I spent a little over a week exploring the cultural heart of Japan with some friends over New Years 2014. My friend Chloe and I flew into Osaka from Busan (the second largest city in the south of Korea). We spent a night walking around Dōtonbori Street in downtown Osaka and then spent a morning visiting the castle grounds of the Osaka Castle. We then took the Japanese Railroad to Kyoto, where we were greeted by Chloe's friend Emily (whom we stayed with during our time in Kyoto). Over the next few days we spent time discovering Kyoto, then Chloe left and I continued on to Nara, where Emily met me after a bike ride from Kyoto. Nara was quaint and beautiful; complete with an incredible Buddhist sculpture gallery that I spent a few hours exploring in solitude.
Rather than rambling on for a whole blog post with the blow by blow of what we did, I decided to chose a selection of my favorite photographs to give you a visual tour of my most memorable parts of Japan.
Pachinko is a Japanese gambling game that is quite popular throughout Japan. This is on Dōtonburi street in downtown Osaka. Dōtonburi is a really popular tourist area full of street food, shops, and bars.
Pufferfish, or Fugu in Japanese, are a popular dish for Japanese people. They must be prepared specially by a highly trained chef because they contain a toxic chemical called tetrodotoxin. If they are not correctly prepared, they can cause death in those that consume them.
Bicycles are a popular form of transportation for the Japanese. Vending machines on the streets are also ubiquitous -- some even sell beer. This is a small bar on one of the narrow side streets between Dōtonburi and our hostel.
Osaka castle is surrounded by beautiful park grounds and a moat. There are groves of plum and cherry blossom trees throughout the park as well.
Arashiyama Bamboo Forest is located in Kyoto Prefecture.
Some of the blessings and well wishes at a small temple in downtown Kyoto. New Years is a very important holiday for the Japanese. It's tradition for them to spend it with their family waiting at the temple to ring the temple gong and say prayers for the new year.
The markets in Asia are some of my favorite places to visit. They are busy, vibrant, and sometimes overwhelming, but stocked full of life and characters. This man was meticulously cleaning and opening oysters to sell at his stand. At Nishiki Market in Kyoto.
Octopus, or Tako, for sale at Nishiki Market in downtown Kyoto.
My favorite green tea mochi of the entire trip, in the markets of Kyoto. Mochi is compressed glutinous rice that is filled with sweetened red bean paste (served warm in this particular case). So. Delicious.
Fushimi Inari Taisha (shrine) is a 4 kilometer hike up a mountain through the orange torii (gates) seen in this photo. The park is full of various shrines and fox statues (they are regarded as messengers).
Sunset over Kyoto from Fushimi Inari.
Traditional meets modern in the Kyoto rail station.
A small shrine down by the river in Kyoto. Kyoto was full of lovely hole in the wall bars, delicious foods, and beautiful temples.
Lanterns at Yasaka Jinja (shrine). We rang in New Years outside the gates of this shrine with a few thousand people a few days after this.
Gojū-no-tō pagoda at Kōfuku-ji (temple) in Nara at sunset.
Small Izakaya in the town of Nara. Izakayas are like the Japanese equivalent of a pub. They serve cheap drinks and greasy, but totally delicious, food to go along with them.
Tōdai-ji Daibutsu (Eastern Great Temple of Buddha) houses the largest bronze Buddha statue in the world; the statue is pictured on the right. Buddha Vairocana is the embodiment of the Buddhist principle of emptiness.
Visitors praying to Tōdai-ji Daibutsu.
The Nara park grounds are full of deer that are docile and love to be fed. The deer are believed to be messengers of the gods, so they are allowed to roam freely.
This lovely old lady was selling biscuits to feed the deer. Emily and I bought some and spent a few hours strolling around the park and feeding the deer.
Last but not least, my trip to Japan would not have been complete without these two compadres.
