Osaka

Osaka is definitely more of a modern city than Kyoto, but still has a charm about it.  Its 19 million people, busy subways, restored historical sites, amusement parks and large malls made it feel more like Shanghai and you can see how it is known as a smaller Tokyo.  We found that "Naka" is a pretty common prefix for street names and liked seeing this in random spots.  

Our first day we enjoyed Tsutenkaku where we had some good ramen, went up the tower and liked all the shops.  There are some traditional Japanese gardens throughout the city and they were always beautiful, even in the winter.  

The food is definitely more seafood-based than we're used to.  Sushi is not necessarily the girls' favorite, but they loved finding various meals and snacks in the gas stations (although they leaned towards the pastries). 

Our second day featured a trip to the famous landmark of Osaka Castle.  A site that represents the unification of Japan, it is surrounded by moats, huge walls, gorgeous trees, and gardens.  The wall surrounding the castle includes 5 colossal stones over 100 tons and 15 stones over 50 tons. The method of construction is still a mystery. We later wandered to Dotonbori for some shopping streets where we were surprised to see the influx of retro American clothes.  Another day led us to some museums, including the Museum of Housing and Living.  We walked around 21k steps each day and the girls were troopers once again.  On our walks we made the observation that there are far fewer public trash cans in Japan than in China or America.  Nevertheless, the streets remain very clean.

We loved being in Japan.  We have learned that our last name means Middle Fence.  The character for Naka is nearly the same as the Chinese character that begins the word China.  It can even be found on the iPhone emoji menu.  

                                                         The "octopus stone" is 193 feet long

One of our most exciting days was our trip to Universal Studies.  It started out rainy, which may have helped against the crowds, and we lined up to be among the first let inside.  Running around with Minions, on Sesame Street, visiting Hello Kitty and Charlie Brown, and watching 4D movies of Shrek and Spiderman was all surreal.  The highlight of the visit was going to Harry Potter world where we got to wander the streets of Hogsmeade, visit Hogwarts, and take in all the magical parts of the books.  We stayed for the entire day and we loved all the rides, food, and mostly the laughs we shared.

Japan - Kyoto

We are back from break and had the most wonderful holiday in Japan.  It's an exceptional country full of beauty, history, and heated toilet seats.  We'll break this into two posts as we spent the majority of our time in two fairly different cities:  historic, temple-filled Kyoto versus the hustle & bustle of urban Osaka. 

We had a few items on our list heading into Kyoto, but managed to leave with a longer list of targets for next time.  It was the Imperial Capital for over 1000 years and it has the relics and sites to prove this.  The Golden Pavilion of the Kinkakuji Temple was breathtakingly beautiful and this was the first time even the girls thought a temple tour was too short.

Next was Nijo Castle, another amazing site surrounded by not one, but two, moats and giant walls.  The interior has been maintained in the old style and we weren't allowed photos inside.  Our favorite part was the famous nightingale floors that sing and chirp as you walk across them just like mentioned in some of Ben's favorite books. 

Gion was a cool neighborhood with a bygone vibe.  Visitors can dress up in traditional kimonos as they wander the old streets and there is an abundance of shopping and food.

Fushimi Inari Shrine put on quite the show, was a chance to enjoy some nature, and gave us quite the climb.  The mountain provided a lovely hike through the many torii gates, most of which are hundreds of years old and the oldest date back to the 700s!  At the base of the mountain are temples, shops, and ceremonies.

Wandering the Ninenzaka neighborhood was a favorite of Nina's as she has watched a youtube video about it.  She was especially happy that we visited the first ever tatami-style Starbucks.  A tatami is a type of mat used as flooring material in traditional Japanese-style rooms. 

Overall, it was amazing to see so many sites while just walking down the street.  It has been said that walking through the streets of Kyoto is like walking through eleven centuries of Japan.  It seemed as if every road we traveled had something that made us say, "Oh, I wish we could look in there."  From temples galore, to samurai shops, to cat cafes, Kyoto is filled with sites to be seen.