Locations Visited: Osaka, Nara, Kyoto, Nagoya, Yokohama, Sendai, Sapporo, and Tokyo
Language Spoken: Japanese
Words Learned: すみません (sumimasen)– Excuse me;
“Your Name”といいます (“Your Name” toiimasu)– My name is “your name.”;
[Ex: 田中といいます (Tanaka toiimasu)- My name is Tanaka]
どういたしまして (Douitashimashite)– You’re Welcome.
こんにちは (Hello), and welcome back to the “Land of the Rising Sun!” There is still so much left to see here in 日本 (Japan)! We learned a lot about the history in the last post, so we’re going to jump straight back into the adventure with one of Japan’s largest cities! So pack some giyoza and bubble tea, buckle up, and let’s get back to it!
Osaka, Japan (大阪)
What a cool city! Welcome to Osaka! This city is so big, and is one of the cities that you just can’t miss when you come to visit. Home to another stunning castle, a vibrant downtown area filled with bright lights and delicious foods, and rich history, it’s not hard to find something to love here. My first stop when I arrived was to put up my bags and head to Osaka Castle. You’d think I’d be tired of castles by this point, but honestly how could anyone ever get tired of getting to explore, learn, and play around castles?
Osaka Castle was built in 1583 (436 YEARS AGO!) and was used until 1868 when it was almost completely destroyed in war. This castle was and still is one of the most important locations in Japan, though, which is why in 1997 the castle was fully restored to it’s former glory. This castle and it’s inhabitants played a large role during a period of war in the 1600’s that resulted in Japan coming back together into a unified country. Inside the castle was a museum about its history as well as the unification of Japan.
My hostel in Osaka was also incredible. It was tucked away in a traditional Japanese home ran by the kindest couple. The room itself was a traditional tatami-style room, with the mattresses on the floor. In the evening I hung out with Yoshi, the husband, and we shared stories and ate some delicious homemade food!
The rest of my time in Osaka was spent in Dotunburi, the downtown shopping area of the city! Although I wasn’t buying anything, I did get some good bubble tea that I waited entirely too long in line for with no regrets, and of course more giyoza. This area reminded me a lot of Times Square in NYC, just with a canal running straight through the middle. I just kept finding myself ending up here multiple times, and loves all the live music and beautiful lights! I also found time to visit the Osaka Aquarium. If anyone knows anything about me, I love the ocean- there was no way I was going to pass this up! They even had whale sharks (One of my FAVORITE animals!) and manta rays!
Nara (奈良) Day Trip
This is another major city people come and take a day to visit when they come to Japan. Nara is famous for all of the beautiful temples found within its major park, as well as the wild deer that bow to you for treats! Obviously I was excited to meet the bowing deer. They sell treats in the park for you to purchase to feed them that are specially made to give them the nutrients they need rather than have tourists feed them biscuits and crackers filled with sugar or things that could make them sick. It can get a bit crazy, though. When you start feeding one, a bunch of deer make their way to you for their fair share of the crackers too! It’s not long before you’re swarmed with their hungry, cute faces all bowing around you.
I had time, so I decided to climb the small mountain near the city to get a view from above. It was 100% worth the effort to make the climb, even though it was surprisingly cold, to see the city sprawled out underneath. It really put how large some of the temples were into perspective too!
The temples here were also beautiful. There were Buddhist and Shinto shrines, and I had so much fun just walking through them. There’s just something so powerful about walking through such ancient places. Time just feels like it kinda stops for a few moments. The most well-known here is Tōdai-ji, which has a 15m-ft tall bronze Buddha statue inside the beautiful and large temple. On the other side of the park is Kasuga Taisha, a beautiful Shinto Shrine which was built around 738 AD. You could feel how hold this temple was when you walked around. Moss hung over all of the statues, and everything looked aged and sacred. It was really beautiful to wander around. Check them out below.
Kyoto
This was it. The place I had dreamt of when it came to visiting Japan. The place that I was counting down the days for since I left on this journey. I was super nervous as I made my way there. Would it live up to my hype and expectation? Or did I build it up too much in my head, and it stood no chance against my crazy imagination. Kyoto is known as the traditional city of Japan. It’s here that people come to get a glimpse of the country at some of its best throughout history. The history, architecture, music, art, and moof of the city is like a time capsule. And I planned to arrive just as the cherry blossoms were beginning to peak. I scheduled my entire trip so that I would arrive here at this time.
Getting out of the train station, I was confronted with something that caught me off guard. When people talk about Kyoto, it’s always how beautiful and traditional it is. Well… they fail to mention that that’s only a small part of the city. The rest is a big, modern city like anywhere else. I was getting a little nervous that maybe I really did expect too much, but I kept moving forward. After checking into my hostel, I headed off to what is known as the Gion District, or the old town.
As soon as I got here, all my worries went away. It was everything I could have ever wanted. The blossoms were still not quite at peak yet, but I could tell it was a matter of only a day or two before they all opened up in their full pink and white glory. The Gion District is just beautiful. Old buildings, temples, pagodas, and winding streets all meld together. Each turn is something more beautiful. I just couldn’t believe it. I was finally here. After dreaming my whole life, I was finally standing in the streets of Kyoto as the sakura fell around me. You can see it below- pictures will describe it way better than I possibly could. I spent the rest of the day just wandering the streets enjoying
The next morning I got up super early so I could go to the Fushimi-Inari Shrine. This was another one of the major reasons why I wanted to go to Kyoto, and I heard it can get insanely busy quickly. I didn’t want to fight the crowd. I made my way the 50 minutes it took me to get there, and was greeted by the sun as it was coming up and the entire place basically to myself. The Fushimi-Inari Shine is a temple with an almost 5km path of torii gates up and around the mountain. They’re just beautiful, and it almost puts you in a trance as you walk through the endless gates around the mountain. Fortunately, since I was there early, I got to enjoy a lot of it to myself, but by the time I got to the bottom, over 1,000 people were making their way in. The peaceful and serene spot quickly fell into a bit of chaos. It was definitely worth the early morning. The rest of my day was spent back in Gion, just relaxing and taking photos!
I got up early again the next day to check out the Arashiyama Bamboo Forest and the Kinkaku-ji temple, or Golden Temple. The forest was a bit disappointing, but still insanely beautiful. This is the problem of social media tourism. You see some AMAZING sights online, but you don’t realize just how either edited or perfectly framed those photos are to make the place look better than it is. Don’t get me wrong, I’m so glad I visited the forest, and I definitely got my picture taken, but it was only one 100m path filled with people- even in the early morning.
After the forest path, I made my way up a trail on the mountain for a bit before making my way to Kinkaku-ji. This temple really was something stunning. Again, though, you see pictures online and it doesn’t quite match up with reality. I’ll show you what I mean. I took both these pictures less than a minute a part. It’s amazing how much a little change in perspective and some patience can make in these photos. Point being, when you travel, always understand it will never match up like you see online. And that’s okay. It’s still absolutely beautiful and 100% worth your time to visit. But even my photos on all of my blogs were carefully framed to take a pretty shots, and don’t always accurately show a place in its reality. My biggest pet peeve traveling is when someone complains that there are too many people somewhere or that it’s not as pretty as they thought. This is a part of travel, and it’s your job to find the reasons why its beautiful and worth the time and effort to get to.
Carefully Planned and Framed Shot:
Behind the Scenes Reality:
The next day I found myself at a spot called the “Philospher’s Path.” This is an area in Kyoto with temples on both ends, and a beautiful, peaceful walk through the sakura along a canal in between. The blossoms were stunning, and the weather could not have been more beautiful. I made my way up and down and then eventually back at the Gion District as a rainbow came into the sky. It was just such a beautiful day! Unfortunately, all good things have to come to an end, and my time in Kyoto was no different. I had a long journey ahead to make it to the North Island of Hokkaido, and so I decided to make a few days out of the trek to see a few smaller cities.
Nagoya
Stop #1 on the Great Journey Northward. I had zero ideas what to expect here. I just knew it was along the train route so I figured- Why not? Well this random stop paid off big time. This was it. The true peak of the Sakura Bloom, and it was surrounding another absolutely beautiful Japanese Castle and the city scape around it. There were parts of the city that were fully pink from all the blossoms.
Aren’t the sakura amazing?! I couldn’t get enough of them. I probably took over 150 photos. I spent the day around the sakura festival at Nagoya Castle, taking photos and just relaxing. I was honestly just speechless with how beautiful all the blossoms were. The rest of the day was spent wandering through the city (Including an obvious stop at the local Pokemon Center).
Yokohama
I made my way to Yokohama the next morning. It’s a big port city south of Tokyo, and like Nagoya- I had no idea what to expect. The hostel owner recommended I take a walk by the canal which was famous for its sakura that line the sides. It was fully worth it. There was an almost endless row of food stands on one side of the river below the trees selling delicious street foods and sweets. It was really just beautiful. Check it out!
I made my way down to the harbor as well. I didn’t really do much besides just enjoy the beautiful weather and take in all the sakura I could find. It was such a beautiful day to just be outside!
Sendai
My next city was a lot further north. I took a 6 hour train ride on the bullet train before I arrived. It was already later in the afternoon whenI got there, and I wanted to see a mountain temple called Hojuzan Risshaku that was about 50 minutes away from the city. I didn’t have time to do that and check in my hostel before it got dark, so I left my bags in a locker at the train station and jumped on another local train. I got to the base of the temple right as it was closing, but fortunately the people who were working there were kind enough to let me still go up since I came all the way out there- I just couldn’t waste time and needed to be back down in 45 minutes.
That’s easier said than done where you have to go up almost 1,000 stairs to even get to the temple. It’s moments like these that I’m glad I’m healthy and did things like GoFar back home to keep me in shape. I had to book it up those stairs, and was greeted by the most beautiful view of snow capped mountains, and beautiful sunset valleys. The temple itself was nestled along the hillside, and just beautiful. By the time I got back to Sendai, I had to go to sleep so I could catch an early train the next morning to finish my Great Journey North.
Sapporo
Another 7 hour bullet train ride later, and I finally arrived in the icy city of Sapporo on the northern island of Hokkaido. Most people come here to snowboard/ ski and for the winter festival in January. Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to do any of that, and I was too late for the festival. But I still could explore the mountains and enjoy the local dishes. By the time I arrived, it was already pretty late, so I couldn’t see much. I put my bags down and decided to get some of the local miso ramen that my hostel recommended. It was delicious. I wasn’t prepared for how cold Sapporo would be, though! Fortunately the ramen helped to warm me up for a brief moment.
I only had one full day to see the main sights so I got up early and headed off to climb the nearby mountain. I wanted to hike up, but unfortunately the trails were closed due to the ice. Instead, we could take the cable car up which ended up being much faster and completely worth it just for the views alone. The mountains were beautiful, and I loved seeing the giant city sprawling out below.
When I finally made it back to the city center, I wandered around the park in the center of town and sat by the Sapporo TV Tower which was modeled to look like the Eiffel Tower in Paris. It was really cold outside, and I had somehow lost my hoodie and other jacket, so I decided to call it a night relatively early so that I would be ready to go for the long train ride back to Tokyo the next day.
Tokyo Pt. 2
Time is quickly running out on this amazing month in Japan. I only had a few plans with my last few days in Tokyo before flying out. My main task was to meet with my friend Kristen for a Disney Adventure! You may remember Kristen from when I went to Turkey. She travelled with Marie and I for the week, and she happened to be in Tokyo with her friend Kiersten at the same time as me! The three of us decided to go to Tokyo Disney together the day after I arrived. But first, we caught up over a dinner of ramen and giyoza! It was SO GOOD to see a familiar face again! Even though we only spent that one week together, you tend to get close to people a lot quicker when you travel together!
The next morning we met up super early in the rain to go to TOKYO DISNEYLAND! You may remember from my last post that I went to DisneySea. Tokyo Disneyland is a separate park that’s much more similar to the Magic Kingdom in Orlando. Despite it raining all day, we had so much fun meeting Disney characters, riding every ride multiple times, and eating all the delicious Mickey waffles, popcorn, and snacks!
My last days in Tokyo, I just relaxed. I walked through my favorite parks. I sat under the sakura and watched the petals fall. I just took in every last moment I could before I had to leave. I’ve really loved visited this beautiful country, and I was definitely sad that my time was running out.
Japan really is an incredible country. The people are so kind, the history is rich and deep, and the culture is vibrant and warm. Coming here during the sakura season was the top of my bucket list for years, and I just can’t believe it actually happened. Now that I’ve crossed it off my list, it’s time to find the next dream. I know I’ll definitely be back to see more one day as well!
Next up on the journey is a very large country not too far from Japan known for also having a rich, ancient history and a pretty cool wall. Any ideas? I’ll see you there next time! Until then,
Have Courage, & Be Kind,
Mr. Weavil