Nara

Nearly up-to-date now, after modern Osaka we decided to get a bit more history in Nara. Nara was the Japanese Capital for 74 years from 710 and a large portion of the city is covered by a Unesco World Heritage site. It is also a rather pretty city that is easy to walk around with lots of nice food. Win, win, win. Oh and it is only 45 minutes from Osaka.

It is hard to miss the history in Nara, it is everywhere

There are so many parks and open spaces that we spent the afternoon just walking around, enjoying the landscaping.

It is easy to find the tourist information offices, most of them have sculptures outside.

Although it was very over cast we had a nice sun set

The blossom is still trying to come out but it is just not time yet

The other thing that is hard to miss about Nara are the Deer, thousands of them.

Aimee should have been watching this one closer

The guy in the picture below is laughing so hard because I am laughing really hard, just before this picture Aimee was getting bitten on the bum by a very persistent Deer that wanted the Deer cookies that she had just bought. And no I didn't help her because I was laughing too hard.

We made him smile anyway

We were really lucky to arrive in Nara when we did because we were able to go and experience the Omizutori ceremony. The ceremony seems to last for several days but the part we witnessed involved carry burning bundles around the balcony of one of the temples. It is very hard to explain and was equally hard to photograph but it was spectacular and the crowd had the sort of energy you normally get at live music, there was a lot of noise as people reacted to the falling embers, which are supposed to keep away evil.

Waiting

The ball of fire is on the end of a long pole waved by a monk.

We were rather hungry after all the walking so we decided to try a Kansai speciality Okonomiyaki. This is basically a massive pancake/omelette with cabbage in it and other stuff on top (the other stuff is up to you that is what the name means). This batter is then cooked on a Japanese hot plate at your table, it was delicious and incredibly filling.

Okonomiyaki - Whatever you like, fried

The perfect accompaniment was a nice hot bottle of Sake which left Aimee a little.. shall we say drowsy on the walk home!

The next day we went to see Nara's main claim to fame Tōdai-ji the worlds largest wooden building and the Nara Daibutsu (large Buddha image).

This building just feels massive

This Buddha image is big, the expression of peace on the face is very beautiful.

Neither disappointed; the building was just monumental, because it is in a large open space it is difficult to take in the scale at first but it finally hits you when you come back out again and you realise it is all wood! The Nara Daibutsu is big but it is the pose and the style of the carving that are most striking, the expression on the face is so peaceful that we found ourselves just stood there looking at it for ages.

We came out feeling very zen and spent the rest of the day walking around the parks taking pictures of Deer.

Osaka

Welcome to Osaka! Cats and Octopus balls. 

Our next destination was Osaka. We were staying in the Namba district, most notably known for its nightlife, restaurants and, it would seem from our road, amusing geeks/Matt. Every shop along the road catered for Otaku or people with a somewhat obsessive interest in anime, manga or video. There were manga shops and all sorts of collectables from transformers (original ones!) to Gundam. Lets just say Matt was a very happy boy.

The look of a boy who has been told NO!
 (now I know how my parents felt when they used to take me food shopping)

As previously mentioned Osaka is famous for its good food. Amazing Italian food is everywhere, some of the best I have ever tried but the cities main delicacy is Takoyaki - octopus balls.  You can’t walk more than a meter without walking into another giant octopus advertising his balls.

Go on, you know you want them....

On our second day in Osaka we had the worst rain since New Zealand so we decided to head over to the aquarium. On the way we discovered the worlds largest Ferris Wheel, I have always hated them, especially after my experience in California. I did not care for the worlds biggest one. Although it was big.

Worlds evilest largest ferris wheel. 

We had a great time at the aquarium, despite the numerous school trips there. The animals were all looked after well and it was great to see some manta rays, a Yu-chan whale shark and an octopus that wasn’t spherical.

School trip!

Dude!

After the aquarium the rain had subsided so we decided to head back over to Namba walk and experience their famous nightlife.

Mmmmm mini pizza. 

Couldn't work out if should put in mouth or ear...

you decide.

Marine theme? 

Kyoto

It is slightly hard to concentrate on writing a blog post when rumbling along at over 250 mph on a bullet train but I will try to stop looking out of the window and get a bit more up to date.

We are on the train from Osaka to Fukuoke having spent the last week in the Kansai area of central Japan, Kansai is kind of like the Midlands, it is in the middle and it is where all the good stuff is, the capital might be just down the road but the Midlands is where the action is. Kansai includes the areas around Kyoto, Osaka, Kobe and other historic areas such as Nara. We will catch up with these areas in another post but first we spent a few more days in Kyoto.

On March 1st we spent the day at Fushimi-Inari Taisha it is one of my favourite places on the planet not just in Japan, I came here in 2004 and have wanted to come back ever since. The temple complex is set across a hill with pathways lined with red tori, there are small shines dotted across the hill as well as a lot of stone foxes. The complex is dedicated to the Gods of rice and harvest and is now an important site for business people. There are always people at the shines pondering something to do with a business venture and this really adds to the atmosphere, but mostly it is very beautiful.

After the amazing weather we had it was time for a bit of cold and damp but we made the most of it and spent the day in the Gion area of Kyoto checking out the traditional style narrow streets, shops and temples. We also bumped into a few more Geisha.

The weather was nice again on our last day in Kyoto so we had a long walk to one of the oldest Shinto shrines in Japan, the gardens were beautiful and there was a wedding going on so there were a lot of smiling faces around.

Kyoto is a pretty special place (so much so that the Allies decided not to bomb it during WW2) it is a culture city like Paris or London, you can walk around it, the people are very friendly the food is good and there are so many gardens and parks that you can easily forget you are in a city. We couldn't stay forever so we packed up and got on a train to Osaka.

Arashiyama

Our second day in Kyoto and I have already fallen in love with the city. It doesn’t feel like a typical city, it has a very subtle and gentle feel to it. Kyoto is very much a city that has retained its history, which is very different from a lot of places we have visited and it exudes culture and tradition. My favourite thing to do here is to simply walk along the streets, experiencing the sights, smells, and sounds. There are many narrow hidden streets full of quirky little shops and eateries. The blossom is starting to arrive, there are small streams everywhere, there are many many beautiful geishas. It also helps that the sun has appeared again.

Check out the cool sock gloves!

Tunuki- Japanese school children have a very rude song about him! 

We decided to visit Arashiyama, a town at the base of Kyoto’s western mountains.  Catching the bus there was a breeze, not like the confusing tube maps of Tokyo. In Arashiyama we wandered around the many shops and parks. The highlight of the day was the amazing bamboo grove. The narrow walkway through the bamboo forest appeared out of nowhere and was like entering wonderland, as the bamboo  swayed in the wind it made the most incredible sound, it is hard to believe that it is just grass.

Big bamboo or really small lady?

Matt ❤ bamboo 

 

Kyoto is famous for its delicious food and it has not disappointed. Every meal we have had has been sublime. Matt’s Japanese has come in handy on several occasions, most notably when he decided that out of all the restaurants available to us we should go to the Tonkatsu (pork) restaurant! The waiter and other diners were highly amused as the crazy white people proceeded to order dishes, in dubious Japanese, without the pork, in a famous pork restaurant. However, the food arrived and it was delicious, filling, and best of all minus the pork- well done Matt. An added bonus was that we only had to pay for one meal as no pork means it wasn’t a real meal! Hurrah, maybe this was Matt's plan all along?  

View from the top of the mountain.

Japanese poem on a rock. As you do. 

Vending machines are EVERYWHERE!

Kichijoji to Kyoto

We spent our last day in Tokyo wandering around the park in Kichijoji a suburb of Tokyo. The weather was so much better and there were lots of people out enjoying the park, walking their dog and browsing in the quirky shops, so we did the same (except for the dog part obviously).

There was a ceremony happening in the shrine so drum sounds drifted through the park.

The pond was a full of huge Koi Carp who had it in for the ducks. The ducks didn't seem to notice who was biting them.

It was even warm enough for painting in the park

Kichijoji is a little way out of central Tokyo so by the time we had stopped off for some food it was time to find our over night bus to Kyoto. We only had a vague idea where we were supposed to catch it from so we headed over early, this was a good idea as we had to be directed buy a brilliant JR rail employee who spoke no english with the use of our map that has no street names on it! We still made it to the stop a little early so we stopped by 7eleven for the heating (it seems so long ago that 7's were islands of aircon) and a hot lemon tea from a vending machine. On a side note hot drinks in cans from vending machines on street corners are the most brilliant things ever when waiting for a bus and should be imported to the UK by next winter, I am not sure how we live without them.

We were not sure what to expect from our night bus experience as it was cheap and the stop was at a normal bus stop rather than at a bus station. No need to worry, with typical Japanese efficiency the bus company attendant appeared from nowhere 15 minutes before the bus was due to depart, 10 minutes from departure the bus arrived, then bang on departure time we were off. The bus stopped for three toilet breaks in the night at exact 2 hour intervals and we arrived in Kyoto 20 minutes early at 0550.

This was a bit early to check into the hostel so we stopped and had a bowl of Ramen. After dropping our bags at the hostel we spent the day wandering the palace gardens and bumping into places that I recognised from the last time I came here.

The palace gardens are beautiful and look suspiciously like someone did a painting of them before actually laying out the gardens.

I always smile when I see the trees with crutches

There is not much blossom about yet but a few buds are breaking through

Kyoto is so full of beautiful, peaceful spaces it is very different from Tokyo. There is a lot of history to see here as well (there are 17 world heritage sites here!), but we are just enjoying wondering the parks and quiet streets full of surprising buildings.