Osaka Go Camp - Day 3+4 (Himeji, Kobe)

Wednesday and Thursday are free days at the camp, as the professionals play their tournaments on these days. In the first week these days were filled with the cultural trip.

So on Wednesday we set of for Himeji. After lunch in front of the beatiful Himeji Castle we went to the City Hall to play some friendship matches against local Himeji players.

There was big dinner in the evening, including a traditional opening of a sealed sake bottle in which even 1k was asked to take part. The day ended with a visit to a local Go club and more games played.

Great chinese food

While the first day was filled with Go, the second one was filled with sightseeing. In the morning we visited Himeji Castle. It is really a spectacular piece of architecture including lots and lots of stairs (small and narrow stairs), especially in the main keep.
Since you aren't allowed to wear shoes inside the main keep you are climbing these smalls stairs either barefoot or on socks, with a plastic bag holding your shoes in one hand. For me (1k) it was a really stressfull experience, but then i'm nearly 1,80 metres tall, which might be quite tall in japan. But then again i wouldn't have missed this trip and can recommened it to any one who is going to visit japan.

Impressions of Himeji Castle

We were also a bit lucky since Himeji Castle had undergone a six year long restauration that was finished just in March 27, restoring the beatiful white color to the castle.

The second stop after Himeji was Kobe, which is actually not that far from Osaka. Kobe is probably most known for their "Kobe Beef" which ranks as one of the most expensive food world-wide. You can probably guess what we did in Kobe (apart from visiting a shrine - they are really everywhere in japan) and i must say it was really great meat. Even though the restaurant might have been overwhelmed by so much customers at once.
Like the restaurant in Tokyo, where we had Okonumyaki, the meat was prepared in front of you right at the table. Our group was big enough that we filled four or five of these tables at once and there were other guests as well. Considering that we were one of the latest table from our group ordering (it takes some time getting 50 people to the fith floor if all you have is one elevator that can take like 5 people at once), it was to be expected that we had to wait quite some time for our food.

Shrine in Kobe

Original Kobe Beef

The last stop after Kobe was a Go Shop in Osaka. Actually it's a workshop wo also produces the materials they are selling. In fact it was the Shop that is actually supplying the Kansai Ki-in. The shop was really small - way too small for the many people who wanted to take a look - and had some really expensive stuff. The most expensive Go item was a floor Goban for 1,3 million japanese yen.

That's quite expensive

We didn't spend that much money there but bought some nice slate- and shell-stones and a digital game clock, which looks very similar to the ones in Hikaru no Go ;-)