Sauntering Sunflower

Our next adventure brought us to Awaji island park across the bay from Osaka and Kobe. We trekked by train to Maiko station then took a bus across one of the largest bridges I have ever seen. Upon arrival at the park, we immediately found our destination: Dragon Quest island.

Dragon Quest island is located in the Hyogo provincial park. It has several sections, fenced off from the general park and accessible by electronic wristbands. The design is genius, because it allows the facility to use a fairly large footprint of the park, in which a village, temple, shrine, castle and evil castle are built. But there are multiple footpaths through the spaces that are part of the general park so that the facility doesn’t obstruct park access and enjoyment.

Aside from Dragon Quest, Nijigen no mori has several other IPs it represents, such as the Godzilla Operation (featuring a zipline into Godzilla’s mouth) and a Naruto/Boruto adventure park, Crayon-shin, and so on. Several of the events are more seasonal, others are semi-permanent like Dragon Quest island.

The Dragon Quest adventure was soooo coooooool. I wasn’t sure what to expect, and since Jenn and the kids never really played Dragon Warrior games, I wasn’t sure they would enjoy it. You start by creating a digital character and choosing a name. Then we did fetch quests, we fought monsters, we found hidden items, and we levelled up. It was like LARPing without terminal embarrassment.

Photo opportunities are somewhat limited because they obviously do not want people spoiling the quests, sort of like escape rooms back home. But they encourage photos of the town and the statues.

We stopped for lunch at Lucida’s tavern, where all the snacks are Dragon Quest themed, then went back to defeat the Ultimate Evil. The boss battles involved a button mini game, where a pattern is flashed on the screen, and you press the buttons in sequence like in a rhythm game. Speed and accuracy result in critical hits. And it turns out the wrist band is constantly judging you! At the end of the adventure, it ranks you based on your overall results.

We spent about four hours doing the main quest and the concurrent side quest, including our stop for lunch. And to my delight the kids really, really enjoyed the experience.

Originally we were planning to visit Bitchu Masuyama castle in the mountains of Okayama. However, the JR West WIDE area pass doesn’t cover all the trains necessary, despite going to Okayama. Of the passes we purchased, the JR WIDE pass was definitely the least useful.

It did cover the trains to Himeji, though, so we celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary with the only thing we could find in Japan that was older than our marriage: a 17th century castle.

Himeji is a super popular tourist spot and with reason. It’s conveniently located near the station due to excellent planning by Akamatsu Norimura when he built the original fort in 1333. It has a huge courtyard lined with cherry trees, expansive gardens, and a well preserved palace on premises.

I’ve written about Himeji before. Between Matsuyama castle and Himeji castle, I think Himeji castle wins during cherry blossom season by the slightest of margins. It’s accessibility is certainly a plus, but that also guarantees the crowds. However the views of the castle and gardens through a pink haze of floating petals is magnificent.

Following the castle, we visited the adjacent Koko-en gardens: a series of walled gardens done in different styles. Despite the rainy drizzle we spent considerable time in the gardens as there are multiple covered benches where you can sit and simply partake in the views.

On our way to and from the station, we happened upon the only Burger King we have seen in Japan. And on Whopper Wednesday no less! It was fate.

The next day was scheduled as a rest day. Sadly, laundry still must be done, groceries purchased. Since it was about the midpoint of our trip we hit Costco to restock. But wanting to do something we decided we’d visit Osaka castle park.

It was the beginning of the hanami season and there were people picnicking everywhere. It also happened to be a concert day for a famous boy band of some sort, so there were crowds of young ladies with cardboard cutouts everywhere. And it was a weekend at a busy tourist spot, so there were crowds of tourist groups everywhere.

We made the best of it. We decided to skip visiting the interior of the castle due to the crowds, but we grabbed a bench outside in the plaza and spent a while chatting and enjoying some snacks. We toured the park grounds, tried a bunch of different things from the food trucks everywhere, then headed home.

One of several actual hikes on our itinerary, we trekked up to the Minoh area north of Osaka city to visit the falls.

We started off our epic journey by taking the hard route, which involved going up a steep mountain to an observatory. The view was totally worth it. And we eventually wended our way back down to the main route.

The main route, however, was temporarily closed further up, so we got to take a detour route…back up the mountain, and across it, and down across the river, then back up the mountain and…it was a very good hike.

Along the way we saw several monkeys just hanging around. They were pretty calm about sharing the area with folks. Although we gave them as much space as we could, in some places we had to pass within a about a meter of the animals.

At the top of the mountain are the falls. And a very nice picnic area, complete with a full service takeout bar and restaurant. We had brought our own lunches up sadly. We stayed and enjoyed the ambience for an hour or so while we ate our lunch and drank, then began the journey back down.

This time we took the correct route! It passes a very nice temple, where I snagged a goshuin. Along side the temple is a river, where we spotted a japanese salamander. It was huge! We went down closer to the river to get a better look, but it had already sought cover under the rocks. We stayed to see if we could see more but had no luck.

Afterwards, we passed the insect museum which we had totally no intention of stopping at. Except it looked so neat, and had a butterfly aviary, so we popped in for a visit and I’m glad we did. Lots of insects on display and an incredible butterfly garden all very well laid out for visitors. It’s a short visit, but definitely worth seeing.

A little further on we met a fellow who recommended we check out the nearby observatory point. Intrigued, we started to climb the mountain again. A convenient sign told us there were slightly less than 500 steps to the summit. But the steps were each 40cm tall hewn stone blocks. We decided we’d done enough climbing for the day. The view might have been great – I will never know.

But something about Nara had struck a chord with the kids, so back to Nara for day two! We picked up where we left off, and took a bus up to the Todai-ji area.

From there we went up the mountain towards Kasugataisha shrine. We stopped at the Manyo botantical gardens along the way. This was the first of many Manyo gardens which were built, based on the oldest collection of poetry in Japan. Due to modern technology it is somewhat interactive! There are QR codes at each of the different plants, with links to the poems that reference them.

The garden was exquisite. Although small, it was easily one of my favorites on this trip. The garden has a simple charm to it that makes it feel entirely natural, despite being obviously cultivated. From nearly any where to stand, to any where you look, the view is spectacular. The showpiece is obviously meant to be the wisteria gardens, which sadly do not bloom until late April or early May.

After leaving the botanical garden, we continued up the mountain to Kasuga Taisha shrine. It is located deep in the forest, and like most places actually hosts a series of shrines. We followed the path to visit each in turn. The tourist groups drop off quickly after the main shrine, making the remainder more enjoyable. The combination of misty mountain air and the quiet forest made it feel a lot like home.

After paying our respects at the third shrine, we decided to take a different trail down the mountain, which put us out near… -GASP- …near the Harushika Sake brewery! Where a tasting flight of 5 premium sakes can be had for only 700 yen!

First we had to get lunch. We all agreed on a restaurant that served baked curries. We had a bit of a wait, but it was worth it. The curries are baked in little cauldrons and served sizzling at the table. I had the Wagyu curry set. Unexpected was the inclusion of an egg and cheese in the baked curry.

Let me tell you. I was at first dubious about cheese in a curry. But no more! Cheese is our savior! Long live the cheese in curry!

Following lunch we wandered back to the Harushika brewery and I got my tasting flight. It was great. The first two sake were nothing special – a bit comparable to a decent sake back home, like the Hotaru or the premium Hakutsuru.

The third was really, really good – it had a complex flavour and some real depth. You could taste the koji, but it was overpowering, and the flavour did not linger longer than it had to. Easy to drink, easier to enjoy. Only available in the 3L bottle, which is a bit challenging to bring home.

The fourth was sweet sake that was more like wine. It was delicious and we bought a bottle to enjoy at the apartment. The final sake was a bubbly sake, and on its own it was mediocre. But with the pickled vegetables it was intended to be paired with it became a drink of pure, undiluted joy.

We finished up with a visit to Nara’s oldest (in the city limits, at least) shrine Gango-ji. The temple grounds were not large to explore but the garden was very well done. Plants were just starting to bloom and it would be even more impressive once spring arrives. You can tour the main hall (but no photos!) and there quite a few historical pieces of art, along with explanations in English and Japanese.

On our way back to the station, we happened across a Gatcha capsule store. Gambling? I’m in! We had a lot of fun checking out the various machines and trying out luck for keychains. All in all we were pretty successful and everyone was pretty happy with the day.

One does simply walk into Nara and avoid visiting the Daibutsu. We didn’t have any set plans for the day, per se, but they all involved wandering in the general direction of Todai-ji hall, and laughing at people being swarmed by deer.

It was actually really interesting for me to see the changes that have occurred. The main street heading to the temple area was completely revamped and glammed up. The shopping arcade (where we had previously purchased our guardian foo dog) was no longer on the edge of development, but now in the middle. And doubled in length.

We sauntered up to the first of the temple grounds, Nanen-do. On our first visit, most of this religious complex was merely ancient stone foundations soliciting funds for a building project. And now they were complete! As we toured the grounds, the kids were given some leftover deer crackers by a kind visitor who was leaving. So armed, I thrust them forth into the throng of…two deers! – that we could see. I think Rowan particularly enjoyed getting to feed a deer.

As we sauntered a bit further, we began to traverse Nara Deer Park. And the kids -really – got to see deer. Deer mauling foreign tourists. Deer mauling domestic tourists. Deer ganging up on children. Deer picking pockets. We sat an enjoyed the antics of people taking big stacks of deer food into a mob of animals and expecting the deer to politely queue.

We eventually moved on to Todai-ji. It has an early flowering cherry blossom tree right on the main walk up to the temple, which was nearly as popular as the Daibutsu. The Buddha statute was even more impressive than I remembered, and there seemed to be more things to see in the temple than previous.

Aside from the main hall, Jenn and I had never fully explored the entire area. But I cannot recall the reason why. So after exiting the main hall area, we picked a direction and wandered. My understanding is probably not comprehensive, but it seems like several shrines in the area were amalgamated under the ‘Todai-ji’ banner.

The one I enjoyed most was Nigatsu-do. It was situated up on a hill with a view overlooking the Todai-ji hall and gardens. Although there were visitors, it was not nearly as busy as the other areas, adding much to its serenity. Also it had a good roof and some benches, so we could wait out a bit of the rainstorm that rolled in.

However, with no signs of the rain abating, and sore feet in abundance, we decided to call our day adventure there and return home.

Following our visit to the temple, we had pre-purchased tickets to an art installation in Kyoto run by the TeamLabs international art collaboration group.

The exhibition is staggered over multiple floors of a commercial building near the Kyoto station. Many of the exhibits are interaction in some way, whether via connection to the Teamlabs app, physical touch, or algorithms that respond to the presence of people or other objects.

There is no set course or timetable for visiting the Biovortex and in many of the rooms there are multiple pathways to explore or rooms hidden from your initial view. The exhibitions frequently combine sound, light, and nature together to create an incredible, immersive experience. Ten out of ten, would visit again.

We each had our own particular favorite points for the exhibition, but because each of the exhibits was so unique, it is difficult to actually compare. All in all, we spent about 3 hours exploring the museum and could have spent more if we were not so hungry.

As we had spied a CoCo Curry on the walk over, we decided to stop there for a late lunch, early dinner. Years and years ago, Jenn and I had first discovered Japanese-style curry through a CoCo Curry when we visited Nagoya, so it was a bit nostalgic to visit one again.

We were supposed to visit Fushimi Inari shrine but the kids were too tired to get up on time. However, as we had purchased tickets to the TeamLab Biovortex installation, we still had to go to Kyoto. Lacking enough time to hike Fushimi Inari, we decided we’d visit another temple instead and chose Toji temple. Jenn and I had never visited before and it is located very close to both Kyoto station and the TeamLab installation.

The temple is known for its 5-story pagoda, but the treasure halls also had an amazing array of statuary. Photos of the iconography were prohibited, of course, but even Rowan was impressed by the quantity and quality of the idols. To date, it was the largest buddha Rowan had seen at probably around 12 meters tall.

We grabbed some ice cream, some goshuin, and then it’s off to the Biovortex!

Ice cream tally: 16

One of our staples when we visit Japan is the momiji they made on Miyajima island. It is a fluffy confectionary stuffed with a creamy bean paste filling in a variety of flavours. But cruelly, it must be consumed within 10 days of purchase! And that is why none of these delightful treats have ever made their way back to Canada to share. It is certainly not because we are gluttons who cannot be trusted.

I guess the island is also kind of well known for its world heritage status, iconic red torii gates, and numerous prestigious shrines and temples.

But most importantly, the have so many ice cream vendors in so many different flavours. Momiji! Ice cream! Momiji! Ice cream! Plum wine! Ah, a sacred place indeed.

The weather was drab for our visit, the entire island blanketed in a thick fog. And true to form, getting the kids up and out the door early had proved a challenge, so we didn’t arrive at the island until almost lunch. We had come to visit this day because there was a special parade being held. With less than a couple hours until the parade started, we decided to explore the shopping arcade and main streets around the island.

Miyajima has a lot of souvenir shops along the main drag, and we had an enjoyable time shopping. The shops don’t quite compete with Kiyomizudera in terms of variety, but they have a lot of local specialty products that aren’t found elsewhere.

Eventually it was time for the parade to begin and we staked out our positions. The parade was lead by a local high school marching band, followed by a variety of performers in period costumes. The parade route traveled down the main shopping arcade in clumps, and the regular pedestrian traffic did not abate while it happened. It was rather unlike parades at home, where the streets are closed off when the parade happens.

The parade itself was shorter than expected: the time window was about 2 hours, but I guess that included all the stuff happening at the shrine. The parade managed to pass us by in about 40 minutes. So we left to explore more of the island.

When Jenn and I visited before, we had never ventured far beyond the red torii gate at Itsukushima shrine. Because, well, momiji and plum wine. But this time we went further along to visit two additional temples: Daisho-in and Daigan-ji.

To reach Daisho-in we ventured through Momijidani park. From the park, you can either take the ropeway or walk up the mountain to the observation point on the peak. But due to crowd levels, the ropeway was reservation-only and fully booked by the time we had arrived, and the walk up the mountain would take longer than we planned.

Plus, the fog! Remember the fog? I know I mentioned the fog. We were certain that any stupendous views of the Seto Inland Sea would be obscured by the heavy mist that yet lingered. Rather than spend several hours on a strenuous hike up and down a mountain for limited views, we instead headed through the park to Daisho-in temple.

The temple was incredible. We loitered a long time. There was a lot to see, and the tranquil ambience was incredible.

Daigan-ji was situated basically beside Itsukushima shrine and they seem somewhat conjoined. There was not as much to see here, aside from collecting our goshuin stamps.

By now the tides had retreated and we were able to walk out to view the torii gate up close. But though the water had retreated from the beach, it redoubled its efforts from the skies! Rather sodden, we made our way back through the shopping arcade to get more ice cream and momoji, and a bottle of plum wine I’d spied, before boarding the ferry and heading back to the mainland.

The last time we visited Okayama the castle was still under reconstruction, so we toured the gardens. So a highlight for me on this trip is getting to visit the castle.

We decided to walk from Okayama station to the castle rather than taking the tram, since the expected travel time was only a few minutes longer. The walk was pleasant enough but entirely urban.

The castle and garden are separated by a river and serviced by a fancy new footbridge. It is possible to rent canoes or paddleboats along the river, and there was at least one boat tour operating from the city park where we arrived.

The castle is a replica with the usual museum stuff inside. But wow! Since it’s a fairly recent castle the museum inside was incredible. Aside from the second floor, photography was prohibited. But the castle had teamed up with a local historian to create a series of videos with tidbits of history and geography through out the museum. There were three significant historical figures in the history of Okayama castle. They had the usual selection of armour and swords and garments, of course, but the all the walls were essentially color coordinated historical reports for each personage, making it easy to determine in which period the stuff belonged. And more importantly, in addition to the text, every wall was a mural, done in historical style, representing the events being discussed. So even with paltry japanese skills, you could figure out what was happening and when. It was extremely well thought-out.

The second floor was basically a photo op floor. They had a palanquin that you could sit in, model horses, you could try on armour, measure yourself against the shogun, etc. Very fun stuff.

And ice cream!

Following the castle, we visited the garden. Kouraku-en is not nearly as amazing in winter as it is in spring and after Shukkeien garden, it felt somewhat barren. We still spent close to two hours wandering the paths, everyone free to explore at their independent leisure. A new addition is the crane enclosure – and apparently several times a month the cranes are freed to wander the grounds independently.

On the way back we decided to take the tram, and so we took the underpass to the trolley and discovered a cool fountain area and a flea market.