Category: 2025 Nicole and Tak in Japan

What to do when one arrives in Nagoya? Go the Legoland Japan it seems. And I’ve got to say, it was pretty amazing. The Miniland in particular was so detailed and covered so much of our trip from Tokyo to Sapporo. And it was incredibly quiet.

A day in Kyoto: Kiyomizu-dera, Yasaka koshin-do temple, Kennin-ji temple, Sanjūsangen-dō temple and the Mausoleum of Toyotomi Hideyoshi. A day of many steps and much wonder and appreciation.

“Where were you?!”

Sorry about the lack of updates, I was lost, searching for a reason to like Osaka.

I enjoyed Universal, but I don’t count that as part of the city. It could have been located anywhere and been just as magical.

It wasn’t until our last day that I felt like I finally got a sense of the place. We waded through the human traffic at Dotonburi at night. We visited the Kamigata ukiyo-e (woodblock print) museum, where I discovered my new favourite artist, Yoshida Hiroshi. We rode the Ebisu Tower ferris wheel. We dropped into countless secondhand luxury goods stores and traded off oohs and ahhs over rare watches and handbags. We made friends with the chef at our new favourite Italian restaurant down some alley near a train station.

Tokyo’s got more of everything. The friendlier folks seem to be in Hiroshima which also has more space, better public transport and better okonomiyaki (yeah, I said it). Kyoto’s got more temples and shrines, was also a former capital but for 1000 years, not a decade (ooh burn) and a better (relative I suppose) castle is 45 minutes west outside of the city.

I suppose I just don’t get Osaka and that’s okay. It’s the third largest city in Japan, so plenty of people clearly do get it and more power to them. Regardless, I will be back one day. I promised the chef at Birreria e Pizzeria Luce that we’d return for another of their outstanding pizzas.

– T

This morning we arrived in Kyoto.

The last two days in Osaka were spent visiting Himeji Castle, designing our own Cup Noodles at the Cup Noodles Museum, exploring Dotonbori (including riding the Don Quijote Ferris wheel) and eating delicious Italian food at Luce.

After leaving our bags at the hotel, we visited Kinkaku-ji (the golden pavilion), had ramen for lunch, then walked to Ryoan-ji, site of a magnificent dry/pebble garden.

We walked through Hogsmeade today and into Hogwarts castle. It was joyous and, put simply, magical. We rode on the exhilarating (and somewhat terrifying for non-ride people like me) journey through Hogwarts, Tak was the chosen one at Ollivanders and we visited all the shops of Hogsmeade. 

And then we visited Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan which was another type of magic.

We travelled to Osaka today via Shinkansen. We ate ekiben, read a little and enjoyed the journey. Arriving in Osaka, we visited Shitennoji temple, experienced the temple’s monthly market and ate yakisoba.

It seemed most appropriate to visit the Peace Memorial Museum and walk the grounds of the Peace Memorial park after arriving in the city.

We cannot describe our emotions after reading about what happened there. It didn’t feel right to take photos of the Genbaku Dome, so we said some prayers and left with heavy hearts… right into a massive crowd cheering on the *clears throat* 30th Emperor’s Cup Inter-prefectural Men’s Ekiden of Hiroshima. The eventual winner was Yamato Hamaguchi in a time of 2:16:55, which must have been great because it was some sort of record.

Play

Hiroshima was amazing. Folks here don’t hide from what happened, they live alongside it, in the face of it, despite it. They build, manufacture, produce and create because of it. Mazda, Uniqlo and Issey Miyake are brands that had origins in Hiroshima. They make okonomiyaki with noodles in it, making it more substantial than the more widely known Osaka version.

The city is vast, but is serviced by trams reminiscent of those in Melbourne. They were a welcome change from the subways and trains of Tokyo. They are also representative of the more relaxed pace of Hiroshima compared to the hectic capital.

Miyajima

This touristy island off the southern coast of Hiroshima still managed to give us a rewarding dose of nature and a feeling of having gotten away from the crowds, once we set off up mount Misen.

We got to the ropeway entrance to discover it closed for maintenance, so we decided to hike up the steepest route to the summit. There, we met a friendly young geology student from Tokyo who took our picture and cautioned us to head down quickly as the sun would be setting soon.

I loved Hiroshima. I was reluctant to visit at first, but its grungy, easygoing vibe and friendly people soon won me over. I will always want to go back, every time I visit Japan.

Time to find out what Osaka has in store for us.

– T

A day exploring Hiroshima today (after the necessary trip to the coin laundry which is conveniently located inside the hotel). We visited Hiroshima castle, ate delicious okonomiyaki, explored the Hondori shopping street and (finally) ate Kura sushi for dinner.

Hiroshima has been a city that took us by surprise and we both wish we weren’t leaving quite so soon. But it’s off to Osaka in the morning via Shinkansen.

Day trip to Miyajima today, which doesn’t exist. But if everybody still calls it that, does it endure?
– A Buddhist monk, possibly.

But first, hotel no. 2 breakfast. When we checked in yesterday, they asked us to select a beverage and choice of bread. We expected to receive a coffee and piece of toast this morning. We should have known better. It was delicious.

8:27pm

Back at the hotel after a day trip to Miyajima and a warm curry dinner. Miyajima was amazing – a standout for me. Such a beautiful island that we viewed from many vantage points, most of which when we hiked up Mount Misen – via the steepest path 😅 There were deer, the ocean, yummy street snacks and the little thing of a floating Torii gate. -Nic