We travel home.
Shinkansen from Osaka to Tokyo. Then a bus to Narita airport, which is an hour away. Our flight is 5ish p.m., we will arrive home Sunday at 10ish a.m. It’s going to be a long day.
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Saturday May 24, Osaka, Japan
Our last day for touring. We were up early trying to get some sightseeing before too much rain.
We got a transit day pass so we could travel the city via train.
We visited Abeno Harukas observatory. It was amazing to be there so early, Tom was the 1st visitor off the elevator this morning. It was amazing to be there with so few people. The building is pretty slick looking. It is 300 meters tall (that sounds better than 984 Ft). It was the tallest building in Japan 2014-2023. It has a Marriott hotel, a train station and a department stores among other things.
Next we visited the Namba district, an area in Osaka. It’s an exciting, busy area filled with shopping, restaurants and people. we walked around there visited Shinsaibashi and Dotonbori and saw the sights; Gilco running man poster man, giant crab & weird clown. It’s a circus-like atmosphere. The area was mostly covered so we didn’t get very wet.
We also walked through Hozenji Yokochon, a small “alley” with small shops & restaurants. This used to be a “hidden” area but it’s not anymore.
We both had Suica cards, which really are more than transit cards, for our visit making it very easy to ride the transit all over Japan. We put money on our cards when we arrived and for the past few days we were working to get our balances down. The card can be used at attractions & in convenience stores. Our final totals: me ¥36, about 25 cents, Tom ¥29, about 20 cents. I think we did pretty well using up our money. We only had to buy a Snickers and carton of milk to finish them off.
We had a tour scheduled for tonight but it got cancelled due to heavy rain. So we stayed in and we’ll go to bed early with plans to get up early (4:30ish) in hopes of sleeping on our flight home.
Friday, May 23. Osaka, Japan
We’re starting with breakfast and we’ll go from there.
We visited Osaka Castle, our last castle. It was built 1583 with the usual multi-storied tower (5) and extra basements (3) and then wars, heirs fighting and dying and burning to the ground. The usual history of a castle. We watched a movie about the history but got lost with all the rulers, concubines and heirs/no heirs.
What endures is this castle and some of the amazingly huge stones they used to build it. You’ll see me posing with some of them. First we had to wait through a “photo shoot” (I’m not sure if Tom will delete her pictures).
This castle like Kumamoto Castle has been reconstructed on the inside with modern stairs and interior featuring displays and antiquities. Part of the area surrounding the castle was destroyed during WWII because it was used as an arsenal and targeted during bombing raids. It was later restored.
Next was Umeda Sky Building, an interesting building in that it’s two buildings connected. Take a look. They built each building and then the center section. Then raised up the center with cranes, attached the building then built the elevators. Good views up there.
We did some strolling around through a garden and let’s face it, wandering around malls, train stations and subways trying to find our way around. They have a map but Japanese is hard to read (impossible), translator can only take you so far.
There was a giant Ferris wheel we had our eye on and we finally found it. The Hep Five Ferris wheel.
We had dinner and headed to our room. Another full day.
Thursday May 22, Osaka, Japan
We were up early to get to the World’s Expo. It was about a 40-minute train ride with a transfer. Our tickets were for entry at 9 a.m., we queued up and waited. The first train was so crowded almost no one could board. Luckily the next train was empty and we all got on. Obviously we were in the commuting crowd. Again no talking, eating, drinking or smiling.
We travelled light, the weather forecast was high of 82 degrees, cloudy with some sun. Sunglasses, sunscreen but no hat, no jacket just a long sleeve shirt for me to start the cool morning. We had some issue getting our zinc oxide blended in, can you picture this? 👻
It took us about an hour to gain entry in the Expo. Poor online maps so hard to navigate. Most pavilions required reservations and we were only able to make one reservation.
The Grand Circle is an amazing wooden structure, currently the largest, which encloses most of the Expo. It’s 39 ft tall and 1 1/4 miles, take a look at the pictures. We wanted to scope out the Expo so we walked the Circle. By the time we finished reconnaissance it was really starting to get crowded. We heard all school kids get in for free. And I think they were all there.
We visited a few displays one of which was the bonsai display - amazing! Another one on earthquakes. The blue curved display is the size of the tsunami that hit the Fukushima nuclear reactor.
One of the country’s displayed was Ukraine’s, take a look. It's quite a statement.
By the time we were ready for lunch it had gotten hot and the sun intense, no more cloudy skies. Most food venues had very long lines, so we had to go to a food truck. Tom said he read that there wasn't enough food venues early on (it opened early April) so they brought in food trucks. At least they had plenty of vending machines with drinks to keep us hydrated.
Finally at 2ish, we called it quits. Too hot, too crowded, not enough food, no availability to attractions. Why continue to drag ourselves around.
The Grand Circle was cool. The Bonsai exhibit was great. I’m sorry to say I would not recommend the Expo to anyone who’s traveling from far away to visit.
Pictures: . https://www.flickr.com/gp/8663407@N07/3345fd1VK9
Wednesday May 21, Fukuoka to Osaka, Japan
Moving from the Hyatt (which had a full size shower) in Fukuoka to Osaka today. A 2 1/2 hour ride, 364 miles, on the Shinkansen.
First thing in the morning, we had McD’s for breakfast, we tried the featured 4 cheese Hokkaido teriyaki sandwich. (Hokkaido is the northern most island of Japan. It's known for its dairy products, see May 4-7). Then we jumped on a bus to visit the Fukuoka Tower. Observation deck is at 123 meters (403 '), total height is 234 meters (768'). It can withstand a 7 earthquake. It's a nice looking tower in a nice area of Fukuoka. Also there are different things to do in the tower and one is buying a lock and putting it in their "Lover's Sanctuary".
They call it the Seaside Tower because it's right on the coast. Marizon is the artificial island/shopping mall between the tower and the sea. I think it kind of looks like Hotel del Coronado in California.
https://www.flickr.com/gp/8663407@N07/qf6D137r5R
After the tower we took a bus back to our hotel, checked out & dashed off to the train station to catch the Shinkansen to Osaka.
We arrived during commute time, the station was busy but we didn’t have far to go. Our hotel was next to the train station. Convenient for us because we've got to see it all.
Tuesday May 20 Fukuoka to Kumamoto, Japan
We’re off on a tour to Mt Aso (yes, another volcano). The tour was with Klook which is a big tour operator in Asia.
https://www.flickr.com/gp/8663407@N07/Sn90ws4TTt
First another castle. Kumamoto Castle is one of three premier castles in Japan, Matsumoto is one too (see May 13th). Remember castles are fortresses in Japan. Unlike Matsumoto Castle we didn’t have to take off our shoes because the interior has been redone to modern standards and it now houses displays and info on the castle. There’s still plenty of work to be complete.
It is originally from 1469, restored 1960 and still under repair from the 2016 earthquake. There were a zillion people here because a cruise ship was in town. It was very crowded and uncomfortable in the castle. Tiny staircases that were two-way that snaked throughout the building getting smaller as we ascended. Doesn’t that sound like fun.
Reflecting on visiting castles, I'm really glad we got to see Matsumoto Castle. At Matsumoto we got to see the interior, the structure of it. The beauty of the wood and how they were able to build something spectacular in 1594.
Next we drove about an hour up to Mt. Aso. The caldera is one of the world's largest. This is made up of 5 mountains, Mt. Naka (Nakadake) is the most active. They did tell us if volcanic activity is high we would not be able to visit it. Luckily activity was low. But the Japanese take their emergency prep very seriously, note the little huts at the volcano. I'm not sure how much they'd help us and it depended upon how far we hiked. Also we did not see Rodan (from Godzilla movies).
https://www.flickr.com/gp/8663407@N07/q4tzD36803
The lake at Mt. Naka is an amazing color green. It is due to the ferrous ions from the volcano. From what I read, the lake just turned green again in April for the first time in 6 years. I read that the lake turns green when the volcanic activity is low (which is good news for us). The lake is 30 meters (98 ft) deep.
Dinner was great. We found a small neighborhood restaurant that was excellent, the best pasta carbonara I’ve ever had! We did order too much food though. We found the servings are pretty small but we over compensated this time.
Monday May 19, Fukuoka to Kagoshima, Japan
We had our last tour breakfast this morning and we’re off to drop our bags at our new hotel (Hyatt). Then to the Shinkansen (bullet train) to Kagoshima for the day. 174 miles in just a little over 2 hours.
Tickets for the Shinkansen are not as straightforward as you’d think. We realized we needed to get in line to get our tickets, like will call. uh oh!. Long line! (FYI the Shinkansen is always on time.) Luckily the line moved and the ticketing agent knew what she was doing. We received 9 ticket-like pieces of paper for a round trip, one was a receipt and 2 tickets per person per trip. Two tickets go into the gate at time, this is important to know. I put one in and the gates shut and the red lights flashed and siren sounded - no wonder Tom always sends me first.
We arrived in Kagoshima 4 minutes late - wha!?! Trains are not late in Japan. We decided to take a taxi to the ferry (10 mins vs 30 mins on the streetcar), we didn't have much time here.
There are things to see in Kagoshima but our desire was...the volcano (surprised?). The volcano is Mt Sakurajima, formerly on an island but it made more land and is now on a peninsula. It is the most active volcano in Japan. I think I should have done more reading on that before I decided to go...
It was overcast as we took the ferry over, so we couldn't see the volcano yet. There is a Hop on/Hop off kind of bus around the volcano, so we got tickets for that. The bus makes a loop that takes about an hour and there are 12 spots where you can get off and another bus come 30 mins later. We decide to visit the Volcanic Sabo Center. We are on the bus and I see people on the other side of the bus getting excited. I look out the window and there's a huge plume of smoke, I'm assuming it's coming out of the volcano. I start looking around to see if people are evacuating... is the bus gonna take us to safety? are people leaving...? Nope. The bus keeps driving. All the car are just in traffic as normal... Meanwhile this enormous gray cloud continues to morph and billow out of the volcano.
We get off at the volcanic center and we're the only ones. The bus driver didn't say "it's not safe" or look scared or anything. So we hesitantly got off the bus. (I'm still waiting to be evacuated.) We go into the volcanic center, no one's there either. Remember paragraph 4, the most active volcano in Japan.
One of the exhibits in this center was the early warning system they have in place to alert to an eruption. If you live here you live with a live volcano! One of the bus stops is a hike to a former elementary school that was too close.
Next to the center is a "river" only it's not a river it's an outlet for a lahar, (volcanic flow of water, mud, rocks, ash, etc.) so it's empty right now. It was a really interesting place. I got to bring some ash home with me, I'll add it to my collection with Mt. St. Helen's ash.
https://www.flickr.com/gp/8663407@N07/N8s42y2x6g
We had Shinkansen tickets so we had to get back to the train station. We left the volcano in plenty of time... or did we. It would have been okay had we not gotten on the wrong street car. A fast walk/run to the train station got us there in time.
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