed, and everything arrives on time.
Food is incredible, the quality of the vegetables, prawns, fish, clams is impressive. In the mix, I try one of the best cherry tomatoes I've had the chance to come across, same with the eggplant, extremely airy. A Chawanmushi appears! Araceli takes a bite and says, I quite like this one. I might warm up to this.
What impacts me the most, is the salt. Sweet, fluffy, tasty, I can't stop thinking about it. So much so that I tried the chef. Where does it come from? Who makes it? How? By the end of the meal, he offers a bag for sale. Would I like it? Of course!
Time for a last nightcap with Andy at the Imperial Bar. The team smiles as they see us coming in. I wonder what they might think about this motley crew.
Over final drinks, we make plans for our meeting in Kyoto. Andy will join us for an afternoon, what a treat. We go back to our room. We haven't seen much of Osaka, but we deeply enjoyed what we found.
Tomorrow, back to Kyoto.