May 10th, Osaka day 5
I should get up early, check out and heading back to sweet home in Vancouver, though I may want to stay longer. I had grown up by this trip and ready for the next chapter of my life!\
Thank you Kansai for this wonderful trip.
I would not forget the castle, shrines and temples that I saw. They were marvelous and well protected. I might make more friends and probably I can ask them to visit Vancouver some day!
I would be very tired after arriving at Osaka International Airport. After taking JR to Umeda station, I will walk to the hostel, check-in and have a wonderful sleep.
May 3rd, Osaka Day 2
After having a good sleep. I plan to visit Namba area down the south of Osaka. It contains various kind of food and shopping centres. However, my first place to visit is Kamigata Ukiyoe Museum. This museum is unique of its kinds. It is the only one in the world to have a permanent Kamigata Ukiyoe exhibit. Kamigata Ukiyoe are woodblock prints from the Kyoto/Osaka region that typically feature portraits of kabuki actors.
I am going to Dotonbori area to enjoy my dinner. It is easy to recognize-----if you can see the crab logo.
May 4th, Osaka Day 3
Today I will unveil the secret behind Osaka. I am going to visit the Castle Museum and the Nakamoshima Park, as well as taking a boat ride. The castle museum covers about 60,000 square meters of ground and it is also 'Golden Castle' by Japanese. I can probably imagine the scene in Sengoku period that warriors were fighting for their leader and their own country. The castle must act like a indestructible barrier that stops many attacks.
Nakamoshima Park, on the other hand, is built in 19th century with the fusion of Western culture. It is located at the middle of an island and it was the first public park opened in Osaka.
Public Hall, Nakamoshima Park
May 5th, Osaka Day 4
Today I will be stay in the Den Den Town all day for electronics shopping.
Located in the Nipponbashi area, Den Den Town is an
electronics district comparable to Tokyo's Akihabara, and you may be able to
bargain to a better deal. Den Den Town is becoming known as an otaku paradise
with numerous manga and anime retailers as well as maid and cosplay cafes
located there.
In order to find a cheap and clean, probably convenient and traditional place to stay, I had searched the internet for a while and finally pick U-en Hostel as the most appropriate choice for this trip.
The hostel is located in a 103 years old apartment-looks very traditionally Japanese.
It is conveniently located at the center of Osaka City(at point B), which is the hub of the entire Kansai. It is very close to the 'Union Station' of Osaka---Umeda Station, only 15 min by walking. As you may not know that there are many private railway carriers in Kansai rather than Via-rail monopoly in Ontario. So it is urgent to live close to the Umeda station and then I could choose different options.
The price is also acceptable with cheapest room starting at 2700 Yen, or~$30 per night, which is below my budget.
Air Canada(AC) is the flag carrier of Canada. And recently it was granted a 4-star airline by Skytrax. Although some people don't like it so much, personally my AC experience was above average. The economy class of Boeing 777-300ER is comfortable with 18.5 inch wide seat(in 3-3-3 configuration shown as below) and 32' pitch. I will also enjoy 2 meals and a quick snack in this long flight. It allows 2 piece of carry-on baggage and 1 piece of checked baggage at 50lbs. Therefore I don't bother to sit on it for 8 hours.
For domestic flight connecting to Osaka, I don't really bother with the size of the aircraft nor the seat comfort, since it is a short flight for 1 hour 15 min.
The sample ticket shows a fare of $1671 in 2014, which is below the budget.
RAILWAY AND BUSES
In Kansai, I can purchases passes for railway or buses. It is 2000 Yen for JR networks and another 2000 Yen for all other non-JR trains and buses.
The other option would be single fare. A typical Osaka-Kyoto will cost 540 Yen for JR fast train(25min arrival) and 390 Yen(40min) for other carriers.
The buses usually charge 200 Yen for stops in Kyoto Downtown
In general the average cost of transportation will be less than 2500 Yen a day, which will equal $26 per day
The transportation cost could be 20-50 dollars higher than original budget.
For more railway information, http://www.kansai.gr.jp/en/
For buses information, http://cn.japan-guide.com/articles/getting-around/kyoto (website in Simplified Chinese)
This Trip focus on the attractions of Kyoto as an old capital of Japan.
The entire trip will take roughly a day and the most exciting place will be the To-ji Temple
The temple is the tallest wood building in Japan and it was built in thousand years ago.
This would probably be the scene I am going to experience. It looks fresh and relaxing, unlike the high pressure urban concrete buildings. I can smell the flower and feel the freshness of this temple.
A closer look of the temple unveils a similar structure to many temples in China, but neither of those I saw match the height and the size of Do-ji. I will be surprised about how Japanese protect their culture rather than devastate and build more apartments in China.
On this day I will also visit a locomotive museum and see real steam engines working! Then I will also depart the Trolley Train and feel the nature. After that I will head back to Osaka.
May 9th, Day 2 Kyoto
Today I will visit Shrines. The Kamigamo Shrine and Shimogamo Shrine. Both Shrine are also very historic and quiet inside. As a single traveler, I will arrive early and sit inside the Shrine for hours to 'clean' my mind. I will temporarily forget the daily matters and other pressure and listen to the trees and even the god of these jinjia shrines.
Shimogamo Shrine
and
Kamigamo Shrine
After visiting shrines, I would probably visit the Kyoto National Museum, for more collections of traditional Japan lifestyle, since Japan does contain a long history between different dynasty.
Kobe is very close to Osaka and it seems to have little attractions. However, the Kobe rope-way or cable cars could bring you to the top of the mountain and taking some amazing photos of Kobe and Osaka!
And also by going up you may have the change to observe a small water fall.
Although the rope was not as exciting as visit cultural heritage, I could see the entire Kobe and have some food at the top of the mountain.
This is also a one day tour visiting the earliest historic site of World Heritage.
I will be taking JR train to Nara and change the bus for direct access to the Horyuji Temple.
This temple attracts Buddhism believers and it still kepts new.
Japan is unlike other popular tourism spaces. It is unlikely to see foreigners in Japanese streets, even in the city of Tokyo. In facts, statistics shows that roughly 900,000 tourists visited Japan in this September, with majorities(>25%each) from South Korea and Taiwan. This is less than 1% of the total population in Japan. Only less than 100,000 North Americans visited Japan in this September.
It is not difficult to guess the reasons why many Korean and Taiwanese tourists visit Japan. All three countries share similar culture;Korea and Taiwan were affected by Japanese Culture under colonization during 19th century. As a Taiwanese residing in North America, I could still remember my grandpa became excited if you mention the word 'Japan'.
My purpose of this trip is not only a leisure travel, but it also will contain adventure and learning. As I have visited Kando(Tokyo and its surroundings), and I was attracted by temples and Shinto Shrines in Kansai Region, as they often appears in Japanese Movies and Animations. I would want to travel alone and test my braveness of being without family or friends. I do think it is going to be helpful with my career and make me feel the confidence. I am also going to taste the food and experience the authentic lifestyle when staying in a Hostel with traditional Japanese decorations. I am going to make friends, either local Japanese or other travelers like me. I am hoping by exploring a similar but well protected culture, I can grow up and become a real adult, since I have never traveled alone.
This trip is going to be my first-time ever, solo travelling to a foreign country. I have planned it to occur likely in the beginning of May, 2015 for 10 days. At that time, I would probably finish my 1-year graduate study and I will not have a large budget for luxury trip, especially Japan.
When I visited Japan in 2005, I was shocked about the cost of staying there and thank god I did stay in friend of my mother's BFF apartment so that I did not pay anything for a place to stay.
Though interestingly this Youtube video shows the costing of living in Kobe, Kansai is $1180 per month and it does not differ significantly from cities in Canada.
Transportation to Japan is also expensive from Canada. So I may only afford to buy Economy Class ticket.
My budget for this trip is $4000, roughly a monthly income if I can get an entry level job. Most of the spending will be on transportation, living and dining, where other cost might include tickets and shopping.
Here is a simple calculation for the estimated cost:
Air
Ticket
2000
Living(8
days)
320
Food($30/day)
300
Transportation($20/d)
200
Shopping
300
Other
Cost
380
TOTAL
3500
The calculation is still an estimation and all other details will be explored in later posts.
Hmmm, before I really dig into the 'mysterious' Kansai, WHERE IS IT?
Okay I told you it was in Japan. Yep, and Japan is located at the north-west pacific ocean, east of Russia and Korea. It has 4 large islands: Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu. Kansai is mainly located in Honshu island as well as some of Shikoku island.
Kansai is the area composed of Kyoto, Osaka and Vicinity. Osaka is the largest city in Kansai and also 2nd largest in Japan. Kyoto was the old capital of Japan before 17th century.
The climate of Kansai is subtropical with distinct 4 seasons. Winters are generally mild, with January having an average high of 9°C. The city rarely sees snowfall
during the winter. Spring in Kansai starts off mild, but ends up being hot and
humid. The Tsuyu or rainy
season occurrs between late May to early July.
Summers are very hot and
humid. In the months of July and August, the average daily high temperature
approaches 35 °C, while average nighttime temperatures typically hover
around 25 °C. Fall in Kansai sees a cooling trend, with the early part of
the season resembling summer while the latter part of fall resembles winter.
I am Chung Yuan and you can also call me Edward. I am currently a 4th year Green Process Engineering student at Western University.
Welcome to my blog and I hope you all can enjoy a great moment here.
I am going to bring you some amazing information of my next dream vacation-----Kansai, area of tradition inside modern Japan.
Don't know where it is? NVM, I will show you all information I gathered these days and hope you guys can also visit there sometime later. Definitely truth worthy and differentiated from traditional tourism places!
