Jumping around Japan

Our last day in Japan!!!!!!!
Today we went to visit the Osaka castle. We took subway to get there. The Osaka Castle was was built in 1583 (1). There is water around the whole castle that protects it. This castle was amazing to see and was much better than other castles we had ever seen. Therefore, it was said to be the best castle to be able to protect itself from an attack. The Osaka Castle is famous for being one of the big castles in Japan.(2).

Today we also visited the Osaka aquarium. This aquarium is very famous in Japan because the tank is huge! We were so excited becuase we saw so many fish, dolphins and sharks.

We then went and visited the Minami area. This area has many unique and different sort of things. For example, we saw the Kuidaore doll! Kuidaore means “to ruin oneself by extravagance in food.” This doll is a symbol in this area, so many visitors take pictures. Of course, we took picture of us with him.

Also, there are some more original and different kinds of food. We tried to Tokoyaki. Tokoyaki is a popular Japanese dumpling made of batter, diced octopus, tempura scraps, pickled ginger, and green onion, topped with special sauce, green laver , mayonnaise, and katsuobushi (fish shavings). Its taste was very different but good! While we were enjoying our Tokoyaki we drank some Sake which is a Japanese alcoholic beverage made from rice

The Tokotaki that we ate!

After we enjoyed our Takoyaki we took bullet train to Tokyo to go back to Canada.
We enjoyed travelling in Japan so much and we would love to be able to stay longer. But...........

Goodbye Japan - Sayonara - We are going to come back one day.

After we left Hiroshima we went to Osaka and we took the bullet train to get there, it took like a 1 hour and half. We went to Universal Studios Japan. We bought a 1 day pass. It was 5,800 yen ($58)(1) There were nine main areas of attractions, New York (Spider-Man, Terminator), Hollywood (Hollywood Dream the Ride, Shrek’s 4, Sesame street, Universal Monsters Live Rock and Roll Show, Animation Celebration, E.T. Adventure), San Francisco (Backdraft, Back to The Future), Jurassic Park, Snoopy Studios (Snoopy’s Sound Stage Adventure, Snoopy’s Playland), Lagoon (Peter Pan’s Neverland), Water World, Amity Village, Land of Oz. We spend all day enjoying these attractions.(2) After such a long day of excitement it was time to go our hotel the Hawthorn Suites Universal which was conveniently located at Universal Studios. This was such a fun experience! check out what we did at http://www.usj.co.jp/e_top.html

Today we decided to visit Hiroshima. It took 1 hour and 45 minutes on the bullet train from Kyoto. We visited a peace park in Hiroshima, we took a cable car from Hiroshima station. This park is a monument of World War II which took place in 1945 (1) .This park was the center area for dropping nuclear bomb by the US force and was built in 1954 for remembrance (2).
The dome’s shape has kept the same appearance since the bombs dropped back in 1945. This was kept this way so we could see the damage that the war had caused. On August 6th in every year the government has a ceremony for peace all citizens offer a moment of silent prayer for the victims at 8:15pm.

We finally arrived at Miyajima shrine by train and ferry. It took about 30 minutes by train from Hiroshima station plus 10 minutes by ferry from Miyajimakuchi station. Miyajima is an island 31 kilometers in circumference which is located Hiroshima Bay in the Seto Inland Sea.

The Itsukushima shrine was built here about 800 years ago(1). General Taira no Kiyomori erected and dedicated the shrine to the glory of the Taira clan in 1168, towards the end of the Heian Era. With beautiful green vegetation as a backdrop, the red painted shrine juts outwards creating a remarkable landscape - a shrine floating on the sea(2). The buildings are connected by a series of long roofed corridors. The pillars supporting the building are prone to water erosion. The entire complex emerges when the tide is out.

In Hiroshima, we ate two popular dishes. One of them was fresh oysters and other was a maple streamed bun. The oysters were very fresh so we could eat them raw. The Maple streamed bun is special souvenir in Hiroshima. It tasted quite sweet and it delicious with a cup of Japanese green tea. We decided to buy some and take it home for our family.

After we ate breakfast, we took the train to Nara . After we arrived at Nara station we took bus to Todai Temple.

Once we arrived at Todai Temple we saw the Big Buddha (1) . The Big Buddha was huge and was 14.7 meters tall, it was so amazing. We walked around the temple and then went to Wakakusha Mountain. It is located right beside Todai Temple. There were so many deer walking around there it was crazy. We feed the deer some bait and then we got hungry so we went for lunch.

Did you know that Kyoto, Osaka, and Nara are known as the “Golden Route”(2) , so we wanted to make sure that we went to all of these places. The name just sounds amazing!

After lunch we went back to Kyoto by bus and train. Next thing on our list to visit was the Fushimi Shrine. There are thousands of Torii (a gateway to a Shinto Shrine). It was built in 711 and looks like a wall and was something really different to see.

All attractions close at 5pm which is so early….. Therefore, we went to shopping to buy souvenirs. We visited Nishiki Market area. It is better known as the “kitchen” of the ancient capital of Kyoto, this market is comprised of some 140 shops standing by side by on both sides of a 400 meter lane. We could find Japanese traditional dishes here so we were excited! Not only travelers but also local people visit this area. For souvenirs , we wanted to buy traditional food so we bought
“Yatsuhashi” (a streamed bun) which was delicious and we also bought a beautiful fan.

We arrived in Kyoto by the famous bullet train. The first thing that we saw while we were at the staion was the Kyoto tower. The Kyoto tower is 131m in height and huge symbol in Kyoto. After we visited the Kyoto Tower we went to the bus ticket center and bought a 1 day pass. The Pass worked out to be 5 hundred yen per person and we could travel to almost every famous place in Kyoto.

The bullet train was really cool!! check it out at http://www.japanrail.com

After we got onto the bus, we went to the Kiyomizu temple. Kiyomizu temple is a Unesco World Heritage site and was built in 1633(1).

While we were here we visted the three small falls. The three small falls stand for; studying, love, and health(2). You are allowed to drink from the falls, so we enjoyed all kinds of water.

After leaving the Kiyomizu temple, we went to the Imperial palace. This building was the palace for the first emperor of Japan. It was built in 1855 and was the first palace in Japan(1) Here are some of the other building we visited while we were here. The Shishinden Hall (for State Ceremonies), Seiryoden (lit. Cool, refreshing hall), Kogosho (Court Room), Ogakumonsho (Imperial Study or Library), and a number of residences for the Empress, high-ranking aristocrats and government officials(2).

The last place that we visited today was the Kinkaku Temple. The Kinkaku was built in 1224(1). This building was a vacation house for shogun(2). The building is made out of gold, so it was very bright and hard to look at.