After Kyoto, it was time to get to the next big city: Osaka.
Osaka is often referred to as the better Tokyo, and while I can’t fully agree with that, Osaka surprised me in many ways.
The city
We started with some city exploring – getting the vibe of a new city is always exciting, and after visiting Tokyo and Kyoto, I was eager to dive in and see what it would be like:
I can agree that Osaka is Tokyo extraordinaire in terms of the sheer number of billboards! The shopping district is different – expect less retro gaming and nerdy stuff and more expensive boutiques and malls.
Katsuo-ji Temple
Okay, this one surprised me, but the Katsuo-Ji temple, set within the scenic Minoo National Park, was hands-down the best temple we’ve visited on our entire journey through Japan.
While it does take a while to get there (you probably want to get a Taxi), the entire area is lovely and filled with Daruma.
Even if you aren’t into Japanese culture, you will find so much joy while looking around and finding all the hidden Daruma all over the place:
Universal Studios
Our visit to Universal Studios was why we had Osaka on our travel route.
This time, however, I was glad we had a couple more days to explore Osaka as a whole (compared to our short trip to Nagoya).
I probably don’t have to explain a lot about Universal Studios – you either have been there before or you’ve seen it in various photos and videos, so let’s get right into it:
Osaka Castle
It was our last day exploring Osaka, and we decided to look at the castle. I wasn’t overly impressed, but I managed to get the typical Instagram shot with my camera as well:
Hiroshima
Our next stop was Hiroshima. I probably don’t have to tell you why this city is important and what happened here in the past, so let’s get in:
The Hiroshima peace museum
Obviously our first visit in Hiroshima was the museum.
There is a memorial in front of the entrance (no photo, for reasons), and the museum explains how Japan felt during this critical time in history.
I tried to be careful with my photos here, so don’t expect too much detail:
A quick walk through the city
As always, we tried to get some impressions from the neighbourhood and took a day to explore the city. You can feel a different vibe compared to the big cities we’ve visited before: older buildings, no metro system, and fewer things to explore.
However, if you are looking for the best deals on retro games, Hiroshima is the place to be. I bought almost all my games during our time here! 😅
O-Torii and Itsukushima Shrine
The “O-Torii” is a gigantic Torii on Miyajima Island in the Hiroshima prefecture. It’s also part of UNESCO. It’s famous for its seemingly floating appearance at high tides.
It’s part of the Itsukushima Shrine complex on the (relatively small) island. We’ve also visited the Daishoin Buddhist temple, further into the island’s center.
You can easily get a ferry, but be careful, the last one available to leave the island takes off at 4 PM.
Fukushima
How about some rural Japan? After spending so much time in big cities in Japan, we’ve decided to go with a traditional Japanese house in the middle of nowhere in the prefecture of Fukushima.
We had a fantastic time – it was calm, it was uneventful, it was close to nature – exactly what we needed.
The only issue? Transporation. I would 100% recommend renting a car when visiting rural Japan, otherwise you’re left with busses.
After some calming days in Fukushima to recharge our batteries, it was time to get back to Tokyo – it’s all about contrasts, he?
Tokyo (again)
We stayed in a slightly different area this time and we’ve also explored areas we’ve missed on our first visit – Asakusa, for example.
Exploring our neighborhood
We stayed super close to the Tokyo Tower (in fact, we could see it from our balcony) – so we used that as our starting point for exploring the other areas of Tokyo:
Experiencing Sumo
We booked tickets for a traditional Sumo event. It wasn’t just the fight, it was a traditional Sumo dinner, a guided tour about the rules and the history of Sumo and a show-fight from two professionals.
It was well worth the high price ticket and I would definitely recommend it to others visiting Tokyo (and Asakusa):
I would have loved to share photos from it, but the light conditions made it close to impossible.
Saphir Odoriko & Ito
Our last day before departure was meant to be used for an extended trip with one of the special Shinkansen called Saphir Odoriko – it was Franzi’s birthday present.
I have to admit that I can’t recommend the route – after being spoiled on Social Media, we were a bit disappointed about the trip as you couldn’t really see much.
However, we’ve stopped in Ito and made our way to the Izu Shaboten Zoo which is the birthplace of the original Capybara Outdoor Bath: Yes, the thing you’ve seen on countless photos and this one was well worth a visit!
End of our journey through Japan
This marked the end of our travel through Japan, but it’s definitely not the last time we will visit this wonderful country – we already found countless things we want to see on our next trip!
All those childhood dreams came true – the politeness of the Japanese people, the beautiful sceneries, the quirky and colorful cities and the rich culture.
For us, it was an unbelievable journey and we never felt so bad about leaving a country behind. If you get the chance to visit Japan, do it.
We are now off to our last two steps for Asia: Indonesia and Malaysia, so expect a next post pretty soon!