Category Archives: Japan

Odds and Ends: Peaceful Temples, Bakeries, Philosophers Path, Bar Food, Handmade Paper

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Mysterious Snack

What do you suppose this is, and why? A Twinkie with a banana inside? There were ads for them all over the train stations.

Horyu-ji

David found two temples, Horyu-ji near Nara and Kozan-ji in Kyoto, that were off the beaten path. I am so glad he did.

We had planned on visiting Nara, a city about an hour by train from Kyoto, though we had been there on our first trip when it was excruciatingly hot and humid. At the very least we wanted to find the okonomiyaki place for lunch, and perhaps visit a few sites we had missed on that hot day. First, though, David suggested we change trains in Nara and visit an enormous temple complex where the oldest wooden buildings in the world are located.

Here we had another of those strange Google map snafus. It told us to change to a different train line and go a few stops to this little town. Well, the walking directions to the other train station were ridiculously confusing and kept changing (the Google map starts spinning and rerouting you over and over until you have no idea where you are) so we stopped at the tourist information office across from the JR (primary) station…where the very nice woman explained that it made more sense to return to the JR station, get on another JR train and take it to the temple town. Fortunately for David’s mental health we were on a JR pass, so exiting and returning to the same station cost us nothing. And why Google suggested this strange transfer–and then refused to tell us how to do it–was a mystery.

So we did as the nice woman suggested and in a few short stops were getting off the train and looking for the city bus stop. Which was, of course, right where it should be and a few minutes later we were walking up to the temple complex.

It was enormous. You buy a three-part ticket and as you move through the complex each ticket part is collected. Incredibly peaceful and seemed to go on forever, including a relatively new museum built by the government (of course–we couldn’t build such train stations and museums if we had a lifetime, alas) to house some extremely important, old, and rare statues and artworks. After several hours we returned to the bus stop, walking down a shady pedestrian boulevard, and were back in Nara in a flash. And tired out–ate our okonomiyaki (see post about noodles) and returned to Kyoto on the fast, clean, peaceful JR train.

Kozan-ji

We had eaten in, shopped, wandered, and explored Kyoto for a week and were unsure how to spend our last day in the city before heading to Kanazawa. Kozan-ji temple was an hour on a city bus to the outskirts, it appeared, of the city. Now, taking an hour long bus ride sounds boring and maybe even miserable, but in Kyoto it was quite nice. Through the middle of the city, past downtown, climbing through green neighborhoods, and suddenly we were in mountains. We got off the bus and felt like we were back in California–big trees, a rushing river. A very short walk back a-ways and up a stone path took us into the Koran-ji temple grounds.

It’s difficult to describe how quiet and picturesque it is. A few lingering cherry blossoms added bits of white to the views. The stonework, dead quiet gardens, and very small temples were the opposite of Horyu-ji–no school groups, no massive buildings, no wide plazas. We spent an hour or so taking it all in, walked down the stone path and across the road, and within ten minutes were back on a bus to Kyoto proper.

Kyoto Bakeries

I love a great croissant, especially in Portugal. Or Kyoto. I love good, strong, fresh coffee. Together? The perfect vacation breakfast.

We had visited Ogawa Coffee, in the Kyoto Station underground, many times but when we went looking for it our first morning in town we couldn’t find it. Happily we did find an even better option and went every morning of the week we were in town–Grandir Kyoto Porta Store, marked with a big sign reading “Boulangerie Patisserie.” (A second option, which was en route to the Kyoto Handicraft Center, we also loved–Le Bac a Sable. Amazing cafe au lait and, again, French pastry to die for.)

Great things about Grandir: the cool cash collection system (drop coins onto a conveyer belt thingy and watch them sort and tally), the array of pastry options (thank you again Google translate for the ability to read what the more mysterious items were) and the delicious coffee (free refills) that you get from the machine next to the cashier. Beans are ground to order, coffee is among the best I’ve ever had, and the extremely rich cream…well, it’s all yummy. Take, you know, that one Porta (underground shops) staircase down, it’s right there. Free wifi, too.

Philosphers Path

This well-known walk in Kyoto, even when lots of tourists are in the area, is well worth the short bus ride to its beginning. During cherry blossom/sakura season it’s so much more and even though we had walked it on a prior visit we had to return. There’s not much more to say. Don’t miss it if you are in town.

My Artist Sister’s Request

When asked what she wanted as a gift from Japan my ridiculously talented artist sister had one desire–handmade paper. Okay! I asked cousin Harumi for her recommendation Kyoto and she said she did have a favorite place but wasn’t able to find it on a previous visit. Google maps to the rescue–there it was, Kajimi Kakimoto, not a long walk from downtown.

I had no clue what I was looking for and had neglected to ask my sister what her intentions were for the paper. Fortunately the young man working there was so helpful; unfortunately the inventory is enormous. But after his guidance I was able to select several kinds, and two big colored sheets that had to go into a tube, and we left satisfied. That tube was a source of anxiety the rest of the trip because it was “too long” for carry-on and Zipair is extremely fussy about dimensions and weights of checked and carry-on luggage. Happily, when we checked in for our return, after several conferences and a second visit, by the young man at check in, to the place where travelers can measure bags, and a quick consultation with a supervisor, it was judged ‘okay.’

A fun discovery after our purchase was that according to the map even though we were quite a way north of the train station it was a straight shot down the same narrow street all the way to our hotel. As we got within a few blocks of the Dormy Inn David and I looked at each other. Wait a minute–isn’t that the Family Mart (konbini) we went to when we were looking for that terrific izakaya (bar with food) on our last visit? When we couldn’t find the bar anywhere and finally snuck down a dark hallway off a parking space, tentatively slid open the shoji screen, and discovered a hopping bar scene? Yes, it was! Yup, we had to go back!

Bar Food

Kurakura, a place I had found randomly on Trip Advisor last time we were in Kyoto, was and is a fantastic izakaya a 5 minute walk from our hotel. We couldn’t have been happier we found it again–I had no record of the name and only a vague memory of how we found it.

In we went, to be asked if we had a reservation. Reservation? Uh, no. Five minutes later we were seated at the bar–where we wanted to be. The place was hopping for a midweek night. We ordered a large sake and ran down the familiar menu and ordered five or six dishes. Sake was a local Kyoto brand, cold and dry. Food was mostly fried and delicious. We made short work of all of it and left happy and full.

36 Hours’ Worth of Kanazawa

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A Less Than Encouraging Start

We checked into the Dormy Inn—our fourth—a short block from beautiful Kanazawa Station. The enormous entry, with huge sculptures representing traditional drums, is spectacular, the gardens and sitting areas peaceful. This Dormy Inn was probably the nicest with our larger room and an outdoor pool in the 14th floor onsen. Kanazawa, our last stop before returning to Tokyo, was a bit off the tourist track and we weren’t sure what we would do there. I did know if my ceramics shopping was still enticing me after Tamba and Kyoto i could finish it there, but had no clear plan where to go other than the two stores I had found weeks ago. I wanted to get one checked off and picked the one furthest out. We got on a bus after lunch (more about lunch later) using our mostly-accurate google maps app.

Oh, the buses of Kanazawa. As one helpful man told us, Kanazawa has only begun to attract tourists in the last few years, and the mishmash of streets combined with the most confusing bus system we have ever encountered made “hopping a bus” nothing like our week of tourist-friendly Kyoto. The signage on the stops is messy and seemingly contradictory (a loop bus that starts and ends at Kanazawa Station had, on one loop bus stop sign, a small notice in the middle of the text that “this bus does not go to Kanazawa Station”, just an example among many). Some blocks have, within 15 yards, two or three bus stops, each for a different set of buses. The buses have a lighted grid sign at the front next to the driver, each numbered block with a different price which we never did figure out. Unlike Kyoto, only the next upcoming stop is shown in English, forcing us to pay attention to each and every stop. And, the helpful man told us apologetically, “In the morning and evening the buses are reliable, but during the day…” He shrugged. Lastly, Google maps repeatedly lost us, or told us, when we were at a numbered stop, that we were not at that stop and had to walk 3 minutes to another street (helpful man said he had no idea but to stay put because if we caught that same numbered bus in a different spot it would not take us where we wanted to go.). It was frustrating and made us feel unwelcome. Oh and they do NOT accept Suica cards, the cards we have used in every city for transportation, konbinis, pretty much anything.

Bus footnote to the day—when returning to the hotel late in the afternoon we were delighted to see a JR bus coming. We have a JR Arch (a regional) pass, which we used our last days in Kyoto on several JR buses and of course was our method to get the Shinkansen to Kanazawa and back to Tokyo. Several times on that JR Kanazawa bus the PA announced if you had a JR pass to show it on exiting. So when we got to our stop we confidently walked up and flashed our pass. Gruff driver says “no good” no matter what we pointed to on the pass. “No, no,” he insists. We knew now we had to dig out cash, so I asked “How much?” The driver shoved my arm in disgust and waved us off the bus. Yeah, love the Kanazawa bus system.

We did find the outlying ceramics shop. It was in an old, semi-rundown neighborhood. About half the items in the very small showroom were out of stock so would have to be mailed at a future date and the prices were out of our range. We trudged to the stop/bus station where we found the helpful man, and after he and the agent had at least four conversations over the next twenty minutes about what we should do and how to get there, “there” being one of the largest and most revered tourist sites, suddenly a bus appeared and helpful man ran over to tell us “This one!” and we gratefully climbed aboard. Google maps on David’s phone told us to get off at one stop; on my phone it said a different stop. But it turned out fine, and we entered THE MOST BEAUTIFUL GARDEN in Japan.

Kenroku-en Garden

Wow. Wow. This garden was initially laid out in the 1620’s, but its current configuration was finished in 1822. It sits on a high point, almost a bluff, next to the castle ruins and it is spectacular. The sun was out, it was cool and a little breezy, and we began to like this city after all. We have been to many many gardens in many countries, and this wins hands down. While it has the feel of a typical small-scale Japanese garden, it is enormous, filled with enormous, meticulously pruned trees. Many are supported by one, ten, twenty crossed timbers, having been encouraged into bonsai-shapes of almost horizontal branches. We watched several gardeners removing, literally, needle by needle. We wandered and strolled, took pictures and enjoyed the other tourists, rested on benches, took a tour of a “villa” built in the 1800’s filled with cases of miniature household (a wealthy one) items that represented what a girl of the family would be bringing as a dowry. After a few hours we collapsed and after typical confusion about where the bus stop was we got on that ill-fated JR bus with the grumpy driver.

The Samurai House District

I stayed up late searching for ceramics stores and found four clustered in what is now known as the Samurai House District. After breakfast we took the bus down and started a-strolling. Peaceful, lovely, with historic houses, historic gardens, and amazing ceramics shopping. I thought I had been finished in Kyoto, but, alas, I needed one more fix and what a fantastic place to get it. After repeatedly vowing to buy only gifts, I caved at the last store and bought a few little things for myself. Everything is packed within an inch of its life, bubble wrap and boxes and paper and all. Thank goodness we pack light because Zipair is rigid about sizes and weights. I think we’ll be fine. I think.

Lunching at Ochimo Market Twice in Two Days

When we first arrived after a train ride of two hours we were hungry and Ochimo market was maybe a 20 minute walk up a main street. Kanazawa is known for seafood. Let’s go!

Unlike most similar markets, this one is designed for people to stand and eat at the fresh seafood stalls. Counters with condiments and small tables abound (no chairs). The seafood is peak fresh and delicious, the atmosphere happy and helpful. The first day we went into one of the myriad tiny sit down restaurants, all of which seem to serve the same things for the same prices. I had a mixed seafood over rice bowl, David had the minced tuna over rice bowl. David held his phone up to the specials blackboard and Google helpfully translated. Fried oysters? Yes please, oysters are a specialty of the city. Have I ever had better? Nope. I don’t believe it is possible for better to exist. Had fried oysters the second night at an izakaya around the corner from our hotel, and though a bit smaller they were just as good.

Of course we went back on Saturday. This time we wandered the stalls watching people eat. Raw Oysters. Raw fish. Sea urchin. After we ate our sushi and crab we stopped to watch a young couple from Australia eating wagyu beef cooked on a little ceramic stove on the counter in front of them. We asked how it worked, watching the preparation and thinking maybe we weren’t so full after all. You select a piece from the counter; they slice it, fire up your little burner, lay out the salt and garlic chips, and you eat. Yes, worth every penny and every melting bite eaten with flaky salt and garlic chips.

Every kind of jarred condiments…from a green onion sauce to some with uni (sea urchin), something I cannot imagine in a jar.

21st Century Museum of Art

This amazing celebration of modern art was damaged in the December 2023 earthquake and the interior has yet to reopen fully. It sits in a large park filled with families on the Saturday we visited. Whispering tubes, climbing structures, cool-o places to sit, a large multi-colored glass box, reflective sculptures and wide lawns surround the circular glass building. Because only the exterior ring inside the building is open there is no admission fee—there is only one “gallery” with a single kinetic mobile is open. It was oddly entertaining—though all windows, the soundproofing is total and from the perimeter inside families carousing and couples strolling outside seemed like an immersive, silent movie.

There are plenty of museums around the park and castle ruins area, but we had neither time nor energy. We finished the day drinking and conversing and sharing pictures of our dogs via translation apps on our respective phones, with a young couple at the neighboring table in an izakaya around the corner from the hotel. They were from Tokyo and delighted we had been and were returning to their city. We returned to the Dormy Inn, had a last bath in the outside onsen where the moon shone and the wind blew, and fell into bed. On to Tokyo, last stop before home.

A Few Snaps of Breakfast at the Kanazawa Dormy

Kid friendly dishes, a strange local food combo, and my bowl of Kanazawa curry, appropriately garnished with pickles, roasted sweet potato, and shredded cabbage (surprisingly good).

Noodles

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Soba, udon, ramen…yup, love them all and have had them all in Kyoto. The experiences were so different consider this post a compare and contrast.

Cold Somen on a Hot Day

One afternoon wandering from one tiny, wrong ceramics place to another we (I) misjudged the length of the final walk and also misjudged the weather. It was hot. Not hot hot hot, and not at all humid, but the final segment was along a busy street and when we finished not finding anything we wanted to buy I was hungry. I was craving cold somen and David agreed and quickly found a place within a few blocks.

It was Sunday, mid afternoon, but there was a queue. Fortunately we could sit on a bench inside and while it looked like quite a wait from the number of parties waiting, it was the end of the lunch rush and all of a sudden everyone was sent up the stairs where the majority of the tables were and we were seated.

This nondescript-from-the-busy-street place made their own noodles (see pictures). David and I ordered different lunch sets and the food came within five minutes. Pickles, rice (mine with a few tempura and a drizzle of sauce underneath), noodles (my set had two kinds, one with grated daikon, one with just green onions and wasabi). A little pot with noodle dipping sauce. And near the end of the meal a large pot of noodle water appeared for us to add to any remaining sauce to make a finishing soup. Need I add it was delicious?

Arashiyama Udon

We had visited this lovely part of Kyoto twice in the past so this time we purchased tickets on the 7 km, 25 minute Romantic Train. You take a regular JR train past Arashiyama, walk 10 minutes through countryside from the JR station to the Romantic Train station, and board for the trip back into Arashiyama. The train trip was fun and funny. The conductor talked, solely in Japanese, the entire way, and a large percentage of riders had no idea what he was saying judging from the Chinese, German, English, etc. passengers. We all enjoyed it when he broke into a Don Ho song in a truly lovely voice. The trip itself followed the river unlike the JR train that sped along a much straighter path. We had chosen seats in the open car (no windows) so felt the 15 degree of so drop in temperature as we entered each of the many tunnels.

After such a grueling journey I was hungry again, so we walked through the bamboo forest and into the tourist area. We weren’t sure what to eat (decisions, decisions) but on google saw an udon place more or less directly in front of where we were standing with comments about the long lines. No line! Ten tables, pretty much all Japanese with a few entertaining families (we miss Poppy!) and excellent food.

Again, large lunch sets. I ordered the udon with duck. Both sets came with a scoop of tofu in a bit of dashi and grated ginger on top, enormous bowls of udon, a bowl of what seemed to be fried rice—it was rice mixed with enoki (?) mushrooms and other things. Yummy. We plowed through the servings and left more than satisfied.

Communal Ramen

Except for our stay in the Tamba ryokan we have booked into Dormy Inns. They all have onsens, so lovely after a day of touring, huge buffet breakfasts (eggs seven ways!) and ramen from 9:30 to 11:00 each night. The ramen was a life saver the night we got to Tokyo, and last night after the late okonomyaki lunch in Nara it was all we needed for sustenance. The hotels supply top and pants sets to wear to the onsen, and, as posted, are appropriate to wear anywhere in the hotel. It is so casual and comfy to see many of us wearing the same beige PJs in the lobby, the breakfast room, the elevators, and for nighttime ramen. We loved it.

Not Noodles: Okonomiyaki Stop in Nara

We were truly tired after a long trek around the Horyu-ji Temple complex—a quick train ride from Nara and where the world’s oldest wooden structure stands—and our plan had been to stop for okonomiyaki in Nara. We picked the one closest to the train station and found ourselves in this little gem named Takomi. Two tables inside and one on the sidewalk. We watched the server, all hustle and smiles, reshuffle patrons several times to make sure every seat was filled and no one was waiting. The food came literally sizzling on metal platters, so hot I had to move each bite to the side dish just to be able to eat it. Our table mates were a New Zealander guy and Thai gal, both now living in Thailand and having a
long weekend in Japan. I tried my best to finish my food and almost did.

Our delicious Dormy Inn ramen—no extra charge.

Escape to Tamba

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The train from Osaka station to Tamba took about an hour, a short ride to a different world. Harumi had booked a ryokan stay for us three and she chose well. Sasayama Kinmata is small, old, quiet, lovely. Unlike a typical hotel we had booked a room for three, which meant one large bedroom, with bath and sitting room, three comfy beds. Given our onsen experiences over the previous few days it didn’t feel the least bit awkward. And the beds…white fluffy comforters were like sleeping in marshmallow. In a good way.

One of the interior gardens at the ryokan

These places are not cheap. You are paying for especially nice hot spring baths and the kaiseki experience for dinner and breakfast. As a guest you are in the hands of a chef and every course, every bite, celebrates the season and local foods. It is an experience. Some of the food was as exotic as Japanese dishes can be, mixing textures and flavors in ways David and I have never had before. Some is familiar—and of surprising quality. For example, the rice we had for breakfast came from the ryokan’s own fields, cooked to a translucent perfection. I mean, the rice here is pretty darned good everywhere but this was extraordinary.

Tamba is known for its wild boar and it was the centerpiece of the meal in the final course, hotpot of spring greens—a type of celery leaves plus their slender roots, wild watercress, a kind of broccoli, bamboo shoots, even tiny sprigs of Szechuan peppercorn leaves. And a few others I don’t remember. The boar is traditionally sliced, the red meat and pink fat almost transparent and arranged in the shape of a peony on a large platter. While the amount of fat to meat was startling and a bit scary, as you eat a piece dipped out of the simmering water you cannot discern what is what. Not remotely greasy or fatty in feel or taste. Preceding the hotpot were tea smoked local trout, pressed salmon sushi, a spring roll with miso-citrus dipping sauce. And a dish i cannot remember except that the dollop of wasabi had just been grated.

Dinner started at 6; we struggled to get up from the table at 8:30. The final dish, a dessert of the softest and freshest mochi, green and dusted with rice flour, was delivered to the room. Yes, we ate it with delight.

The next morning we woke up hungry, luckily, because another feast awaited. The aforementioned rice, tofu simmered with fresh spring vegetables with a delicious dipping sauce, warm rolled omelettes, pickles, miso soup, a salad of sweet onions, lettuce, a coddled egg, and miso dressing…and I am sure i am forgetting something. Oh, yes, smoked fish.

All we left was the mess.

We packed, checked out, and went to explore the town and find some ceramics to buy. My biggest regret is we forgot to take pictures of the charming, friendly, overflowing ceramics store where we could have bought suitcases full.

The train station is in the newer part of town, rather suburban looking. The traditional old sections, where the ryokan is located and where we wandered for a few hours, is from another time. There is a history and art museum in the old courthouse, tiny stores—the shiitake mushroom store, the cedar and incense store, sweet potato snack store, souvenir and soft serve store. Harumi bought black rice and their famous black beans. We toured the museum, walked past the moat that surrounds the castle ruins, cut through to cross the little river and wander past the mishmash of houses. Laughed at the giant wild boar head smashing out of a hotel outbuilding. Admired, again, the cherry blossoms still in full bloom.

Entrance to our ryokan at the left
Japan, world of beautiful manhole covers
Tamba Museum in the old courthouse
Cherry blossoms along the moat
Typical pristine Japanese river
Cat Cafe—didn’t go in
Japanese dogs are embarrassed to poop in the wrong place

Back on the train at 1:30, we parted ways with Harumi at Osaka Station and hopped the train for the 30 minute ride into Kyoto.

Maya Finds The Perfect Kashikatsu

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Osaka is known for kashikatsu, one of the many kinds of “food on a stick” in Japan, and our young cousin Maya was tasked by mom Harumi to find a place. Now, Maya is a student and gravitates toward bargains, while her mother was determined to find someplace really great, and Harumi was quick to veto the first suggestion where each skewer is about 100 yen—way too cheap!


Maya did her mom proud by finding Kushinobo Osaka Hozenji 串の坊 大阪法善寺本店, a 15 minute walk from our hotel in Dotonbori but off the madhouse main street. Oh, what a find. The restaurant is clearly old and reminded me (really) of an old time German restaurant in Chicago or Milwaukee. Dark wood paneling, two rooms only in which all the counter seats surround the cooking space. We ordered the special omikase sets, which they were able to tailor to Maya’s pescatarian diet. The three of us, on the other hand, will eat just about anything put in front of us.


Each item is cooked to order, and watching the chef dip the item in batter, draining each on a heavy mesh screen, then each coated in bread crumbs, deep fried, and placed with care in front of you. A variety of sauces were available at each place setting, as well as salt and a wedge of lemon. You eat the item as it is served and put the empty wooden skewer in a ceramic fish. Most things look quite similar (except for items like asparagus, obviously recognizable) yet everything is distinct and distinctive.

Just as we were all agreeing that we had no more room, dessert appeared—a square of grapefruit jello. Light, tart, perfect.

Marvelous.

Fortunately we paused outside in time to notice the delightful window—not the typical plastic food but this:

If “Things” Happen, Maybe We Move to Himeji

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With our cousin Harumi we had decided to take a day trip from Osaka to Himeji, primarily to see Himeji Castle. Renowned for being the most intact of the major castles in Japan, we chose it to represent our castle experience here…we learned years ago that visiting every castle we come upon gets boring. We pinned our castle hopes on Himeji.

A short train ride via Shinkansen from Shin-Osaka station, this beautiful, open, modern city, much smaller than Osaka, Kobe, etc., welcomes visitors with a spectacular view of the castle directly across, maybe 10 blocks away, from the station. It’s a wow moment, and also produces instant concern that it is awfully high and how in heaven’s name does one get up there?

We set off to find out, walking this wide, boulevard with perhaps the most beautiful manhole covers we had ever seen, bits of statuary, and inviting shops. As we approached the castle grounds there was a small set of permanent food stalls with covered picnic tables behind—especially convenient and friendly. We stopped to inspect one of the offerings and laughed that it was okonomiyaki on a stick! We continued on.

You enter the castle gate by crossing the moat on a lovely wooden bridge. Sakura—cherry blossoms—everywhere. I mean, everywhere. And they were in full bloom everywhere. We have been extraordinarily lucky to see this beauty. I hadn’t considered just what it means to be here in cherry blossom time. Well, it’s pretty great.

We wound our way up the castle grounds amidst the many tourists of all nationalities, lots of little kids running around, and enjoying the endless blue sky and vistas of mountains. Up and up we went, a slowly moving parade of visitors. A very Asian appearing young man struck up a conversation with us. He was from Texas, and traveling alone because his buddy bailed on him for some girl. After a considerable climb we entered the castle building proper and we all laughed to read the sign—we had made it to the castle basement! A few more rooms and we were in a staging area with a guide repeating “please remove your shoes on the brown mats” and we did as we were told. Plastic bags—recycled—were offered and everyone is now carrying an extra bag. We rejoined the parade in our socks (never travel in Japan without wearing clean socks), navigating slippery, centuries old wooden floors and stairways that were virtually ladders. Everyone follows the signs and barriers and slowly we all continue, up and up and up. It was, frankly, grueling, and also exciting and scary.

The trek tops out at the top—the sixth floor—where a small family shrine sits in the middle of the room. Many Japanese visitors, including Harumi, bowed, clapped, as is the custom of respect. Then we embarked on the descent, again, in SOCKS down, down those ladder-staircases. At least on the down direction they have put narrow treads so it wasn’t as treacherous as we had feared. Nonetheless it’s tricky because each step is so narrow one must turn sideways to fit one’s foot. I don’t think I have ever been so glad to get down from a climb. We continued on to the castle grounds, surrounded by sakura and filled, now it was midday, with kindergarten aged kids in their uniforms running around, families on blankets, older people (like us) sitting on rocks in the shade.

Lunch! We earned it. There was a lovely arcade street back toward the station (note: do NOT go into antique stores in Japan—everything is authentic, many very old bowls and cups come with the original wooden box…so tempting) and came to a noodle/ramen shop where a young woman stood beckoning us in. Harumi and David had soup ramen, I had the dipping ramen. Dipping broth was way too rich for soup but delish to drag the noodles through. Yum! It is refreshing to find hundreds, thousands of independent enterprises which in our experience are always good.

Satisfied, we decided to find out how to get to the gondola that would take us to a large forested area of shrines and halls. You can imagine how tired we were after the castle climb, and this sounded relatively easy. I mean, don’t gondolas take you to the tops of things?

Not always. We had 2 1/2 hours before the last gondola down (tourist office lady: DO NOT MISS the last ropeway down) and from the map it looked very doable. 30 minute bus ride to the gondola/ropeway, 5 minutes up to the site, then a wander through the woods to as many shrines and halls as we could manage, back in plenty of time. Well, Shoshazan Engyoji is an enormous space, with many pathways and much of it a steep climb. When we got off the ropeway they asked “Bus?” Of course not! Off we set, naively, to climb, and climb, and climb…a path through the forest with Buddhist deities every 5-10 yards, wonderful and, as we got further away from our starting point a bit worrisome. Finally we realized we were never going to see everything, and found, luckily, a shortcut back to the ropeway. We headed back down at 5:30 a bit wiser. Wouldn’t have missed it, though.

A quick train ride back to Osaka, aching and exhausted. After an adventure of several hours, repeatedly getting turned around (Google maps for walking in crowded, narrow streets are less than reliable) trying to find a particular restaurant, we landed in a crowded but of course quite good little place where we three raised the average age by several decades, ate, and wandered back to the hotel in a daze.

That indescribable feeling

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We love museums. So far we have been to three here in Osaka, one per day. This, combined with the sometimes interminable walking required to use the fantastic public transportation, is why no matter how much I eat, I lose a few pounds on a traveling vacation. And I do eat with abandon, believe me.

For more information on all of these see https://museums.ocm.osaka/museums-info/museums-info-en/

Day One, we wander the Edo period, and eat

First full day we went to the Osaka Museum of Housing and Living. The intricate displays are models of life in the Edo period. One floor is life sized recreation of two streets in Osaka in the 1830s. You look down on the life sized streets from the floor above, then walk down and through it. Warm, helpful docents, authentic houses and shops. There is even a ‘kimono experience, where a kimono expert dresses you, both girls and women, with all the care and intricacy required. The many small scaled displays show Osaka life in the twentieth century. Bonus—adjacent to the building is an arcade shopping street where I satisfied my craving for cold soba and one big veggie tempura. David had a bowl of noodles and other things we couldn’t identify. As is most common here, it was a little narrow “joint” where every order is fresh. Then I bought a big baggy shirt to blend in a bit.

Day Two, we go back to the beginning and through a flurry

The next day it was the Osaka Museum of History. It takes you from the earliest settlements, and all about the archeological digs ongoing to plot where the first people lived, to modern times. Many exhibits are a mix of life sized displays you walk through and multimedia explanations. May I say thank goodness for google translate, which enabled us in every museum to translate the text explanations. Fun, overwhelming, jammed with information—and a bonus—the incredible views of Osaka Castle and surrounding grounds.

Having absorbed our fill of Osaka history we crossed the street to the castle grounds, where a small jammed Lawson’s satisfied our hunger. We made a picnic of our $6 investment and then wandered through bowers of cherry blossoms, petals blowing like a snow flurry. Wow.

Day Three, that feeling

Nakanoshima Museum of Art was a bit of a trek given our predictable issues with Google maps walking directions, but oh so worthwhile . They have no permanent collection—just special shows. We started with the Monet, an enormous retrospective showing how he evolved into painting series. It was stunning, as were the visitors. Lots and lots of hushed conversations about the paintings. It felt different, people more involved with the art than is common in the US.

Down a floor, short rest to get a bit of energy back, and we dove into the other exhibit, Fukuda Heihachiro: A Retrospective. Never heard of the guy. Walked in, and at the third painting i got that feeling, instantaneous love and emotional connection. It is a simple painting, Ducks by the Pond, painted in 1916. That feeling, like the first time I walked into the room of Matisse cutouts at the National Gallery. It is a rush of excitement, then a deep resonance in my chest like a gong. And I want to cry, and do for a few seconds. I couldn’t tear myself away. Walked on to see a huge painting on eight large screens…just sheep. No background , no setting, just intimacy with the animals. This amazing painter evolved and evolved, always paintings and sketches from nature. Later he moved toward abstraction as he distilled water rippling to dashes of blue, closeups of bamboo, a painting titled Rain that is roof tiles in a million shades of blue-grey.

Yeah, idiotic I know but I bought the exhibit catalog that we now have to schlep all over Japan. Photographing his works in the gallery was limited to maybe four, none of which excited me.

So we said goodby to this gorgeous museum with a wave to space cat.

Tokyo — a surprising day in Ueno Park

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We had read somewhere that the cherry blossom season was early this year, so we were prepared to miss them. Turns out in Tokyo (and later in Osaka) it was peak bloom and what a show. Happily our plan to spend our first, hardest, most jet-lagged day wandering museums in Ueno Park, a short walk from our hotel the Dormy Inn Uneno, sent us wandering through gardens and tourists taking hundreds of photos of the gorgeous cherry blossoms. It was beautiful.

We wandered the park people watching, bird watching, and marveling we were smack in the middle of Tokyo. We couldn’t have asked for a more gentle and peaceful day to recover from the long flight.

There were many, many Japanese families, seeming a holiday atmosphere, with food stands lining several of the walkways. Pizza. Kebabs. Karaage (fried chicken). French fries in varies forms…we finally settled on sharing a skewer of grilled beef tongue (delicious) and a potato and meat croquette. It was enough to sustain us and given our jet lag our bodies had no idea what time it was or what it wanted as sustenance.

Freshly made Hello Kitty cookies, anyone?

We knew a no-stress way to spend our first day included a museum or two and Ueno Park has many, from the zoological gardens to the Museum of Western Art. We headed there. It was fantastic.

We finished with the National Museum, overwhelming with the crafts and history of Japan, even including a large archeological building that we were too tired to appreciate. Of the three large buildings around a huge plaza we chose the Japan building.  I had flashbacks of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.  SO MUCH STUFF.  We wandered and tried to take in the kimonos, the laquerware, the ceramics, a video showing Kabuki and Noh, an entire separate building of archeological displays.  Phew.  At last we wandered out to the lovely gardens behind the main buildings and enjoyed more cherry blossoms.

Exquisite blossoms
More behind the National Museum
Every surface a story in this amazing room at the Museum of Western Art

No idea the name, but I hope we can go back when we return to Tokyo our last few days in Japan

David found a little sushi place a few blocks from the hotel.  Narrow, maybe 18 seats all told, with good natured hustle between the waitress, two older sushi chefs and a young cook/helper.  Sushi was scrumptious, we finished the meal with a round of vegetable tempura (you order by the veg—we had shiso, eggplant and sweet potato).  We walked back happy.  A perfect day for the beginning of our three weeks.