Japan 2018, Osaka, Himeji, Nara, Takayama, Shirakawago, Kanazawa, Tokyo – Following your feet

Day 46, 47: Tokyo and home

Our hotel in Tokyo was in the sports area, overlooking the baseball stadium, rugby stadium, tennis courts and the new olympic stadium, currently under construction. We walked into Shinjuku, Yanmei shopping in Uniqlo and Gu, whilst I checked out electronics at BIC Camera. We ate lunch at Zanmai sushi, hidden away on the 3rd floor…

Day 45: Kanazawa

We had a 17:55 train to Tokyo, so we needed to see as much as we could of Kanazawa in less that a day – which we now know is possible. We ate breakfast at the hotel, the first hotel I have experienced where they play LP’s through mega loud speakers for breakfast. First stop…

Day 44: Shirakawago

We spent the morning in Takayama, quickly walking through the morning market along the river, which didn’t have a lot to offer. We then followed a path on the edge of town passing different temples and shrines, most of which were small and also didn’t have much to offer. At one point there was a…

Day 43: Takayama

This morning we left Osaka for Takayama with a single change in Nagoya. Takayama lies at 600 m in the so called northern alps, and is surrounded by snow-capped mountains up to 3.000m. It was a beautiful tour through the mountains up to Takayama, which beyond the beautiful scenery is famous for its old town…

Day 42: Nara

Japan’s first permanent capital in 710, Nara is full of World Heritage temples and shrines, six in all. On top of that, only 10km away, Horyuji Temple, with the oldest wooden buildings in the world, remaining in tact since the 8th century. On our one day visit we managed to visit three temples and a…

Day 41: Himeji

I write this as we sit on the train back to Osaka, after spending the day in Himeji, with its wonderful white castle. The first fortifications were built on this spot in the 14th century, whilst the castle that stands today is from 1609. It is one of Japan’s 12 remaining original castles, never destroyed…

Day 39 and 40: Osaka

I think I’d forgotten how big and noisy Asian mega cities are and after 30 odd days in the countryside, Osaka came as a shock. There are people and noise everywhere. After 2 days on trains back and forth to Tokyo, Thursday was a see Osaka day, which in essence pretty much means walking the…