Just another day in the main tank. The ray is in the foreground. It is so much larger than the other fish that it is hard to tell how far away it is in the photo, but the whale shark is one of the furthest fish.
Sunfish. Unfortunately between low lighting and constant movement of the animal, my camera wasn't interested in taking a clear shot.
This incredible animal is rarely caught on camera. It is a scuba fish, and appeared to be cleaning the sand. It is truly remarkable to see such an amazing and unusual creature.
I have a friend who likes turtles. This shot's for you, Frank.
These crabs look like they don't want to be messed with. I can see where the word "crabby" might come from.
"You want a piece of me? Huh?"
There was a small tank of these little guys too.
A ninja shop. Obviously for tourists, but Josh wanted a picture to show his roommate.
The cut-outs are recognizable anime characters.
More touristy stuff. We didn't go in.
Close-up of the sign. All English. Must be for foreign tourists. Bleh.
Outside the Ghibli store.
One of the biggest Totoros i've seen.
These next shots were taken from the Osaka ferris wheel.
Looking into the belly of the beast--straight into the wheel.
School kids once again being more orderly than in the US.
Time for one group to leave.
And there they go. Managing a large class out in public doesn't take as many teachers as it would in the US.
Josh doesn't like small enclosed spaces. He tolerated the ferris wheel car.
There is a large park around Osaka Castle. This baseball game was going on in one area.
This was also in the park. It was so unusual to see trash dumped on the ground in Japan that i had to take a picture. It looks like someone stole a garbage can but left the garbage behind. In a large American city, that would not be out of place. In Japan, very unusual.
The water in this picture is one of the moats around the castle.
We asked if we could take a picture first. This older gentleman didn't mind. There were a number of people, mostly older men, fishing in the moat.
Here's what he was catching. They are a little small for people. We found out later he was giving them to the many feral cats that roam on the Osaka Castle grounds.
Osaka Castle. There was a whole museum inside it telling the history. Pictures weren't allowed.
Here's another one for Frank. He likes tigers too. Kitty.
This was taken from the top of the Castle. The ferris wheel we were on earlier is in the distance.
This man had a rather cute puppy.
Lots of cats live on the Castle grounds. They eat the fish caught by the older men who catch them in the moat.
The next day we returned to the Osaka Castle grounds to show the location to a hapless tourist from our hotel who neglected to learn any Japanese before visiting Japan. We had time in the morning before meeting up with Noriko to go to Hiroshima. These statues were on the Castle grounds.
Hiroshima was the first city to have an atomic bomb dropped on it during WWII. Today it is just another normal city in Japan.