Post by washi on Aug 13, 2016 19:46:23 GMT
Here's the tour I made of my ride a couple of days ago. I think you may be interested because it goes by some important Osaka Landmarks. The first (going around the edge) is Kyūhōji Greenway park (one of four refuge areas set aside by Osaka Prefecture during the war. If it rains, I often ride laps there, but I don't like to when the track is crowded with early morning walkers and runners. Next, I ride through Hirano (Flat Meadow) Ward, which in historic terms (say from the 14th or 15th century) was the largest town in the old Kawachi province. Through a long Shotengai (covered shopping street). All shops were closed, except a fish monger who was just beginning to set up. Through Nagai Park (one of the venues of the World Cup in 2006?), to Sumiyoshi Taisha, a very ancient Shintō shrine (in The Tale of Genji, but much older), once on the edge of Osaka Bay. Then up the street (a very gentle climb up the Uemachi Plateau), crashing through Abeno Harukas, the tallest building in Japan, and cutting through Shitennōji, Japan's first and of course oldest Buddhist temple, where preparations for the Bon Dance were in full swing.
