The subway had left us at the edge of the Royal Castle Park.
We followed the other people along a path, then stopped at the first opening.
“Is this the way?”
Dani checked the map on her phone.
“No.”
We walked farther.
At the next opening, an official-looking sign got in our way.
“Not that way, either, I guess.”
Corbin pointed toward palace rising over the trees.
“Can we go that way?”
“No.”
The third opening was the right one.
~
Inside, Osaka Castle was huge.
Trees and stone stairways wound up the grassy hills.
Maple leaves turned shades of red and gold in the cold. They fell to the ground and blew in great clumps and crackled under our feet.
Corbin picked up the largest, most symmetrical leaf he could find and held it up for examination.
“Me too. Me too.”
His brother climbed out of the stroller.
Soon, they were both stuffing their shirts with the falling leaves.
I looked at the map.
“Come on. We have a long way to go.”
Then we started walking.
Stairs.
A moat.
A bridge.
A castle.
We kept going.
The kids took turns riding on my back or being pushed through the leaves in Dani’s stroller.
First Corbin wanted a ride.
Then Avery.
By the time we reached the central plaza gates, everyone was tired.
We looked across the plaza to the white-and-green tower rising from its center.
From its top, specks of gold trim shone in the evening sun.
Dani looked at the people standing on the rooftop overlook.
“Do you want to go inside?”
She sighed, then continued.
“I don’t, but you should. And the kids are free.”
“Yeah. I’d like that. And I bet the views from the top are nice.”
She nodded towards the kids.
“Can you handle them both?”
I shrugged.
“Good,” she said. “Then I’m going shopping.”
I got in line, with Avery on my back and Corbin in the stroller.
A few minutes later, Corbin pointed at a sign.
“Look. No strollers.”
I looked at the sign—a red circle with a line through it.
I got out of line.
Dani was already halfway across the plaza toward the shops. I caught up with her and handed over the stroller.
“Corbin will have to walk.”
Avery stayed on my back.
On our way back, a musician had set up on the grass.
We stopped.
He was surrounded by four or five instruments.
He slapped the palms of his hands against a steel drum, then reached for another instrument without stopping the rhythm.
A long wooden pipe lay across the front of him, wrapped in fabric and twine.
Beside it hung a row of metal tubes that rattled when he struck them.
Corbin watched his hands.
Avery watched from my back.
The musician closed his eyes and played.
When he finished, we went inside.
~
The stairs began outside the building and continued within.
The first staircase rose in front of us.
Another crossed above it.
People moved constantly in opposite directions, squeezing past one another as they went up and down.
Corbin stopped at the bottom.
“Which way?”
“Up.”
We climbed.
Avery shifted on my back.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“Yes.”
A few steps later, he shifted again.
“My legs are tired,” he said.
“Your legs aren’t doing anything.”
“My body is tired.”
~
We reached the next floor. Murals and exhibits covered the walls.
Corbin walked past the first one, then stopped and backed up.
“What’s this say?”
I found the plaque.
“The Summer Siege of Osaka, 1615. The Tokugawa shogunate against the Toyotomi Clan. In this battle, th—”
Corbin was already at the next display.
“What’s this one say?”
I caught up.
“A battle.”
“Oh, yes. That’s what I thought.”
He moved on.
“This one?”
I looked at the picture.
“People talking.”
He was already gone.
“The death of the ruler,” I called after him.
A few steps later, he stopped in front of a long folding screen. Armies stretched across the landscape in hundreds of tiny figures, scattered among fields, trees, hills, and winding streams.
“Which river is this?”
I squinted at the screen, trying to make sense of it.
“I really don’t know.”
“What’s his name?”
He was pointing to a foot soldier.
“I don’t know.”
We moved on.
“Is this the biggest tree?”
I looked at the screen again.
“I don’t know.”
We kept climbing.
~
By the time we reached the top, Avery was heavy enough that my legs had started to shake.
My armpits felt sticky. My breath heavy.
Then we stepped outside, and the temperature dropped
“Let me down. Let me down,” Avery said.
I stopped and loosened the straps.
Together, we leaned over the railing and looked out across Osaka.
Far below, the castle grounds spread through the city. Roads and buildings stretched in every direction.
I found Dani somewhere among the crowds. “There.”
I pointed.
Corbin and Avery looked.
“Hi, Mama!”
She didn’t look up.
The kids waved harder.
I pulled out my phone and texted her.
A moment later, she looked up and squinted across the plaza.
I waved.
She waved back.
The kids began jumping.
“Hi, Mama! Hi.”
Then we turned toward the stairs.
This time, both kids walked.