Today started with a trip to the National Bunraku Theater to buy a ticket for tomorrow’s 4pm showing of “The 17th Kamigata Kabuki Performance.” I don’t know anything more than that. Just that it’s kabuki and I’ve been meaning to see kabuki. Then I rushed over to meet a girl I encountered on Japan Forum at the Osaka Aquarium.
She has an interesting story. She’s an overweight gothy British girl, but is a hostess in Japan. She also has an obsession with beautiful Japanese boys and woefully confesses that she spends a lot of her money visiting host bars.
The aquarium is supposed to be on of the largest in the world. The plexiglass used in this one aquarium is 1.5 the world’s yearly output. However, I didn’t find it any better than the Baltimore Aquarium (with the exception of the otters!) and it certainly wasn’t more impressive than the Monterey Bay Aquarium. It boasts a whale shark, but it’s only a little whale shark. The great white the Monterey Bay Aquarium used to have was much bigger. The Osaka Aquarium was difficult to enjoy because of the crowd. The Lonely Planet guide to Japan (almost useless) said to arrive by opening time because lines are horrible during weekends or holidays. Well, it wasn’t a weekend, but it was Obon, one of Japan’s 3 major traveling times. I got there about an hour and a half after opening. While the line outside was only 20min long (but in the boiling Osakan heat) the inside was unbelievably cramped. They had women with loudspeakers positioned at the tightest corners. According to my companion, the women were telling people that it was really crowded so please move along. I didn’t get to see a lot of the exhibits. Getting jostled by parents and pushed by children put me in a bit of a surly mood. I was actually looking forward to getting out of there.
The original lure to Osaka was to find a stuffed animal that my friends in Portland lovingly call Mutsuru. It’s a smiling white oblong with six pudgy legs. I was worried that it might be a mascot for a specific event and that it would no longer be at the aquarium. Sure enough, the six legged wonder was nowhere to be found in any of the gift shops. Disappointed by my experience with the aquarium and disappointed with my failure to complete my mission, I retreated with my companion to the restaurant area to renew my blood sugar.
We finished lunch and parted ways a bit after three. By now the aquarium line had dwindled to almost nothing. Looks like it’s best to wait until ever one else is done piling on to top of each other, trying to beat the rush. Take a leisurely gaze through the exhibits in the afternoon. Curse you, Lonely Planet. This isn’t the first time you’ve led me astray!