Having packed and checked out of The Bridge Hotel we have one last day before we need to make tracks for Kansai Airport and the long journey home to Norfolk.
There is a final temple we want to go and see here in Namba approximately a mile away from where we are staying – Namba Yasaka-jinja. This is a Shinto shrine damaged by World War II bombings and rebuilt afterwards when it then received what now makes it renowned, the Ema-Den, a building shaped in a giant lion head which shelters a prayer altar in its open mouth. It really is a very dramatic shrine and when you go to the side you suddenly notice it’s teeth!!
We then decided we needed mid morning coffee and cake and ended up in Takashimaya, a department store which has direct links to Namba Station and also the huge Swissotel. It is yet another mega upmarket many floored department store – this one has a robotic section on its 1st floor where we had great fun looking at the various gadgets and things 😁.
Takashimaya has an interesting history and was not started by a railway company and as far as I can see is run independently from any of the Japan railway companies. It was founded in Kyoto in 1831 as a small secondhand clothing and cotton cloth store run by a married couple. It eventually became a kimono fabric store that served as purveyor to the Imperial household and the rest, as they say, is history.
We are now at Kansai International Airport and checked in for our flights – first to Tokyo and then onward to Heathrow. We will hopefully see our luggage in the morning in London 🤞.
Breakfast this morning was in Doutor – a Japanese coffee house chain found just about everywhere we have been in Japan. There really is very little open before 9 or even 10am and anyway we like Doutor.
We decided to have a wander around the area at the far end of Shinsaibashi-Suji, the covered shopping street north of Dotonbori.
We have been done Shinsaibashi-Suji many times but not actually right down to the furthest end. The area here changes into what looks like high rise office blocks with some shops within them but nothing like the concentration of shopping opportunities up our end. We were walking down a main street, Bakuromachi, admiring a Japanese flag and waiting for the wind to blow so I could take a photo when we chanced upon a shrine – Namba Jinja. We had no idea this was here. It had the ‘ahhh’ and ‘umm’ (signifying the beginning and end) foxes and a small water garden area minus any water.
Next stop was Parco and Daimaru to get a couple of purchases we wanted. We decided we would dine later in one of the top floor restaurants so studied availability and likely vegetarian options.
Overall we had a quietish day sorting our suitcases and getting packed up as we have to check out in the morning ready for our flight home Thursday evening.
BTW Mr L has mastered the Asahi Tornado machine👏😂
Dinner was at Modern on the 13th floor of Parco. Mr L had okonomiyaki which he enjoyed and I had a supposedly vegetarian noodle dish – it had no meat but did have squid tentacles!!
We were back promptly to sort our flight checkin which proved to be a ridiculously painful and laborious exercise on the Japan Airlines website. Eventually sorted but took a while 😤.
Today we escaped Osaka and took a trip to Nara. It was a long walk underground to get to the Kintetsu train line at Namba and then a journey of 38 minutes on the not very rapid Rapid Express train!
Nara is famous for its temples and the fact it was once the ancient capital of Japan. It was Japan’s first permanent capital in the year 710, when it was known as Heijo. Prior to 710, the capital was moved to a new location every time a new emperor ascended to the throne. However, as the influence and political ambitions of Nara’s powerful Buddhist monasteries grew to become a serious threat to the government, the capital was moved away from Nara to Nagaoka in 784 and in 794 to Kyoto. Tokyo then became Japan’s capital city in 1868.
We were more interested in Nara’s Japanese gardens rather then the temples – we have seen a lot of temples……also quite a few gardens but gardens trump temples! We left the station and quickly found……..a temple – Kofukuji Temple and it’s assorted buildings. Kofukuji is more than 1300 years old and is one of Japan’s oldest and most famous temples. It is currently the head temple of the Hosso Sect of Buddhism.
We then found the first of the gardens we wanted to visit – Yoshikien – and somehow managed to get in via a back entrance (it is free entry so we committed no crime!). The current garden of Yoshikien was designed and built in 1919 and in 1989 ownership was transferred to Nara Prefecture so it could be open to the public. Yoshikien consists of 3 gardens within the overall garden – Ikenoniwa (with a pond), Kokenoniwa (with moss), and Chabananoniwa (with seasonal flowers for tea ceremonies). It was a beautiful garden.
We also wanted to visit the adjacent garden, Isuien Garden, but it is closed on Tuesdays 😬. Our Nara amble through streets of old Japanese style residences brought us to another temple – Todaiji Temple. Todaiji is currently used as a place of prayer for peace and affluence on earth, as well as being a centre for Buddhist doctrinal research.
Lunch was street food okonomiyaki – normally cabbage, bacon and egg pancake but I managed to explain I didn’t want meat – an excellent lunch.
We then strolled through Nara Park heading for the Nara Botanic Gardens. Nara Park is a large park in central Nara, established in 1880, which is also home to hundreds of freely roaming ‘wild’ deer who are really quite tame and know they can get food off people – deer crackers are for sale around the park to keep the deer happy and people entertained.
The best part of the Botanic Gardens was the wisteria area where the purple wisteria was on the wane but the white wisteria was still spectacular and smelt heavenly. The photos do not really do it justice.
En route back to catch the bus to the train station we found another temple!! This was the Kasuga Taisha Temple – we recognised it as a Shinto Buddhist Temple due to its Torii gates and vermilion colour – we have learnt something in Japan 👏😂. Shinto is deity-based and 4 deities are believed to reside here where they are worshipped for the prosperity of the nation, happiness of the citizens and world peace.
After a brief relax and freshen up back at the hotel we were off out again. Mr L had booked tickets for the Umeda Sky Building so we could get a scenic view of Osaka at sunset and then night views over the vast city. The lift took us to the 35th floor and then we had to take a long escalator that bridged the 35th-39th floors. One final escalator got us to the 40th floor. The views from the 40th floor were amazing but even better from the Lumi Sky Walk which sits slightly higher around the perimeter of the Kuchu Teien Observatory. It was a lovely evening watching the sunset and the night sky and relaxing supping a beer.
We stayed in Umeda to eat and had dinner in Basement 2 of LUCUA Department Store where we found a great Italian restaurant and ate pizza with a glass of red wine. The whole floor was full of diners – more upmarket than street restaurants but not as fine dining as eating on the top floors of these department stores. It is clearly the norm to come to a station attached department store to eat out.
A fun fact – LUCUA Osaka is one of the nation’s largest commercial station-linked complexes with its name created from the first letters of the words Lifestyle, Urban, CUrrent and Axis to convey the wish ‘to provide a place where you can make your highly sensitive, sophisticated lifestyle a reality’……..
Osaka has 2 major city centres – Minami in the south and Kita in the north. We are staying in the Minami district, the area around Namba station and out to where we are in Shinsaibashi…….and we have explored much of this area on foot since arriving in Osaka last Friday. So today we decided we would explore the other major city centre, Kita, which is located around a huge station complex incorporating Osaka Station (Japan Railway) and Osaka-Umeda Station (Hankyu Railway) making it Osaka’s busiest transportation hub. Kita also has a business district and a vast abundance of shopping and dining destinations both above ground and underground.
We took the metro, Midosuji Line, from just up the road to Umeda – 3 stops. We wanted to find ‘Osaka Station’ to compare it with the other stations we have seen in Japan which have been quite dramatic. However, Osaka does not really have a specific main station as such, it calls itself Osaka Station City and is a combination of several different lines and thus railway companies coming together. It opened in 2011. We arrived via the Umeda terminal of Hankyu Station which on first glance reminded us of Grand Central Station in NYC. It originally opened in 1910 and since then it has been rebuilt, remodelled and the tracks elevated and then brought back to ground level over the years.
The Hankyu Department Store was built next to the station in 1929 and is still open today – a fabulous looking building – there was a queue of people waiting to get in at 10.00 this morning! The Hankyu Railway Company was the pioneer of the successful business model in Japan where urban railway companies run department stores e.g. Japan Railways run the Isetan Department Stores we have seen elsewhere.
After some wandering we worked out the station really is essentially a city as per its name. There is still substantial development ongoing which is due to be completed in 2028. The Osaka Station City links into several huge shopping complexes – Isetan, Daimaru, Lucua, Hankyu, Hanshin, Grand Front Osaka to name just some. How can one city sustain all these huge high end shopping stores? Nevertheless, these stores and offices create an amazing skyscraper skyline and underground there are yet more shops, restaurants, street dining options all with links to the stores and offices above ground 😳.
We decided to walk from Osaka Station City out to Osaka Castle, a walk of about 50 minutes. We walked though mostly commercial areas and followed the Dojima River over to Nakanoshima Park, actually an island in the river, and en route we came upon a magnificent rose garden – a range of climbers, floribundas, traditional roses all looking splendid on a hot sunny day.
Back on Osaka mainland via a bridge we walked onwards to find Osaka Castle. Osaka Castle was built in 1583 on the former site of Honganji Temple, it was the largest castle at the time. The castle was destroyed in 1615, rebuilt in the 1620s and then its main castle tower was struck by lightening in 1665 and burnt down. We didn’t pay to go in but walked around the outside areas and took photos.
There was a rooftop restaurant in the building near the castle so we stopped and had some refreshment and admired the skyline and took yet more photos! We decided we would walk back to Shinsaibashi rather than catch the metro – a little stroll that took just on an hour.
Last week we booked tickets to go to teamLab’s Botanical art project in Nagai Botanical Garden for this evening. teamLab use music and light and objects within the natural setting thus making nature become art. As we left to get there we realised it was pouring with rain (not forecast) so had to quickly get coats and borrow an umbrella. Fortunately, by 19.00 which was our entry time the rain had just about stopped. The music was relaxing, ethereal and at times creepy. The light shows in their different formats were all amazing – the photos do not really do them justice but we also took some video as well.
Dinner was a restaurant very near to our hotel as we were too weary to walk far. As always we had to queue for about 30 minutes to get a table but once in our meal was good – katsu veg on skewers for me, and katsu skewers of meat and shrimp for Mr L, plus a couple of beers 🍺.
I slept reasonably well on my futon on the floor bed, Mr L less well…… It was still raining heavily at 5.50 when we woke up, having rained consistently all night. The circled window in the photos was our room.
Buddhist morning prayer was at 6.30 in the Fumonin temple, attached and accessible from the temple lodging area. There were 10 staying in total and we were the only non Japanese. It was a lovely service conducted by 2 monks which essentially involved a lot of chanting, presumably in Japanese. One of the monks also gave us a bit of history about Fumonin (ours on paper in English) – Kobo Daishi (see yesterday’s blog) studied under a priest, Gonzo Daitoku, and then went to study abroad in China and when he returned to Japan he set up the Shingon sect of Buddhism (now one of the major schools of Buddhism in Japan). He was given permission in 816 by the Emperor to establish a monastic complex in Koyasan. Gonzo was so delighted to hear about this that he came to Koyasan and built himself a temple – the temple was Fumonin.
After the service it was time for a Japanese breakfast at the grand hour of 7.10!! Once again the prepared food looked lovely but savoury food at this hour of the day was not top of my to eat list – I did my best…..the green tea was the best bit 😂.
It was still raining……check out was 9am at the latest……so we checked out at 8.30 and walked up to the Mausoleum of Tokugawa Ieyasu – remember him, the shogun, from the other day? There are actually 2 mausoleums side by side with the one on the right belonging to Ieyasu and the one on the left being the mausoleum of Hidetada (2nd shogun of the Tokugawa dynasty, Ieyasu being the first). The rain had eased but the mist was now descending rapidly from the top of the mountain.
Mr L desperately wanted coffee as none was served at breakfast, but nothing was open at 9am on Sunday morning. Only one option then and that was to go to the other must see place in Koyasan – the Kongobuji Temple. Kongobuji Temple is the HQ monastery of Shingon Buddhism and is thus the most important temple of all. We had a wander outside but didn’t pay to go in – we have seen a lot of temples!
A coffee place was now open – Mr L happy 👏. It was raining again quite hard and the mist was getting thicker so altogether quite unpleasant and not really ideal for wandering carrying our overnight bags. We got the next bus back to the cable car and back to the station. We had to change trains in Hashimoto but were back in Namba by lunchtime. No rain here in Osaka, just the cold Cromer wind which seems to have followed us here today. We decided to go underground to the parallel universe of shops, restaurants and cafes that seem to exist in all Japanese train and metro subways – this one was called Namba Walk – packed with people – all very surreal.
Once we had checked back in to The Bridge Hotel we could finally unpack as we are here for the next 4 nights – our longest stay anywhere since Tokyo. Our room is street facing at the front of the hotel this time. Getting confused at times as to which floor, what room number, what side of corridor our room is on after so many changes 🤔 😂.
The hotel has lots of freebies – as well as the Asahi and sake, there is also ice cream, soft drinks, coffee, and massage chairs in the lobby. We gave them a go this afternoon – English written instructions alongside the Japanese handheld controllers. Having sussed out how to make the massage chair work it then took it a while to find my shiatsu point (!!!) and with it set to ‘soft’ I enjoyed my massage – everything from calves, thighs, back, neck and shoulders. Mr L was definitely more vocal in his chair – not always in a positive way 🤣.
We (Mr L) are still trying to perfect our Asahi Tornado technique……..
Dinner tonight was at Kura Sushi which is a revolving sushi bar. We had to queue for about 30 minutes to get a table and a bar code that locks your table to you. Once at the table you then order via an iPad or take plates off the revolving belt that passes the table. We ordered all our food and drinks from the iPad and after a few minutes the order whizzes up on the top belt and stops in front of you. We also played the bikkura-pon game – pop 5 empty plates into the slot and you might win a prize…..we won a little ball that contained a rubber 😂. At the end all plates go into the slot so it can tally up the sushi etc eaten and then you check out. You then go to the till, scan the barcode on our table slip and pay your money into a machine – all fully automated 👏. Excellent food and great fun too.
We are now on our own for the rest of our Japan travels. Mr L has been researching and planning our 2 day trip to Koyasan. Our Koyasan World Heritage Tickets were purchased yesterday and provide us with a 2 day rail pass on Nankai Railway to get us from Namba to Koyasan, unlimited bus travel in Koyasan and some discounted admissions to certain temples and shops whilst here. We had booked our accommodation here in Koyasan at the Shukubo Fumonin (a temple lodging) many months ago so that was all sorted. Tomorrow we return to our hotel in Osaka where they are holding our main luggage for us.
We were at Namba Station bright and early so we could work out where to actually get the train from – not altogether straightforward. A quick coffee and breakfast at Starbucks as this was the only place open at 8.30 on a Saturday morning. The Express direct train left Namba at 9.23 and got us to Gokurakubashi Station at 10.55 – it was not very ‘express’!
We had climbed to an altitude of 1881 ft. by the time we arrived and then we needed to transfer to a cable car – looked more like a funicular railway – to get us up the steep climb to the top which was at an altitude of 2776 ft. It is normally Mr L who loses things but today it was me…….I left my pink cap on the train and the train guard kindly found it and brought it to the cable car to find its owner!!
A bit of info……..Mt Koya, aka Koyasan, is the centre of Shingon Buddhism which is one of the major schools of Buddhism in Japan introduced in 805 by Kobo Daish, one of Japan’s most significant religious figures. Koyasan is a small, secluded temple town with over 100 temples which has developed around the headquarters that Kobo Daishi built on Koyasan’s wooded mountaintop. The most important temples are Kongobuji, the head temple of Shingon Buddhism, and Okunoin, the site of Kobo Daishi’s mausoleum.
Once up in Koyasan you then have to take a compulsory bus as the road is too narrow and twisty to safely walk – we rode the bus to the end of the line for our first destination – Okunoin. We walked the Nakanohashi course there and the longer 2km Ichinohashi path back to Ichinohashi Bridge and the main road. The paths lead through the Okunoin Cemetery, the largest in Japan, with over 200,000 gravestones of the feudal lords of yesteryear as well as more recent burials. Some of the mausoleums appear to belong to corporate companies e.g. Nissan, Panasonic – does this mean you get a guaranteed burial place for your ashes at your end of life?
Okunoin is the site of Kobo Daishi’s mausoleum where it is believed he rests in eternal meditation as he awaits Miroku Nyorai, the Buddha of the Future. Okunoin is one of the most sacred places in Japan and a popular pilgrimage spot. No photos were allowed once we crossed Gobyobashi Bridge and were in the Temple area. We walked past the Miroku Stone, visited what we could of Torodo Hall (main place of worship) and walked around to Gobyo (the mausoleum) behind the Hall before heading back.
Lunch was very western in a new looking building which comprised shop, florist and restaurant – we ate a main meal as we were not sure what the dinner in our Temple lodging would be like other than knowing only vegetarian food provided. We then walked the route back to where Shukubo Fumonin is – we were not able to check in until 15.00 – and it started to rain heavily so we paused for coffee until 15.00.
Our shukobo is great – strict rules and timeframe with dinner at 17.30 which is vegetarian Japanese with the option to order a beer to have with the meal; hot baths available between 18.30 and 21.00 and curfew and lights out at 21.00. Morning prayers are at 6.30 and breakfast served after this at 7.10 and check out at 9.00. Food is eaten at low tables with us sitting on cushions and once again we will be sleeping on the floor on a futon mattress.
Dinner was amazing and we had no need to be concerned, although I think we both might be finding sitting on the floor to eat a tad challenging and not very comfortable.
…….and so it was time to say our final goodbyes to the remaining 10 people on our Explore tour and of course Rinrin 👋. Most are heading back home but 2 of the group are travelling onwards – one to Tokyo (to meet with friends who live there) and another to Yokohama (to meet up with her son who lives in Japan). Of course, we are also in Japan for another week 👏.
We checked out of our Shin-Osaka hotel and walked back to the station to catch the metro to Shinsaibashi. We found our hotel for the rest of our trip (except tomorrow night, but that’s tomorrow’s story), The Bridge Hotel, Shinsaibashi. Mr L got us here without too much ado 👍. It was only 10am but we were able to check in and leave our luggage but were no access to our room until 15.00.
Our first task was to make our way to the main Namba Station (there are several believe it or not!) to purchase our Koyasan World Heritage tickets for the weekend – mission accomplished.
We then spent the day exploring, on foot, the local area to where we are staying which also merges with the ‘in your face’ Namba area we were in last night. We are based in a district called Amerikamura, known locally as Amemura, in southern part of Osaka. This is Osaka’s version of the young culture area in Tokyo which lies between Shibuya and Shinjuku. It has a lively atmosphere with cafes, clothing stores, vintage shops and a younger more alternative feel than the nearby Shinsaibashi district. We thought the area a cross between Camden and Shoreditch.
Shinsaibashi, just up the road, is definitely more high end. It is Osaka’s main shopping district and has a covered shopping street from which you can access 2 ultra expensive department stores that interlink across various floors – Parco and Daimaru. As always, there are many floors – Parco has 14 floors and a roof garden (sadly closed today) and this includes 2 basement floors. We rode the escalators and perused the stores – a fascinating insight into what Japanese people buy for their homes, clothes and general lifestyle. It is all very stylish and generally not cheap either.
Whilst on our walking travels we came upon Namba Parks, an office and shopping complex south of Namba Station. Yet again, a vast contemporary development built to resemble a natural canyon which is designed to be a piece of nature amidst the sprawling urban landscape. The most incredible aspect of Namba Parks is its rooftop gardens which also extend over several floors and terminate in heavily planted and secluded nooks on the highest floor – most definitely nature amidst an urban environment.
We stopped for coffee at a Tully’s (same as in Tokyo) and this was within a huge electronics store where you could buy all things Apple even though it is not an Apple store, plus enormous TVs – gave Mr L grandiose ideas 😂, cassette players 😳, CD Walkmans 😳, and ghetto blasters 😳 – who knew there was still a market for the retro items of the 1980s and 1990s.
There is a Supreme store in Osaka in the Shinsaibashi district which we hunted down – actually not very far from our hotel which confirms we are staying in the cool trendy area of Osaka!
We headed back to the hotel for 15.00 so we could get into our room and relax and freshen up – the hotel had even taken our luggage to our room ready for us. This hotel provides free tea and coffee (quite normal) and bizarrely from 15.00-21.30 free draft Asahi beer, freezing highballs (big in Japan), and sake. Ice cream is also free from 15.00-20.00 every day. They have an Asahi Tornado – a machine that automatically fills cups with beer from the bottom up using a specially formed glass and as it fills, the foam swirls, resembling a tornado. So before we went out for dinner we gave it a go – Mr L’s first attempt lacked finesse but practice will make perfect no doubt and anyway the Asahi tasted good!
Dinner tonight was at Gyozu – a restaurant on Dotonbori that serves an Osaka specialty – pan fried or deep fried dumplings…..and they have a vegetarian option 👏. The food was excellent and we had a most enjoyable evening.
We still had the morning in Kyoto so time to do a few more things and top of our to do list was to visit the Fushimi Inari Shrine in southern Kyoto. We were up and out and on the 8.35 train from Kyoto to Inari, a journey which only took about 10 minutes on a very busy train.
Fushimi Inari is famous for its thousands of vermilion torii gated which straddle a network of trails behind the main temple buildings. The trails lead into the wooded forest of the sacred Mount Inari, which stands at 233 meters and belongs to the shrine grounds. The trail started with densely packed vermillion torii gates which gradually spread out as the trail goes uphill on a mainly stepped path. You can climb right to the top of Mt Inari but most people – including us – climb to the Yotsutsuji intersection approximately half way up the mountain. It was a lovely clear warm morning and views from here over Kyoto were great.
The route down was easier as more slopes and less steps…..in all it took us about 75 minutes. It is an extraordinary climb through the vermilion gates with small shrine areas located at various intervals on the path. The shrines here are all guarded by foxes – an animal that is now extinct in Japan. The Fushimi Inari Shrine is the most important of several thousands of shrines dedicated to Inari, the Shinto god of rice. Foxes are thought to be Inari’s messengers hence the many fox statues throughout the shrine grounds and on the trail – spot the foxes in the photo 🦊
We headed back into Kyoto but still had time to spare before meeting our Explore group at 14.00 back at the hotel. Mr L found a garden to visit not too far from Kyoto Station. The Shosei-en Garden – this garden belongs to Higashi Hongan-ji Temple, the head temple of the Otani school of Shin Buddhism, but is detached from the main temple grounds. The old teahouses, gardens and water features are clearly currently undergoing a restoration so very much a work in progress. The lakes have a lot of pond weed which needs clearing and some of the moss areas are a bit bald. Nevertheless, it was a beautiful garden to walk through and enjoy.
On the way back to,our hotel we popped into another temple en route……
Our Explore group briefing was at 14.00 and once completed we collected our day bags and headed back to Kyoto Station to catch a local train to Osaka. The journey took 23 minutes into Shin-Osaka and our hotel, Shin-Osaka Washington Hotel Plaza, was just a 5 minute walk.
The hotel is the oldest and least plush of all the hotels we have had with Explore but still good enough although the mattress was like a board!!
Once we were all checked in, had collected our main luggage which was here waiting for us, and deposited it all in our rooms we reconvened in lobby for 16.00. Time for our final Explore outing and off we went to Namba via the local metro. Namba is something else – a full on in your face area of Osaka and not something we had experienced anywhere else in Japan, even in Tokyo. Las Vegas on steroids 🤣!!
Namba is one of Osaka’s 2 major city centre’s located to the south of Namba Station. It is Osaka’s most famous entertainment district with loads of restaurants and shops. Rinrin (lives in Osaka) told us that Osaka is called the kitchen of Japan due to all its food options. Osaka is also renowned as the dirtiest city in Japan – everywhere else we have visited has been absolutely spotless – you could eat off the streets, no litter, no dog 💩. We also walked through the ‘underbelly of Osaka’, a somewhat seedier part of town where you can rent hotel rooms for 1-2 hours if you wish…….sex work and gambling are both illegal in Japan but there are ways around such illegalities!
Dotonbori is probably the most popular street in Namba. It runs parallel to the Dotonbori canal and is a popular for shopping, entertainment and food. At night it is lit by hundreds of neon lights and mechanized signs, including the famous Glico Running Man and Kani Doraku crab. Mr L and I thought it was great but some of our group were less comfortable and less impressed with the crowds, glitz and noise……and apparently we were there on a quiet night😂. Look carefully at the TV screen in the last photo 👀
We were all together for our last dinner as a group and had a lovely fun evening at Creo-Ru, renowned for being a takoyaki and okonomiyaki restaurant – octopus balls and pancakes respectively. We were able to thank Rinrin for being such a brilliant tour guide – we will all remember her voice calling ‘Explore, with me!!’
Two couples are off early morning tomorrow so we said our goodbyes to them once we all got back to our hotel. We will see everyone else at breakfast tomorrow morning.
……and it was still raining this morning! We mooched about the vast station area and visited JR Kyoto Isetan. Isetan is a major department store occupying thirteen floors on Kyoto Station’s north west side. It a modern elegantly designed building full of high end brands – Tiffany’s, Jimmy Choo. On the 11th floor is the Sky Dining ‘EatParadise’ restaurant section with many varied restaurants to choose from. We will return this evening for dinner. On the roof area, Isetan has a sky garden with bamboo planting – too wet to hang around outside – and also a helipad!
From Isetan we ambled back to the Porta Dining basement mall to browse the shops there and to purchase a very lovely skirt I had spied yesterday. Time to venture out into the cold wet rainy outside – we caught the 5 bus to Nishiki Market (we got off the bus too soon which meant we had to walk further). Nishiki Market is nicknamed ‘Kyoto’s Kitchen’ and consists of covered streets full of food related shops and stalls and restaurants. We bought some yuzu sesame seeds to bring home with us.
We then got back on a 5 bus and went out to Ginkakuji, a Zen temple, also known as the Temple of the Silver Pavilion. We wanted to explore its Zen garden (a bit templed out currently 😂). The gardens were wow, wow, wow😮🤩 – tree garden, water gardens, moss gardens and a dry sand garden. Truly fabulous…..and it finally stopped raining 👏.
From Ginkakuji, there is a walk known as the Philosopher’s Path which ends after approximately 2 kilometres at Nanzenji. The Philosopher’s Path is a pedestrian path that follows a cherry-tree-lined canal in Kyoto – cherry blossom has long since gone. The Path opened in 1890 and extended again in 1912. The path got its name due to Nishida Kitaro, one of Japan’s most famous philosophers, who was said to practice meditation while walking this route on his daily commute to Kyoto University. Part way on our walk we stopped for coffee and cake and a lovely little canal side cafe.
From Nanzenji we walked through the Higashiyama District – one of Kyoto’s best preserved historic districts – to Gion. Gion is Kyoto’s most famous geisha district. We walked down the most popular area of Hanami-koji Street up to Gion Corner where a cultural show is performed daily. Several large black limousines were arriving, presumably to collect important guests or performers from the show. Sadly we did not get to see any geishas or maikos (trainee geishas), probably because it was too early (we were there about 4pm). However, there were plenty of women in kimono rental outfits but these are not the real thing.
We were getting weary after a day of walking so we caught the 205 bus back to Kyoto Bus Station, stopping off to buy donuts to have when we got back to the hotel 😋.
Dinner was at Ton Katsu Wako up on 11th floor of Sky Dining at Isetan as planned. We had a very nice katsu meal tonight.
Another prompt start to the day – luggage to be forwarded needed to be left in the hotel lobby by 7am…..Mr L kindly sorted that. Once breakfast eaten and day bags packed we had our briefing meeting at 8.15 before leaving for Hiroshima Station at 8.30. A tram ride and then to the Shinkansen platform to catch our bullet train to Osaka where we then changed to another bullet train to get us here to Kyoto. Note how Japanese we all are now……queuing in a nice straight line waiting for our bullet train 👏.
We arrived in Kyoto to a cold wet city…….and it has rained consistently all day 🌧☔️. We are booked into the Via Inn for the next 2 nights.
The hotel is just 5 minutes from the back of Kyoto Station – another vast station which was amazingly busy even in the middle of the day. We dumped our day bags at the hotel and Rinrin gave us a run through of places to go, things to see and how best to use Kyoto’s complex transport system – multiple train operators, subway, bus etc.
Back to the station for lunch – stations here in Japan are more than just a place to catch a train! There is a huge basement level shopping and restaurant area that is accessed from the front of the station – Porta Dining – we found a cafe for paninis and coffee.
The Explore included trip for the first part of the afternoon was a visit to Nijo-jo Castle, another UNESCO World Heritage site. Nijo-jo Castle was built in 1603 as the Kyoto residence of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the first shogun of the Edo Period (1603-1868). After the Tokugawa Shogunate fell in 1867 the Castle was used as an imperial palace. It was eventually donated to the city in 1939 and opened to the public as a historic site. The rooms underwent a full scale restoration in 2011, with reproductions created of the original gold leaf mural painted walls and sliding doors which are exquisite. The rooms have tatami mats covering the floors and the ceilings are all highly decorated. The corridors have nightingale floors, they squeak when stepped upon as a security measure against intruders – and they do sound like a nightingale – not like squeaky floorboards at home 😂. Sadly no photography was allowed once we were inside the castle and our shoes removed.
Outside is the beautiful Ninomaru Garden, a traditional Japanese landscape garden with a large pond, ornamental stones and manicured pine trees. Even in the rain it was lovely.
We are only in Kyoto until Thursday lunchtime and there is so much to do here so despite the rain we need to get on and get out! Our JR train passes have got us all around Japan on various trains but run out by midnight today. So 9 of our group decided we would have one last fling with our JR pass and go out to the Bamboo Forest which requires a train ride to get to Arashiyama on the western edge of Kyoto.
The Arashiyama Bamboo Grove is a sprawling bamboo forest with walking paths lined with the endless rows of towering bamboo – it was amazing and even though we all got extremely wet it was well worth the visit. Just imagine how busy the walk would have been on a warm dry sunny day!
Dinner was guess where? Yup, back to Porta Dining – still raining so the less we had to be outside the better. We ate at a very nice Japanese restaurant, Minoru Dining – another excellent meal.
Tomorrow is a free day in Kyoto – rain is still forecast but should hopefully ease by lunchtime so we will need to plan our day accordingly 🤞.
Holly Days 