Kaisar Meiji

Tom Cruise and Osaka Castle

5 May 20224 May 2022travelingpersecond

You know this this “Handsome Role” right?…

The picture is a scene from the movie “The Last Samurai”, when Captain Nathan, played by Tom Cruise, honorably fights with the leader of Samurai, namely Katsumoto, played by veteran Japanese actor Ken Watanabe, against the soldiers of Emperor Meiji who are trained by American Army. The background of this war is “Modernization vs Feudalism”. Emperors glorified modernization and Samurai maintained tradition.

Those are just a few of many heartbreaking mosaics that made Japan’s history when it transformed from a conventional country to a modern one. One such mosaic is Boshin War, a civil war which left a mark of destruction and was recorded in this historical place which I visited.

Yups….This is Osakajo….People call it as Osaka Castle or Osaka Castle.

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On 09:50 hours, I stepped on the platform of Tanimachi 4-chome Station, then exited through one of its gates where Osaka Museum of History and Hoenzaka Iseki proudly stood in station’s courtyard. My steps continued to be connected on Uemachi-suji Avenue with red maple tree decorations on both sides.

Its strong history made Osaka Castle be my first destination in the city with a nicknamed “Manchester From East”. I really didn’t want to delay and lose my first glance at king’s palace which is more than four centuries old. The distance is only six kilometers from Kaga Hotel where I stayed and the availability of Osaka Metro line to it made it so easy to access this destination.

Did you dare to introduceing yourself to her?

Not long in walking, I arrived at Osaka Castle, through Otemon Gate to be exact. Otemon Gate itself is on east side of palace, while on its west side is provided Aoyamon Gate. Like an ancient palace, this place is surrounded by a wide canal nearly a hundred meters long as a form of defense.

Passing a bridge, pedestrian path began to direct every tourist to enter a side of Otemon Gate. It began with a door made of two towering steel sheets. After that, plastered walls which made from fine andesite, some of which were left intact with a length and width of almost five meters.

Soon the second gate greeted. The gate with a size larger than the first one was nicknamed Osakajo Tamon-yagura which was composed of large, intact and sturdy wood. Through this second gate, tourists would automatically enter palace area which had an area of not less than six hectares.

In some fragments of its history, it’s told that this castle was destroyed by fire due to the Boshin War in 1868. Now the Boshin War itself has been illustrated by Tom Cruise in the preambule at the beginning of this article.

I arrived at southern courtyard, call it as Osaka Castle Park. This is where tourists gather and enjoy the elegance of castle made by Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the leader of Japan’s Sengoku Period. I took time to take pictures with old samurai role in castle grounds. Even to got rid of loneliness, I often have fun posing behind a group of tourists who were taking pictures. Grinning horses, jumping, waving or whatever I did. Sometimes it made one of that group pointed at me while laughing after seeing their photos in their digital room. Seriously acute.

After an hour of enjoying Osaka Castle, I decided to sit down and enjoyed the Ikayaki which I bought from one of many food truck which was neatly lined up in east courtyard. A portion of Ikayaki was priced about 300 Yen. Ups, do you know Ikayaki?…. It was a large grilled squid seasoned with mirin (Japanese seasoning).

The original samurai armor is usually in black colour, right?.

Finishing in eating Ikayaki, or at exactly 10:30 am, I started to leave Osaka Castle area and planned to head to Naniwa City District.

Where would I step?………

Writing Prayers and Wishes in Meiji Jingū

21 April 2022travelingpersecond

Get ready for second day of adventure in Tokyo @ Nakano Station platform.

The tragedy of losing my wallet at Nakano Station made me gulp in fear, it turned out that there was still a coward side behind my courage to explore the world. I calmed down for a moment by sipping drinking water from free water station at one of Nakano Station platforms.

The silver and yellow colored commuter of Chūō Line arrived, I took a step into a middle carriage and sat at long bench on left. I deliberately chose to sit right above a console grill heater. That was my habit while riding Japann’s trains which was slipping into the winter.

I continued to follow the Chūō Line towards east and then turned into south after changing to Yamanote Line at Shinjuku Station. Within twenty minutes, I arrived at Harajuku Station after traveling for about seven kilometers. I only had to pay 170 Yen for this trip.

Crossing the long corridor of Harajuku Station, I came out from West Exit directly opposite Meiji Jingū First Torii Gate on the right. But gosh……

Now that I’ve lost my right glove, how could I resist cold air if my equipment disappeared? I retraced my path when I exited the station platform and finally I found one of those gloves in the middle of corridor after automatic fare collection gates. I didn’t know why?, since this morning, I’ve been stuck losing things even though it were found again. Could this be the start of all surprising things ahead of my adventure?

Alright…Focused back to my steps…..

Now I was posing in front of Meiji Shrine gate. The Torii was so distinctive, the inspiration for a famous automotive company logo in “the Land of Samurai”. I walked through smooth gravel as the entrance to the temple. The path had a width of one meter on left side, combined with a one meter wide paving block path bordered by rope for exit route on the right. Meanwhile, in some parts, the path was bordered by bamboo fences which were neatly arranged as high as the waist of an adult.

In front of the gates of Meiji-jingumae Station “Harajuku” (Chiyoda Line) as part of Tokyo Metro Subway Network. But I didn’t take the Tokyo Metro.

Meanwhile, an old officer removed leaves from road using a backpack-leaf blower. Leaves just needed to be pushed aside to road side and allowed to become natural compost, so environmentally friendly.

Within four hundred meters, on the right, I was blown away by neat arrangement of kazaridaru dedicated to Meiji-tennō and Shōken-kōgō. While right on the left side was an arrangement of wine drums made of wood.

Arriving at the main Torii of shrine, every visitor must wash their hands at Temizuya with water using a long-stemmed dipper. This ritual of self-washing or misogi aimed to purify the body and mind before standing in front of a deity to pray.

Temizuya (shinto shrine pavilion for purification) in Meiji Jingū.

For a moment I stopped after passing through main gate, I was amazed by the size of the Meiji Jingū . This was a shrine dedicated to the spirit of Meiji-tennō , the ancient ruler of Japan.

Meanwhile in some parts of the temple was being renovated. Workers in white carpenter uniforms, complete with various carpentry equipments on their waists and wearing safety helmets, were seen standing on the step ladder, busy making repairs.

While at the end of the shrine, tourists could be seen queuing up at a shop which sells ema and omamori boards. The shop seemed to be guarded by beautiful women dressed in white and red kimonos, they looked polite and graceful to serve the visitors.

While I was busy writing a prayer on a piece of paper, then I put it in a box. While some tourists wrote prayers and hopes on the ema board they bought, then hang it on the spot provided.

Shops selling omamori were amulets that were believed by the Japanese to bring good luck and safety.

An ema board, a small wooden plaque decorated with handwritten art which expressed hope.

It didn’t feel like an hour and a half walked until I finally finished exploring all parts of the temple. This was my last destination in Tokyo, because I would soon be heading to Narita International Airport to catch Peach Aviation flight number MM6320 which would depart at 21:35 hours.

I finally decided to head straight to Harajuku Station and rushed to Tokyo Station, because I was planning to take JR Bus Kanto to the airport.

Let’s go……..

Get ready at Harajuku Station….To Tokyo Station.

Tom Cruise dan Osaka Castle

8 January 202122 January 2021travelingpersecond

<—-Kisah Sebelumnya

Gambar itu adalah penggalan adegan film “ The Last Samurai”, ketika Kapten Nathan yang diperankan Tom Cruise bertarung secara terhormat bersama pemimpin para Samurai yaitu Katsumoto yang diperankan aktor kawakan Jepang Ken Watanabe melawan tentara Kaisar Meiji yang dilatih oleh Angkatan Darat Amerika. Latar belakang perang ini adalah “Modernisasi Vs Feodalisme”. Kaisar mengagungkan modernisasi dan Samurai mempertahankan tradisi.

Itulah sedikit dari banyak mozaik memilukan penyusun sejarah Jepang ketika bertransformasi dari negara konvensional menjadi negara modern. Satu mozaik itu adalah Perang Boshin, perang saudara yang meninggalkan bekas kerusakan dan terekam di dalam tempat bersejarah yang aku kunjungi ini.

Yups….Inilah Osakajo….Khalayak menyebutnya Kastil Osaka atau Osaka Castle.

—-****—-

Pukul 09:50, aku menjejakkan langkah di peron Stasiun Tanimachi 4-chome, kemudian keluar melintasi salah satu gerbangnya dimana Osaka Museum of History dan Hoenzaka iseki berdiri gagah di pelatarannya. Langkahku terus tersambung di Uemachi-suji Avenue dengan hiasan pohon red maple di kedua sisinya.

Sejarahnya yang kuat menjadikan Osaka Castle sebagai destinasi pertamaku di kota berjuluk “Manchester dari Timur”. Aku memang tak mau menunda dan kehilangan pandangan pertama pada istana raja yang berusia lebih dari empat abad itu. Jaraknya yang hanya enam kilometer dari Hotel Kaga tempatku menginap dan tersedianya jalur Osaka Metro menujunya membuatku begitu mudah mengakses destinasi itu.

Tak lama berjalan kaki, aku pun tiba di Osaka Castle, melalui Otemon Gate tepatnya. Otemon Gate sendiri berada di sisi timur istana, sedangkan di seberang barat disediakan Aoyamon Gate. Seperti layaknya istana zaman dahulu, tempat ini dikelilingi oleh kanal lebar sepanjang hampir seratus meter sebagai bentuk pertahanan.

Melewati sebuah jembatan, jalur pejalan kaki mulai mengarahkan setiap wisatawan memasuki sisi Otemon Gate. Diawali dengan pintu berbahan dua lembar baja menjulang. Setelahnya, terpampang dinding-dinding berbahan andesit halus yang beberapa diantaranya dibiarkan utuh dengan panjang dan lebar hampir lima meter.

Tak lama gerbang kedua menyambut. Gerbang dengan ukuran lebih besar dari yang pertama itu berjuluk Osakajo Tamon-yagura yang disusun dari kayu-kayu besar, utuh serta kokoh. Melewati gerbang kedua inilah, wisatawan secara otomatis memasuki area istana yang memiliki luas tak kurang dari enam hektar.

Dalam beberapa fragmen perjalanan, diceritakakan bahwa kastil ini pernah luluh lantak oleh api akibat Perang Boshin pada tahun 1868. Nah Perang Boshin sendiri sudah diilustrasikan oleh Tom Cruise pada preambule di awal.

Tibalah aku di pelataran selatan, sebut saja Osaka Castle Park. Disinilah para wisatawan berkumpul dan menikmati keanggunan kastil buatan Toyotomi Hideyoshi, sang pemimpin Jepang Zaman Sengoku. Aku menyempatkan diri berfoto dengan samurai tua di pelataran kastil. Bahkan untuk mengusir kesepian, aku sering iseng dengan berpose di belakang rombongan turis yang sedang berfoto. Nyengir kuda, melompat, melambaikan tangan atau apapun kulakukan. Terkadang membuat salah satu rombongan itu menunjukku sambil tertawa setelah melihat hasil foto di kamara digital mereka. Parah akut memang.

Genap satu jam menikmati Osaka Castle, aku memutuskan untuk duduk dan menikmati Ikayaki yang kubeli dari food truck yang berjejer rapi di timur pelataran. Setusuk Ikayaki disana dihargai dengan 300 Yen (Rp. 41.000). Eh, tahu kan Ikayaki?…. Itu lho, cumi bakar ukuran besar yang dibumbui mirin (bumbu khas Jepang).

Baju zirah milik samurai asli kan warnanya hitam.

Kalau punya duit, boleh ngemil. Kalau ga punya duit tapi kepengen, boleh juga, ga ada yang ngelarang.

Menuntaskan Ikayaki, atau tepat pukul 10:30, aku mulai meninggalkan area Osaka Castle dan berencana menuju ke Distrik Kota Naniwa.

Kemanakah gerangan?……….

Kisah Selanjutnya—->

Menulis Do’a dan Harapan di Meiji Jingū

9 December 20205 January 2021travelingpersecond

<—-Kisah Sebelumnya

Besiap untuk petualangan hari kedua di Tokyo. @ *platform* Stasiun Nakano.

Tragedi kehilangan dompet di Stasiun Nakano membuatku menelan ludah ketakutan, ternyata masih tersisa sisi penakut dibalik keberanianku menjelajah dunia. Aku sejenak menenangkan diri dengan menyeruput air minum dari free water station di salah satu platform Stasiun Nakano.

Komuter silver berkelir kuning penguasa Chūō Line itupun tiba, kuayunkan langkah memasuki gerbong tengah dan duduk di bangku panjang sisi kiri. Aku sengaja memilih duduk tepat di atas console grill pemanas. Itulah kebiasaanku selama menaiki kereta Negeri Matahari Terbit yang sedang tergelincir ke dalam musim dingin.

Aku terus mengikuti arus Chūō Line menuju timur lalu menukik ke selatan setelah berganti dengan kereta Yamanote Line di Stasiun Shinjuku. Dalam waktu dua puluh menit, aku tiba di Stasiun Harajuku setelah menempuh jarak sejauh tujuh kilometer. Untuk tarif sepanjang itu, aku hanya perlu membayar 170 Yen (Rp. 23.000).

Melintasi koridor panjang Stasiun Harajuku, aku keluar dari West Exit yang langsung berhadapan dengan Meiji Jingū First Torii Gate di sisi kanannya. Tetapi astaga……

Kini aku kehilangan gloves sebelah kanan, bagaimana aku mampu menahan beku jika perlengkapan itu raib?. Dengan terpaksa, aku kembali menelusuri jalurku ketika keluar dari platform stasiun dan akhirnya aku menemukan sebelah gloves itu di tengah koridor setelah automatic fare collection gates. Entah kenapa?, sedari pagi, aku terundung kehilangan barang walaupun kembali tertemukan. Mungkinkah ini permulaan dari segala hal mengejutkan di depan petualanganku?.

Baiklah…Fokus kembali ke langkahku…..

Kini aku sudah berpose di depan gerbang Kuil Meiji. Torii itu begitu khas, pengilham sebuah logo perusahaan otomotif kenamaan Negeri Para Samurai. Kutapaki gravel mulus sebagai jalur masuk menuju kuil. Jalur itu memiliki lebar sedasa meter di sisi kiri, dipadu jalur paving block selebar satu meter berpembatas tambang untuk jalur keluar di sebelah kanan. Sementara di beberapa bagian, jalur itu di batasi oleh pagar-pagar bambu yang tersusun rapi setinggi pinggang orang dewasa.

Di depan gerbang Stasiun Meiji-jingumae “Harajuku” (Chiyoda Line) sebagai bagian dari *Tokyo Metro Subway Network*. Tetapi aku tak menaiki Tokyo Metro itu….Alias nampang doang….Hohoho.

Sementara seorang petugas tua, menyingkirkan dedauanan dari gravel menggunakan backpack leaf blower. Dedauan itu hanya perlu dipinggirkan ke sisi jalan dan dibiarkan menjadi kompos alami, begitu ramah lingkungan.

Dalam empat ratus meter, di sisi kanan, aku terpesona dengan susunan rapi kazaridaru yang didedikasikan untuk Meiji-tennō dan Shōken-kōgō. Sedangkan tepat di sisi kiri adalah susunan drum anggur terbuat dari kayu.

Sampai pada Torii utama kuil, setiap pengunjung wajib membersihkan tangan di Temizuya dengan air menggunakan gayung-gayung bertangkai panjang. Ritual membasuh diri atau misogi ini bertujuan untuk memurnikan tubuh dan pikiran sebelum berdiri di depan dewa untuk berdoa.

*Temizuya* (paviliun bersuci shinto untuk pemurnian) di Meiji Jingū.

Sejenak aku terhenti setelah melewati gerbang utama, aku terkagum-kagum karena luas dan besarnya Meiji Jingū . Inilah kuil yang dipersembahkan untuk menghormati roh Meiji-tennō , penguasa Jepang masa lalu.

Sementara itu di beberapa bagian kuil sedang dilakukan renovasi. Para pekerja berseragam carpenter warna putih, lengkap dengan berbagai peralatan pertukangan di pinggang serta mengenakan safety helmet tampak berdiri diatas step ladder, sibuk melakukan perbaikan.

Sementara di ujung kuil, tampak para turis mengantri pada sebuah toko yang menjual papan ema dan omamori. Toko itu tampak dijaga oleh wanita-wanita cantik berbaju kimono putih berpadu merah, mereka tampak sopan dan anggun melayani para pengunjung.

Sementara aku meyibukkan diri untuk menuliskan sebuah do’a pada selembar kertas, lalu kumasukkan ke dalam sebuah kotak. Sedangkan beberapa wisatawan menulis do’a dan harapan pada papan ema yang dibelinya, kemudian menggantungkannya pada spot yang telah disediakan.

Toko penjual *omamor*i yaitu jimat yang diyakini masyarakat Jepang dapat membawa keberuntungan dan keselamatan.

Papan ema, plakat kayu kecil yang dihiasi dengan seni tulisan tangan yang mengungkapkan harapan

Tak terasa satu setengah jam berjalan hingga akhirnya aku selesai menelusuri seluruh bagian kuil. Inilah destinasi terakhirku di Tokyo, karena aku akan segera menuju Narita International Airport untuk mengejar penerbangan Peach Aviation bernomor MM6320 yang akan berangkat pada pukul 21:35.

Akhirnya kuputuskan untuk segera menuju ke Stasiun Harajuku dan bergegas menuju Stasiun Tokyo, karena aku berencana menggunakan JR Bus Kanto menuju bandara.

Mari……..

Bersiap diri di Stasiun Harajuku….Menuju Stasiun Tokyo.

Kisah Berikutnya—->