Osaka

Here are a few more photos of the inside of Todaiji Temple. The photos really don’t do it justice.

Tōdai-ji is a Buddhist temple complex that was once one of the powerful Seven Great Temples, located in the city of Nara, Japan. Its Great Buddha Hall houses the world’s largest bronze statue of the Buddha Vairocana, known in Japanese as Daibutsu. The temple also serves as the Japanese headquarters of the Kegon school of Buddhism. The temple is a listed UNESCO...

Since the weather was fantastic today we decided to go to the town of Nara about 45 minutes away by train. Upon arrival we walked about 25 min to Nara Park where we were met by hundreds of deer (and thousands of people).  Apparently the deer have been here for thousands of years and are extremely tame. They roam the park freely looking for tourists with deer crackers...

The Shitennoji Temple is sometimes regarded as the first Buddhist and oldest officially administered temple in Japan, although the temple buildings have been rebuilt over the centuries. One the main buildings on the property was covered up for renovation, which is the case with a lot of Japan. My guess it’s in preparation for the 2020 Olympics.

Our second stop was about a 20 min walk from the market. I wasn’t expecting much from this one on the walk over as we hadn’t really investigated it too much. I was pleasantly surprised when we arrived and found the performance stage shaped like a ritualistic lion head.
Sent from my iPhone

In researching this trip we found a video online about these octopus on stick as something to try. We found them at the market so Eduardo gave it a try. I just couldn’t do it. At first it was all about getting the photo with it but in the end he ate the whole thing. He said the head tasted like scrambled eggs and the rest of the body tasted like calamari. The second...

  The first stop of our very busy Tuesday was Kuromon market. A busy street market consisting of fresh seafood, fruits & vegetables, baked goods and other shops. We spent around 2 hours there checking out all the unique fish items and sampling a few as well. Fruit seems to be very pricey in Japan. I saw packages of 2 peaches for $16, so needless to say those...

After a rest back out our hotel we went out for dinner. One of the more famous foods to have in Osaka is Okonomiyaki. It’s basically a Japanese pancake made primarily with cabbage. We both had the shrimp option. While it was good, I think we were expecting better. So it’s Monday night and the streets are still crazy with people. It doesn’t seem like there is ever a...

After lunch, which was a delicious bowl of ramen noodles with a side order or gyoza for me and chicken pieces for Eduardo, we went to the HEP 5 Ferris wheel near the top of a mall close to Osaka train station. 600¥ (about $6.50CAD) got is a 20 min ride up over the city. Definitely worth it but I noticed that today has been full of city views from towers, castles and...

Osaka Castle is one of Japan’s most famous landmarks and it played a major role in the unification of Japan during the sixteenth century. The main tower of Osaka Castle is situated on a plot of land roughly one square kilometer. It is built on two raised platforms of landfill supported by sheer walls of cut rock. The castle grounds, which cover approximately...