It’s been almost 2 years since I last traveled outside Thailand. We went to Japan in April 2019. It was my first trip there and I was quite excited. I’m a big fan of the food, anime and if you’ve seen my fluke gaming post - Japanese games too. I liked it so much that we had planned a second trip and even had everything booked but covid cancelled our plans. On our trip we visited Osaka, Kyoto and Tokyo.
Osaka
We first arrived at Osaka and didn’t really know how long it would take us to go around and explore everything. We had 3 days in Osaka and 2 in Tokyo (wish it was more). There are a lot of things to be seen but we did manage to go around almost everywhere on the first day here.
Our hotel was right next to the subway station so it was pretty easy to go around. The hotel itself wasn’t anything special. Most rooms in Japan are tiny and more practical than anything else. Needless to say we spent as little time here as we could, because there is so much to explore.
When we first arrived we went straight to Dotonbori, which we heard is the place to go have some food and walk around in the evening. We went trough the shopping street of Shinsaibashi on the way which is another pretty popular place for tourists. There were so many people on the streets. It looks quite surreal now that I look at all these photos and remember pre pandemic times - no masks, big crowds and so much more freedom.
We ended up having street food since we wanted to spend as much time exploring as we could. We spent a few hours walking around before we went back to our hotel. We had a long day ahead of us so we decided to rest well and have enough strength to walk the whole of the day after.
UMEDA SKY BUILDING
There are a few buildings offering panoramic views in Osaka but Umeda Sky Building brings that to another level. The building’s architecture is quite unique. On the 39th floor you can visit the observatory for a small fee. The place is quite popular and for a reason. The 360 degree panoramic view of Osaka is really something else viewed from here. You can look at everything behind the massive windows or climb up to the roof area for an opened view (or as many of us did - both).
The observatory area had it’s own canteen where people would sit and work on their lap top, there were school kids studying and some were even having private lessons, fully taking advantage of the great view.
TSUTENKAKU
I think we may have come here too early but it was still pretty nice and most shops and restaurants were opened. I believe the place is a lot more lively in the evening.
All of the lids of the sewer shafts were nicely ornamented and colorful as well. It's so pretty and clean to the smallest detail.
We arrived here midday and luckily the place offers a lot of restaurants. I was actively looking for the best ramen I could find but we ended up having some nice fresh sushi. Like anything around most of the restaurants are fairly small too and most people would sit opposite the cooks preparing their food behind a small window screen.
The tower in the middle of Tsutenkaku is also a viewpoint. It isn’t at all as tall as the Umeda Building, so we didn’t go up. Apparently there is a Genie that brings luck to those who rub it’s feet at the very top.
We also visited a hidden coffee shop that was quite roomie, contrary to the food places. It was also a gallery and had a nice setting with a view towards the main street.
OSAKA CASTLE
Another place we visited that left an impression was the Osaka Castle - Osaka-Jo. This grand building is standing atop of a hill overlooking a beautiful park/garden. There are hundreds of cherry trees surrounding the stone walls. It is incredibly pretty during the spring time when the trees are blossoming. We arrived slightly after the peak for that but we could still enjoy some of it.
There is a little “hike” on the way up to the castle but it's not too tiring. There are also a few stops along the way with a small panorama view of the surrounding area. It is quite interesting how disconnected the gardens and the castle are from the very modern and urban area surrounding it.
On the very top there were some pretty interesting structures near the castle itself and a lot of performers or people dressed as samurai. There was even someone offering samurai armor you could wear for photos. Now that I look through our old photos I realize how little we cared about taking photos and mostly enjoyed the views and everything ourselves. I can remember so many things that I couldn't find in my albums.
Kyoto
Kyoto is by far one of my favorite places on Earth. It is so beautiful, peaceful and tidy. I love everything about it and in the old town, I could walk around for hours. We had 1 day left in Osaka and we realized we saw mostly everything we wanted to already. I quickly checked the trains to Kyoto and it turned out there is a pretty early one that takes only 15 minutes to get there. We arrived at around 6:00AM and had the whole day to walk around.
Gosh there is so much to see in this little Town.. I felt like it was so much more than Osaka. We walked for 18km that day (or so did my phone say). We got on a bus only on the way back to the train station because we were quite far away and were about to miss our train back otherwise.
I really wanted to see Gion (The old Town) and that was the first place we went for in the morning. When we arrived, nothing was opened yet and there wasn't anyone else other than us and some vendors cleaning infront their shops. It was so peaceful and nice. We were looking for the infamous tatami Starbucks. That on the other hand was already pretty full when we arrived. Can't believe they managed to create it there.
We went past this beutiful temple - Chion-In - on the way.
Once we finished our coffee we went for a walk as most shops were already opened. There is a pretty famous temple at the top of the town which we wanted to go visit as well. The streets at this time were already starting to get crowded and midday it felt like Black Friday in London.
Unfortunately the temple itself was under reconstruction so we couldn't see or photograph the amazing view with the temple and the massive garden underneath it.
Here you can see how the whole building was covered. We could still walk through it and everything inside was operating as per usual. It's just that the outer part was being retouched.
Nonetheless the view was amazing and the park was so beautiful. You could walk around quite a bit until you reach The Old Town again.
For lunch we found this pretty nice restaurant for Ramen (I couldn't have enough of it).
For dessert we were eyeing out this place in Gion that was especially for Macha treats. We had their signature Macha Tiramusu. Everything from the place itself, decorations and presentation of the desserts was amazing.
From here we just went exploring without any plan what so ever. The only thing we wanted to see was the pholosopher's path. It was a bit of a struggle to find it, but while searching for it, we managed to see other cool places.
We finally found the Philosopher's Path and I could say it was worth the hassle. Google took us to a few places before we arrived at the right one. It is a walking road near a small river. Cherry trees are planted along the whole length of it and throw shade above the road and benches on it.
I really wish we had more time to spend in Kyoto and later on in Tokyo. As tomorrow we are leaving for another trip and I really need to pack and prepare, I'll be leaving the Tokyo part of the story for next time. We had no fancy cameras with us - most photos are taken by phone.. some are pretty poor when it comes to the photography aspect of it. It is always painful to see old stuff of yours, when you got even slightly better at something. 😅