Himeji & Kobe

Another day...another castle. Himeji Castle!

As we were using the Kansai Thru Pass for journey to Himeji, we were not able to take the JR trains. This unfortunately added an extra 40 minutes to our journey but that was ok. We learnt from our lesson yesterday and adjusted our departure accordingly by half an hour to avoid the commuter crush. We reached Himeji in about 2 hours. Himeji Castle stands about 1km down the broad Otemae-dori Street from Himeji Station.

Vending machine surprise. The children were delighted to find the can of drink...warm!

Catching the regional train to Himeji

The city of Himeji is famous for its UNESCO World Heritage Castle. Unlike many Japanese castles which are reconstructions, Himeji castle was never destroyed by fire, war or earthquake. The imposing white castle and its well preserved complex castle grounds remains as it has been its construction in 1581 by the samurais. If the castle seems somewhat familiar, that may be because the castle appears as the Tiger Tanaka's secret ninja training camp in the James Bond film "You Only Live Twice"!

The children had a ball at the castle. We had initially planned to follow a self guided tour but couldn't keep up with the children! After winding through the Castle grounds, we finally reached the main keep where we had to remove our shoes and wear slippers. The only way up to the top is via the original stairs which were narrow, steep and most had quite low clearances. It wouldn't bode well for those who were large or had mobility challenges. Despite the official prediction of "low crowds", there was a steady stream of visitors. The Castle had just completed a long period of restoration and we could see how in "peak" season, special tickets had to be given out to limit the number of visitors.

The original UNESCO listed Himeji Castle. And yes, we climbed to the very top!

The start of yet another walk

Just keep walking, just keep walking

A pretty low gate!

But wait! It gets smaller!!!

The show taking off, putting on station. Everyone walked around carrying their own shoes in a plastic bag

Everyone had to wear slippers. They even had small ones for Jonah!

Within the keep

We purchased a combined ticket which gave us entry into Kokoen, a series of nine beautifully maintained Japanese gardens right next to the castle. We were initially dubious but we were quickly won over by the pretty surroundings. The children loved exploring the nooks and crannies, as well as going over the various stone steps and bridges over water canals. We decided to stay and have lunch at the tea house within the gardens which turned out to be a great decision. The prices of the food was equivalent to those outside the castle and gardens but we were able to eat in a peaceful setting overlooking the gardens. The food was delicious. I shall let the photos do the talking.

Kokoen Garden

Amazingly vibrant foliage

Pristine gardens

The fattest kois ever. They were about 50cm long!!!

What is with the little gates?!!

Heron?

Lunch at the restaurant within the gardens

Soba with eel on rice

Somen, a specialty in Himeji

The children super excited to get their own bento

Oma had made us promise to buy her ono, which was white tanned leather, something that Himeji is known for. The leather was surprisingly soft and there were a myriad of different designs. I would take a photo but the shop girl gift wrapped it so beautifully I haven't the heart to dismantle her handiwork!

Our last stop for the day was Kobe. And when in Kobe one must consume the famous Kobe beef. We were warned that the restaurants could get very busy and they were not kidding. We started lining up at 4:10pm and only got a seat at 5pm! By the time we left, the lines were crazy. I must mention the kind Japanese young woman who offered to help us when she saw us looking lost. She proceeded to walk us to the restaurant from the station which saved us a lot of time! A further 10 minutes and we would have waited longer for  a table. We ordered 3 different grades of Kobe beef and even the children could tell the difference between them. Soa, our chef, cooked them to perfection. They literally melted in your mouth. In fact they were so good, the children fought over them! It was definitely well worth paying for the higher grade steak.

And yes we managed to squeeze in some shopping!

Waiting in line at Steakland!

Ready for Kobe beef!

Beef broth on the right, lemon sauce on the top left and garlic sauce on the bottom left

Sao cooking everything fresh in front of us

Our previous steaks

Cooked to absolute perfection. Seared on the outside, red and juicy on the inside

Osaka Take 2

Osaka Castle

It was an early start but not early enough! Our 8am subway ride meant that we had to share it with the crush of Japanese commuters heading to work and school. The family barely managed to stay together as we headed for Shitenno-ji, one of Japan's oldest temples. We chanced upon a sweet and kind old gentleman who showed us a shortcut into the sprawling temple grounds via a cemetery. He told us a few facts about the temple in his broken English and was delighted to discover that we were from Australia as his son got married in Queensland. Unfortunately, the main building itself was under restoration and so we continued to our next destination, the Osaka Museum of History. Here we encountered our second helpful and sweet gentlemen who helped the children with puzzles and activities despite limited English. They received stickers and a doraemon stamp. Unfortunately, the museum was not geared towards non-Japanese speakers which made it hard to fully appreciate the displays. What was amazing though, were their detailed models of medieval Japanese villages. And from the 10th floor we were able to get a glimpse of the imposing grounds of Osaka Castle.

The very peaceful Shitennoji. Although there have been reconstructions, care has been taken to stay true to the original 6th century design

That would be the main building...moving on! At least we got a lovely refreshing walk...

The Museum of History

Hands on experience for the children thanks to another kind Japanese

Osaka Castle was first constructed in the 16th century. However, its main tower was last reconstructed in 1931. If you haven't already guessed by now, entry into the main tower was included in our Amazing Osaka Pass! An elevator took us to the 5th floor where we had to climb stairs to the 8th floor viewing deck and work our way down the stairs back towards the ground floor.

The impressive moat at the south outer wall of Osaka Castle. At its widest the moat is 75!

"Time to attack Osaka Castle!" says Malcolm. Jonah took that quite literally...

Is that a...ninjago?!?!

There were MASSIVE pieces of stone used 

The top of the main building

More walking...this time out of the castle to get to the nearest subway station

Yes shameful I know. But we had to stop to try out some of the Japanese only burgers and we had to "rest".

Filet-O-Ebi!

Somethings interesting we noted at many subway stations

By this stage, everyone's legs were weary from walking. It was a miracle that we walked the whole 2.6km of Tenjinbashisuji Shopping Street, Japan's longest shopping street. We decided to scrap plans of visiting Osaka Museum of Housing and Living and opted for the HEP Five Ferris Wheel instead. HEP Five is one of the buildings around the Umeda area which just happens to have a Ferris wheel atop its roof...it was a relaxing way to rest our legs and enjoy the view of Osaka.

Still happy at the beginning of the shopping street. Little did they know they had to walk 2.6km...

The HEP5 ferris wheel

As with all things Japanese, it was small. Thus 3 of us were in one and...

....2 were in another

So relaxing that Elliot opted to read his kindle

The last attraction for the day was the Floating Garden Observatory at the Umeda Sky Building. The walk to Umeda Sky Building was more complex and took longer than expected. The route within the building was even more complex, but a lot more fun than the smelly underground pedestrian path that we had just left behind. The instructions looked like a mission impossible blueprint display for infiltrating a building. They involved crossing from the west tower to the east tower and back again, 2 elevators and a four story external escalator. The Floating Garden Observatory was peaceful, but the peace was unfortunately disturbed by our children (a common theme so far). A kind guard offered Lara and Jonah entry to a special section on the roof with couple seats and "love locks". They were thrilled until they discovered that this was a lovers' section whereupon they looked at each other, screamed and ran back past the guard.

The Umeda Sky Building

Working out way up to the Floating Observatory

Expansive views over the Osaka City

In the basement of the building they have restaurants built like the Edo period. Unfortunately they were not open yet so we could not eat there

weihnachtsmarkt in Japan! Unfortunately the Glurwein was nearly $10 a pop so we skipped that one... and got potato and bacon soup instead

Lovely Christmas decorations

There were many food stalls/restaurants in and around the massive Umeda Station but many were tiny. We were exhausted and hungry and walked into the first shop that could cater for all 5 of us. It just happened to be Thai - oops. The Changi beer signs should've been a giveaway, not to mention the Thai flag on the wall. We were tired! It turned out to be a highly satisfying meal. The Thai "ramen" had one of the tastiest broth I've ever had, and Elliot wolfed down his green curry as well as a whole bowl of noodles. We learnt our lesson and hurried to be on the subway before the start of the evening rush. Plans to scour Dotonbori for more food were abandoned as everybody literally crashed...

So focused on eating...

Looks plain but oh did that broth attack the taste buds!