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Entrance to ***ennoji Temple
Christmas tree at Osaka Christmas Market
Osaka Castle
Hanshin Department Store - OsakaYakuta for one, please...
I've put under my Tokyo page, a number of customs I've learned about the Japanese, since more people are likely to read about Tokyo, and I don't want to repeat pages...
But here I've got a couple of points that only affected me in Osaka, although they reflect all of Japanese society.
1) In the hotel, one will find a Yakuta - a canvas/cotton full-length robe, with a short-sleeve jacket.
This is the preferred dress for getting out of your work-day (or tour-day) clothes, and relaxing for the evening.
It is NOT meant for going down to the restaurant and dining in(!) - no, I didn't... :> I knew better!
However, I went for a bath, since the washroom in the hotel room was only a shower, and wore this down there, and while I did some laundry in the hotel rear lobby.
2) The Japanese bath is a strange thing to us westerners - we find the bath a private affair (if two people get in the tub, the other had better be your better half!).
The Japanese, however, perhaps due to (somewhat) limited natural resources like fresh water, have turned it into a family affair, and the concept of the public bath are still very much part of life here. Why not? The Romans did it, too!
Public baths exist perhaps now only in resorts, hotels, health clubs & other public places of gathering, rather than like a public restroom, where any stranger can wander in off the street.
The key here is that what we Westerners think of as a bath, is NOT! Here, one is expected to wash first, usually in a small area with stools, soap & mirrors - and a shower nozzle to rinse off with - BEFORE getting into the bath itself, which is only for relaxing, chatting & easing one's muscles - but be warned - the Japanese bath is kept at considerably hotter temperatures than we are used to... I could only stand about 3 minutes before leaving - by the time my fair skin would get used to it, I'd have been redder than a lobster. i went in a 2nd time, but to no avail - it was simply 5-10 degrees too much for me.
*I feel good, however, that I DID try... :>
