Adventures in Japan 2015: Osaka / Kyoto

Osaka is WAYYY better than Tokyo from my point of view. Tokyo is like a massive London but with cultural differences, Osaka was like nothing I had ever been to before, it felt like a different country (yeah yeah I know it already was a different county, but Osaka FELT different). As a child of Skegness I have always loved cheap neon and that gaudy fun feel, and this was everything I could have wanted, busy like a festival but not pushy or filled with drunk idiots or thieves, it was an utter joy to wander round.

Kyoto on the other hand was pure history and culture (plus all the tourist trappings that always surrounds such things) and as the two cities are only a short trip between each other they are a good to compare as a set.



Like you hope it a Japanese city will be

Every shop and stall was dressed up to the nines and fun to look at



Normally in a western country this many people would be nasty grumpy and pushy, here there was no indication of that, people were aware of those around them and did not hold up traffic, made the whole experience better for all.

God I miss the bright vibrant Arcades of my youth, it was like coming home

The Tsūtenkaku Tower a well know land mark which helped with the chaotic navigation of Osaka



A REAL Bamboo forest, just sat there errrr… Growing



Behind this door were two of my personal bucket list items, an amazing traditional Japanese garden off a tradition veranda, and a Nightingale floor but alas no photos inside, you can see details about them here



Reading up on what went into the architectural marvels that were the Japanese Pagodas was amazing. part building, part art form, part ritual

You could image a small god living here

 

Panoramic of the Gardens at Daigoji Temple, Japan put on a perfect day for us with few people around and no queues to wait for anything (happy sigh). Note: the pop-up image for this may take a while to load as its 8Meg

We decided that a trip to the fun Fushimi Inari Shrine was in order as it is one of the really popular temples attracting millions of visitors a year



The Foxes that guard the template and act as messengers all look more than a little p**sed (understandable as everybody is always asking them for money)



That is a 4k hike over the mounting that you are looking at, priests are fit devils here.



The Torii or Gates start here



And Just keep going!!!



Companies buy them (Inari is seen as the patron of business) but they are NOT cheap

FootNotes
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