Friday 27th April
Osaka Castle (Osaka-Jo)
Arriving at Osaka, extremely tired after a sleepless flight, there was really only one option when it came to deciding what we'd shoehorn into the first day while we still had the energy to move. It's a little unfortunate but there's not really a whole lot to see in Osaka, so the castle is probably going to be at the top of list for a lot of people visiting the city. It's a great city, and as a central hub for the rest of Kansai it works extremely well, so maybe it's a good thing that there aren't that many distraction in the city itself. Having said that the castle is pretty impressive and well worth seeing, especially with Himeji's renowned castle currently hidden under scaffolding. A stroll around the castle and it's surrounding park is a great way to while away an afternoon looking for the best photo opportunities. We also managed to see a little bit of cherry blossom, which was a great way to start the trip. We knew that we were missing the peak viewing time for blossoms, but what was left at Osaka Castle was still very impressive, and led me to start getting hopeful about our plans for the following day, at least up until the exhaustion set in.
Saturday 28th April
Yoshinoyama
This particular excursion was one of the few bits of the holiday that was entirely new to me, and it was placed right at the start of the holiday because Yoshino is a renowned location for viewing cherry blossoms, and all reports prior to leaving seemed to indicate that we'd be catching the tail end of the peak viewing. The Kansai Thru Pass doesn't quite get you all the way to Yoshino, so some fare adjustment is needed once you arrive, but it's a lovely train journey and it's well worth the trip, even though we ended up seeing very little in the way of cherry blossom. Yoshino itself is a pleasant little town, and one of the less tourist-y areas that we visited, but it's the hike up Yoshinoyama that's really special. A cablecar is on hand to take you all of 2 minutes up the route if you so choose, and from there on it's all on foot. Japanese people really dig hiking it seems, and it's interesting in itself just to see the diverse cross-section of people who are climbing with you. The scenery really elevates this particular hike though, along with some surprisingly impressive temples. Kinpusen-ji Temple is near the start of the hike and is one of the more beautiful temples I've come across in Japan, largely because it's actually been allowed to age, rather than becoming a pristine tourist attraction.
The hike is very long, and at times quite steep. Yoshinoyama's big selling point is that it has four 'layers' of cherry blossoms that open gradually the further up you go, so it's an intense climb at times. Thankfully, there are plenty of amazing views and beautiful scenery to keep you occupied. In a way I'm glad that we did miss the cherry blossoms in their full glory, as it allowed me to take in the place itself rather than flit from blossom to blossom while ignoring all the beautiful surroundings, though I can't deny that the thousands of cherry blossom unfolding across the mountains would've been an incredible sight. The Takagiyama Observatory towards the top of the hike is a definite highlight of the trek, providing some breathtaking views. Or rather, I'm sure they would have been if the climb to the observatory hadn't already taken my breath. Getting cheered on by a small elderly Japanese woman standing at the top was definitely not my proudest moment. Thankfully a pleasant, and very shaded, seating area awaits at the top allowing for a brief spot of relaxation. I honestly don't know how the Japanese people were doing it, but they really made the hike look easy, so perhaps I'm just woefully unfit. The leaflets and information supplied at the base of the climb suggest that you'll need about two hours to reach the top, but if you're stopping to take in the many sights it's very easy to spend a full day here. We even spotted a tanuki as we were leaving Yoshino, which dropped a final cherry on the pile of cherries sitting on top of what turned out to be an excellent excursion. This was easily one of the big surprises of the holiday for me, and I'd gladly recommend a day trip to Yoshino to anyone staying in the Kansai region.
Sunday 29th April
Nara
Unlike Yoshino, I've been to Nara twice before now, and while it's always nice to walk through the park and get stalked by the many many deer that are begging for rice crackers, I wasn't expecting too much from my third visit to the city. However, the park turned out to be an unexpected cherry blossom hotspot, making for a rather beautiful morning spent sitting under trees as the blossom fell around me. The park itself was surprisingly, given that it was practically a summer's day, very peaceful, while the area around Todaiji Temple, the world's largest wooden structure, was as crowded as it always seems to be. So after three visits to Nara I have still yet to actually go into Todaiji, due to the crowds, but it's a very nice area to walk around, and the building is certainly impressive enough from the outside. From that point we explored a little further than I've been before and ended up doing some more hiking, this time climbing Wakakusayama Hills. There's a front entrance with a toll gate that provides a fairly direct route up, and while it's not exactly expensive there is a much more free route that winds around the back of the hills taking you up through a densely wooded area. it's actually a more interesting route up to the highest of three summits, albeit a rather winding, indirect route. We ended up up taking this route up and then paying the toll to come down on the front side. The view from the top, and on the way back down, was certainly impressive, and it was great to see a bit more of Nara outside of it's deer-filled centre.
Umeda Sky Building
After Nara we returned to Osaka and paid a visit to the Umeda Sky Building, one of Osaka's more interesting buildings. Another benefit of the Thru Pass is the sheet of coupons you get with your ticket. These will give you discounts at several big attractions throughout the Kansai region, as if the ticket wasn't already great value for money. One of these discounts applies to the entrance fee for the Floating Garden Observatory, at the very top of the Sky Building, which provides a great view of Osaka, especially around sunset. That's not to say Osaka is especially pretty, but it still looks somewhat impressive from the top of a skyscraper, and at least once the UV lights get switched on when it gets dark you can laugh at everyone's glowing teeth. The area below the Sky Garden is nicely designed, a slightly barebones cafe provides refreshment, and windows on both sides of the circular viewing area show off the views for those who'd rather not stand on top of a building. For some reason the area has some kind of significance for lovers it seems, with a lot of cutesy heart stuff going on. It's silly fun, and my partner and I spent a solid ten minutes playing on the snuggle seats, which change colour from a frosty blue to hot pink depending on the closeness of the two people sitting on them. It's a silly gimmick but it kept us entertained! You certainly wouldn't want to spend too long up at the Sky Garden, but it's a good place to spend a couple of hours, and Osaka doesn't have a lot else going for it.
Monday 30th April
Arima-Onsen / Mt. Rokko
I've been to Arima-Onsen once before, but had done very little besides visit the Gin No Yu Onsen, which wasn't really all that impressive, and sample the free mochi that everyone seems to hand out around the town... repeatedly. I wanted my partner to experience an onsen though, as it's quite distinctly Japanese, and Arima-Onsen has an impressive heritage, so we returned for this trip, and once again ended up exploring much more than I had done previously. For starters we went to the Kin No Yu Onsen this time around, which was much more impressive than it's silver sister. The onsen's 'golden' (read: a bit brown) water is apparently very good for you, and it certainly helped to refresh after a couple of days spent hiking. If you're in Kansai I highly recommend Kin No Yu, it's the one with the free footbath outside that you cannot miss. Yes, you will be surrounded by naked Japanese people, and they may be quite surprised to see you there too (we got interrogated in the changing rooms by a particularly inquisitive and very naked gentleman), but it's definitely an experience you won't get anywhere else, and a very restful one at that. After washing away the previous day's hikes, we found our way to the Mt. Rokko Ropeway. This cablecar trip isn't included on the Thru Pass and is a little bit pricey, but it's a 12 minute ride one way, and very scenic so it is worth the admission. The bus journey we took back down Mt. Rokko, which was covered on the Thru Pass, was a touch more on the hair-raising side. at the summit of Mt. Rokko there's actually not a whole lot of interest. it was a very misty day for us, otherwise I'm sure the views would've been worth seeing, but everything else up there is very tourist-y and artificial. The Garden Terrace's sweets set made the trip worthwhile though, if only for my discovery of black sesame ice cream, which might just be my new favourite dessert.
Kobe
After that slightly terrifying bus journey back down from Mt. Rokko we made two more brief stops in the Kobe area before heading back to Osaka. The first, and briefest, stop was a quick look at Kobe's Tetsujin #28 monument. Unfortunately our mist had turned to rain at this point so it wasn't the best conditions for sightseeing, but there is something about seeing a giant robot standing in the street that just always impresses. I guess maybe it's just a sign that Kobe was running out of things they could pull in the tourists with, but personally I think it's a really cool idea. Maybe one day Eiichiro Oda's hometown will construct an 18 metre high Luffy monument. Then, once we'd seen enough giant robot, it was on a little further to visit the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge, the world's largest single span suspension bridge, which always makes for an interesting subject to photograph, again for sunsets in particular. It's definitely impressive, and certainly on the Kobe side at least some effort has been made to make it worth visiting, but it doesn't really warrant much more than an hour spent looking around at most, unless you're really really into bridges I guess.
Tuesday 1st May
Arashiyama / Kyoto
Arashiyama, a district on the Western edge of Kyoto, has a lot going for it and is always a lot of fun to visit. Apparently, the Togetsu bridge ranks highly among the district's attractions, but I personally don't see the appeal. It really is just a bridge, and it's not even a stunningly pretty one. It's nice enough, but it's more often than not full of traffic, and the river that it spans is hardly picturesque, so it always puzzles me to see tourists snapping away taking pictures of it. The bamboo forest is much more impressive, if a little short-lived. Less a forest, more a small plantation, it is nevertheless a very striking place, and on a windy day watching the bamboo swing around wildly is just fantastic. A short walk around the district led us back over the river to Arashiyama Monkey Park, a new experience for me, and one I'd happily do again. I was a little worried about the conditions the animals would be living in after hearing horror stories about a bear park in Hokkaido, but this is really just a wild troop of monkeys who have set up home here, and it's really fascinating to get to see them so close. It's a fairly steep hike up to the park, though nowhere near as strenuous as some of our other hikes, but the walk is certainly worth it. as you make your way to the summit monkeys will start to appear, crossing your path as you walk up, and at the top itself we found a large number of monkeys, including some particularly mischievous younger ones. An impressive view over Arashiyama and Kyoto can also be found at the summit, along with a small hut, where you can buy food to feed the monkeys through the caged windows. That's really all there is to the park, except for a play area for children. There's not much to do, and your visit most likely won't be exceedingly long, but it's the animals that are the main attraction and they certainly impressed. Back down in Arashiyama we used our handy Thru Passes to catch the Randen Railway, possibly the world's cutest little railway line that turns into a tram halfway, to get to Kinkakuji, probably Kyoto's biggest tourist attraction. It is certainly a striking building, and the garden surrounding the temple is really beautiful. Interesting as it is, it doesn't take long to complete a loop around the grounds, even with plentiful stops for photographs. Fortunately, this meant we were finally back in Osaka early enough for the first of four, yes four, evenings spent in Den Den Town.
Den Den Town, Osaka
Stepping off the subway at Ebisucho on the Sakaisuji Line, and leaving the station at either exit 1A or 1B will land you right at the end of the busy stretch that is Den Den Town, and from there you just need to follow the sound of anime OPs. While the better connected Namba Station on the Midosuji Line will also drop you off within touching distance of Den Den Town, it's a much busier station set in the heart of a labyrinthian shopping centre, so if you're looking to get there and get shopping Ebisucho is definitely the easier option. I personally had to limit myself to smaller figures due to a lack of space to take it all back in, and even then I went a little overboard compared to my usual standards. I'm generally the guy who goes to a con and just looks, never buys. Here though, it is very hard to resist, especially for a One Piece fan like myself. One Piece figures are literally everywhere, and it is worth noting that prices do tend to vary from shop to shop, so shopping around is definitely recommended. The One Piece@Be.Smile figures (top picture) are possibly my favourite purchase ever, it's a close run thing between them and the mini Revoltech Moyashimon bacteria. They're not especially big, at just 2.5 inches standing and 2 inches sitting, but they are well made and extremely adorable, and at around 350 Yen each they're pretty inexpensive. The One Piece Attack Motions: Battle Of The Deep Sea figures, meanwhile, kind of became the bane of the holiday for me. They're undeniably awesome, and similarly priced to the Be.Smile figures, but I was apparently cursed to only get duplicates. The quality of the paintwork also seems to vary wildly from figure to figure. My Nami is completely flawless, whereas one of the two Jinbei's I got has a very large blue splodge on his cape. Generally though they all float somewhere in the middle, not quite perfect, but bearable.
If you really need to complete your set and don't like the idea of blind boxes you'll be pleased to know that there are many second-hand shops in the area that will, for a higher price, help you on your quest. These shops are filled with rail upon rail of figures in clear bags with the price scribbled on in pen, and while seeing what you're getting is definitely a welcome change, I quite like the surprise of a blind box. I did however find the pricing of the figures in these shops really interesting, particularly how practically any female figure in a set will be a lot more expensive than her male counterparts. In one of these shops I put 300 Yen in a gashapon machine at the door, hoping for a Skyward Sword Link, and actually got lucky, only to walk a few metres further into the store and see a whole rail of Links bagged up and going for over triple the price, so it might be worth trying your luck out first. Speaking of luck, if you really don't want to pay full price for your anime goods and are feeling very lucky you could try your hand at some of the many crane games around the area. Yes, instead of being filled with crappy plastic keyrings, the arcades in Den Den Town are filled with anime merchandise. Admittedly, some of the smaller arcades are still filled with crappy keyrings, but the larger establishments, like Taito Game Station, have some extremely cool stuff in their machines. You'll more than likely end up paying triple the price trying to get it, but it's still better than what we get in the UK. It's also worth popping your head upstairs in these places to have your face melted off by the people on the rhythm game floors. You can even fulfil your lifelong dream of playing on a Taiko No Tatsujin machine... no? just me then? To be fair, you probably already know whether you'd want to visit Den Den Town, but if you are a nerd on the fence for whatever reason then let me tell you now that it is very definitely worth experiencing.Wednesday 2nd May/Thursday 3rd May
Kaiyukan, Osaka Aquarium
These two days were slower than the rest of the holiday due to bad weather, so I've condensed them together, because I'm sure you probably don't want me to ramble on about Den Den Town over and over again. So, on Wednesday morning we decided to go to Osaka's famous aquarium, one of the largest in the world. I've been here once before, on what was apparently a quiet day, and it was pretty manic, so I was a little dismayed to see a sign outside the ticket office apologising because there were a lot of school groups inside. Not even the sign prepared me for just how busy it was inside though. The aquarium has a really fantastic design, as the route winds further and further down through the tanks and you get to see everything at different levels, however this also means that everybody is funnelled through a very slim passage for almost the entire length of the route with very little respite. Fortunately because you get to see every tank repeatedly it's not such a big deal if you can't get through the crowds. The dolphin and penguin displays towards the start, for example, seem to have a pretty permanent crowd surrounding them, while the viewing areas for the same tank further down are often completely clear. It's a good idea to try and get past that initial crowd to be honest. Yes, penguins and dolphins are really cute, but there's a lot more to see here and if you can get ahead of a big enough chunk of visitors it will make the rest of your visit a lot more comfortable. The aquarium itself is absolutely worth visiting, but it's unfortunate that there's not much else to do in the surrounding area. There's the Tempozan ferris wheel next door, which I can't imagine gives a very interesting view of anything to be honest, and a very dated shopping centre selling cheap tourist tat while horrifying muzak versions of 80s power ballads play in the background. We stopped off in a cafe here for lack of anything else to do, only to find that we'd picked the one cafe in the region that didn't have a designated smoking area. Smoking, unfortunately, seems to be kind of cool in Japan, and weirdly most of the smoking areas that places have set up are still fully ventilated so all the smoke just floats right out anyway. It's not going to completely ruin your holiday or anything, indeed if you're a smoker you might enjoy it even more, but it does take the sheen off every once in a while.
Osaka Science Museum
Thursday yielded the only real disappointment of the holiday, as with another day of bad weather we searched for anything to do in Osaka. We ended up at the Osaka Science Museum, lured by the Thru Pass guidebook's promise of the world's largest planetarium. Having been to Tokyo's incredible National Museum of Emerging Science before maybe my expectations were just too high, but the Osaka Science Museum was just a bit boring boring. It didn't help that there's very little English here, so it's difficult to really take anything on board, but even without that the museum is extremely dated. The planetarium is certainly large, and could've been very impressive, but the display we were given was five years old and I'm pretty sure it would've been boring back then. The exhibits themselves are geared very heavily towards children, somewhat oddly since Osaka actually has another science museum specifically for children already, and this museum doesn't advertise itself as being for children at all. There can be no denying that the kids were enjoying themselves, and even my own inner child wanted to pull every lever and see what happened, but there really isn't much here that would lead me to recommend it. With nothing else to do we ended up back at Den Den Town before heading back to the hotel and by chance catching some anime on TV, ending the day on a suitably nerdy note. Thankfully the sun tried it's best to return the next day and we got back to a normal holiday schedule.
Friday 4th May
Byodo-in, Uji
Uji is a rather beautiful city on the southern outskirts of Kyoto, situated on the Uji river, which makes for a rather picturesque setting. The city is famed for it's green tea, which means the streets are lined with little shops selling all sorts of tea paraphernalia... yes, tea paraphernalia is a thing. The city of Uji itself, however, pales in comparison to Byodo-in, quite easily the most impressive of Japan's many temples. While many of the countries historical sites are partly, even occasionally completely reconstructed, Byodo-in's Phoenix Hall is an original, and incredibly beautiful building. Built in 1053 the Phoenix Hall is easily one of the most fascinating temple buildings in Japan, so much so that the building takes pride of place on the 10 yen coin, and is probably the one attraction in the Kansai region that I think absolutely everybody should see.The garden surrounding the temple is almost as beautiful as the Phoenix Hall itself, and allows for a leisurely pace to be taken as the route leads you all the way around the building. Once you've had your fill of taking gorgeous photographs the route leads you through to the on-site museum. My initial reaction was a little frosty as I realised I was about to be forced through a museum, but it turned to be almost as interesting as the Phoenix Hall and is certainly just as beautiful. The building itself is almost jarringly modern, especially next to the Phoenix Hall, but once you get inside you'll find it's a thoughtfully designed, sleek building that really works well in placing the focus on it's exhibits, and they're some extremely impressive exhibits. The museum houses most of the temple's national treasures and they are truly incredible to behold. Both the temple and museum are quite small, but you'd be surprised how quickly time flies once you're inside, and it's very easy to spend an entire morning taking it all in and, if you're anything like me, getting a photograph from every possible angle.
Osaka Station City
As impressive as Byodo-in is, we eventually ended up back in Osaka with a bit of time to spare, and with nothing else to do we visited the recently renovated Osaka Station, to see what all the fuss was about. The fuss, as it happened, was the celebration of Station City's first birthday, complete with tacky smeared images all over the floor that make for silly photo opportunities when viewed from the right angle. Osaka Station City, it turns out, is really just another huge shopping centre. It seems that it's only a matter of time before every station in Osaka becomes nestled in a maze of high-class boutiques. Station City is actually not a bad place to go hunting for views, you can get pretty high up for free, and we ended up in a cafe on the 11th floor, where I finally got my matcha latte fix, with a view over to the Umeda Sky Building. We then eventually went up a little further, to the Tenku No Noen Farm (it's really not a farm) on the 14th floor, a small rooftop area that made a great place to wait out the potential sunset that seemed to be upon us. We weren't the only people who had the idea, and as the sun got lower the tripods started to appear all around us. Unfortunately we didn't get a very good sunset that day, but it was at least quite atmospheric, and I imagine that a really good sunset would've looked great from that vantage point. It's not going to blow anyone's mind to be honest, but if you find yourself with some free time in Osaka you could do worse than to explore Osaka Station City a bit.
Saturday 5th May
Koya-san
The final day of the holiday was reserved for my favourite day trip, and the longest excursion out of Osaka. The two hour long train journey to Gokurakubashi would probably drag if it's last half weren't so beautiful, winding along the sides of mountains and providing some beautiful views. At Gokurakubashi a rather boring cablecar journey takes you up to Koya-san, before a bus takes you on the final leg, all of which is covered on the Thru Pass. Koya-san is jam-packed full of temples, but the real highlight here is Okunoin Temple and it's surrounding cemetery, the largest in Japan. It may sound a bit strange to visit what is essentially a giant graveyard, but it's an extremely beautiful, and incredibly atmospheric setting that is just amazing to see. Byodo-in may well be the most impressive sight in Kansai, but Koya-san is my personal favourite, and it's something I don't think I could ever get tired of seeing. From the beginning of the cemetery it's an almost 2 kilometre walk to reach Okunoin Temple, though there is another entrance to the cemetery much closer to the temple, but it leads through a much more modern set of tombstones that aren't quite as interesting. lined by over two hundred thousand tombstones in varying states of repair the walk to the temple is breathtakingly beautiful, and it's difficult not to take a picture every few steps. Okunoin is the site of Kobo Daishi's mausoleum, where it is believed he awaits in a deep state of meditation, and over the centuries monks and feudal lords who have wanted to be close to Kobo Daishi in death have had tombstones put in place here. As such it is an area that is extremely important religiously, and so visiting as a tourist can feel uncomfortable at times, particularly at Okunoin Temple itself. The temple is interesting, and it's main Lantern Hall is beautiful, but it is very definitely a place of worship before anything else, much more so than many of the other temples I've visited in Japan. This is not to say that visiting as a tourist is frowned upon in any way, but it is extremely important to remain respectful while here. The other temples at Koya-san don't really hold a candle to Okunoin and it's cemetery, and it's possible to spend an entire day simply walking through the cemetery taking everything in. For something really different visiting the cemetery at night is recommended, but I've yet to have an opportunity to do so, nor am I entirely sure I'd want to. The cemetery is plenty atmospheric during the day for me, and if you're looking for something a little different then Koya-san is, in my opinion, the most interesting place to visit in the Kansai region.
And that's it unfortunately. We were up at 5am the next morning and on our way back home. The Kansai region really is a very diverse place, and even if you only get to spend a few days there it's well worth visiting. That it's so well-connected in terms of transport helps greatly, as it means you can really get around and explore the region with relative ease. It's definitely not Tokyo, but it has it's own charms and if you're looking for something a bit less metropolis, then the Kansai region has a lot to offer.
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