Osaka Castle

Osaka Castle is a Japanese castle in Chūō-ku, Osaka, Japan. The castle is one of Japan's most famous landmarks and it played a major role in the unification of Japan during the sixteenth century of the Azuchi-Momoyama period. Osaka Castle and the pleasant park grounds surrounding it make for a relaxing escape from the city's concrete sprawl. Ascend to the top of castle keep tower to look over the expansive castle grounds and neighboring skyscrapers.

Shitennoji

Shitennoji Temple is Japan's oldest official temple. It was founded in 593 by the prince Shotoku Taishi; a major figure in Japanese history who played a leading role in introducing Buddhism to Japan. He named the temple after the shitenno: four heavenly kings of Buddhist tradition who guard the world from evil. A short walk away, the Gokuraku-jodo Garden was designed based on descriptions of the Western Paradise of the Amida Buddha. Also on the temple grounds stands a treasure house that displays paintings, scriptures and other valuable belongings of the temple in periodic, themed exhibitions.

Umeda Sky Building

Why not watch the large fireworks that scorch the night sky at the Umeda Sky Building, which is conveniently located overlooking the Yodogawa River? The Umeda Sky Building and Kuchu Teien Observatory will be holding special operations in conjunction with the “Naniwa Yodogawa Fireworks Festival” to be held on Saturday, August 3, 2024. We offer a standard viewing plan from the Floating Garden Observation Deck, a plan with a heavy after-dinner meal, a plan where you can enjoy a luxurious course dinner before the fireworks, We have a total of 4 plans available for you to reserve an event space where you can view the fireworks.

Sumiyoshi Shrine

The grand head shrine out of the 2,300 or so shrines located across Japan, which has the highest ranking in the Settsu Province. It’s old shrine ranking is designated as imperial shrine of major grade. During hatsumode (the first shrine visit of the year), Sumiyoshi Taisha is the most visited of all Osaka’s shrines. Tens of thousands of people flock here over the first few days of January as an act of religious pilgrimage. Food stalls and gaming booths are scattered among the grounds as people pray for good luck and draw their omikuji (paper fortune) for the year. It’s an incredible experience despite being extremely crowded. Every summer, the Otaue Rice Planting Festival draws visitors to the shrine to pray for an abundant harvest through ritual rice planting and elaborate dances.

CUP NOODLES MUSEUM OSAKA IKEDA

The widely known cup noodles are popular not only in Japan, but all around the world as well. Along with the standard flavors, new flavors keep getting introduced every year. A type of cup noodles sold only in Japan might be great for a souvenir as well. However, there is an even more memorable souvenir when it comes to cup noodles. At the Cupnoodles Museum Osaka Ikeda in Osaka, you will be able to make your very own original cup noodles!

Sorraniwa Onsen Osaka Bay Tower

The Kansai region’s biggest hot spring style theme park Solaniwa Onsen, spanning 16,500m², is set open on floors 2 to 5 at Osaka Bay Tower North on February 26, 2019

Shinsaibashi-suji Shopping Street

Shinsaibashi-Suji Shopping Street, which runs east to Mido-Suji Avenue, is the best-known shopping area in Osaka, and an enduring symbol of the city. With a history of 380 years, it was already an established shopping area in the Edo Period. Shops of all kinds and for all ages line the street, a roofed arcade 600 meters long. There are traditional kimono tailors, western clothing and footwear retailers, restaurants and fast food outlets, jewelers, and boutiques featuring the latest fashions. It?'s great to take a casual stroll through the Shinsaibashi area. Many people enjoy window-shopping and savoring the food along the way.

Dotombori District

Osaka's hotspot for tourists and revelers alike, Dotonbori is filled with towering neon signs, clubs, bars, and restaurants serving up local specialties. Come here for a stimulating and essential slice of Osaka nightlife.

Osaka

Osaka aquarium Check out these popular exhibits on your visit to Osaka Aquarium: Japan Forest: The Japan Forest is one of the few surface zones in the aquarium, recreating a real-life Japanese forest. Here, you’ll find creatures like otters living near rivers and surface waters. Antarctica: Watch penguins waddle around and splash into the water at the Antarctica zone. Pacific Ocean: The Pacific Ocean zone is home to majestic whale sharks along with other sea creatures, including spotted eagle rays, leopard sharks, and manta rays. Great Barrier Reef: Take a look at a lively display of over 5,000 coral reefs and colorful fish at the world's most famous natural wonders, the Great Barrier Reef zone. Japan Deep: About 200 to 400 meters down from Japan's oceans, check out the world's largest variety of Japanese spider crabs and other deep-sea creatures.

Todai-ji Temple

Todaiji (東大寺, Tōdaiji, "Great Eastern Temple") is one of Japan's most famous and historically significant temples and a landmark of Nara. The temple was constructed in 752 as the head temple of all provincial Buddhist temples of Japan and grew so powerful that the capital was moved from Nara to Nagaoka in 784 in order to lower the temple's influence on government affairs. Until recently, Todaiji's main hall, the Daibutsuden (Big Buddha Hall), held the record as the world's largest wooden building, despite the fact that the present reconstruction of 1692 is only two thirds of the original temple hall's size. The massive building houses one of Japan's largest bronze statues of Buddha (Daibutsu). The 15 meters tall, seated Buddha represents Vairocana and is flanked by two Bodhisattvas.

Nara Park

Nara Park (奈良公園, Nara Kōen) is a large park in central Nara. Established in 1880, it is the location of many of Nara's main attractions including Todaiji, Kasuga Taisha, Kofukuji and the Nara National Museum. It is also home to hundreds of freely roaming deer.

Kasuga Taisha Museum

Kasuga Taisha (春日大社) is Nara's most celebrated shrine. It was established at the same time as the capital and is dedicated to the deity responsible for the protection of the city. Kasuga Taisha was also the tutelary shrine of the Fujiwara, Japan's most powerful family clan during most of the Nara and Heian Periods. Like the Ise Shrines, Kasuga Taisha had been periodically rebuilt every 20 years for many centuries. In the case of Kasuga Taisha, however, the custom was discontinued at the end of the Edo Period. Beyond the shrine's offering hall, which can be visited free of charge, there is a paid inner area which provides a closer view of the shrine's inner buildings. Furthest in is the main sanctuary, containing multiple shrine buildings that display the distinctive Kasuga style of shrine architecture, characterized by a sloping roof extending over the front of the building.

Naramachi

Naramachi (奈良町, literally "Nara Town") is the former merchant district of Nara, where several traditional residential buildings and warehouses are preserved and open to the public. Boutiques, shops, cafes, restaurants and a few museums now line the district's narrow lanes. Many of Naramachi's buildings in the Edo Period and earlier were machiya, long, narrow "townhouses" that served both as shops and as the living quarters of the local merchants. The store fronts of machiya were often kept narrow in order to save on taxes, which used to be calculated on a property's street access rather than its total area. Today, a handful of machiya have been preserved and made open to the public as museums.

Kofuku-ji Temple

Kofukuji (興福寺, Kōfukuji) used to be the family temple of the Fujiwara, the most powerful aristocratic clan during much of the Nara and Heian Periods. The temple was established in Nara at the same time as the capital in 710. At the height of Fujiwara power, the temple consisted of over 150 buildings. The temple features several buildings of great historic value, including a five-storied pagoda and a three-storied pagoda. At 50 meters, the five-storied pagoda is Japan's second tallest wooden pagoda, just seven meters shorter than the five-storied pagoda at Kyoto's Toji Temple. Kofukuji's pagoda is both a landmark and symbol of Nara. It was first built in 730, and was most recently rebuilt in 1426. Neither pagoda can be entered by the public.

Nara National Museum

The Nara National Museum (奈良国立博物館, Nara Kokuritsu Hakubutsukan), located in Nara Park, is an art museum which primarily displays Japanese Buddhist art. Established in 1889, the museum retains its original building and is joined by a new wing that is connected to the original building by an underground passage. Both wings display the museum's permanent collection, which includes Buddhist statues, paintings, scrolls and ceremonial objects mainly from Japan. The new wing also houses temporary exhibitions, including an annual exhibition every autumn of treasures from Todaiji Temple. A ticket to the museum gives access to both wings, and English explanations are available throughout the museum.

Nara Palace Site Historical Park

During most of the Nara Period (710-794), Nara served as the capital of Japan and was known as Heijo-kyo. The Heijo Palace extended about one kilometer wide and one kilometer long and served as the site of the emperor's residence and government offices. For its great historical and cultural importance, the palace site is included as one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites of Nara.

Isuien Garden

Isuien (依水園) is an attractive Japanese garden with a variety of features, such as the use of Todaiji Temple's Nandaimon Gate and Mount Wakakusayama as "borrowed scenery". Isuien means "garden founded on water", and the garden's name is derived from the fact that its ponds are fed by the small adjacent Yoshikigawa River. The Yoshikien Garden is located just on the other side of the river.

Yoshikien

Yoshikien (吉城園) is a pleasant Japanese garden located in central Nara. It is named after the Yoshikigawa River, a small river that runs beside the garden, and was built on the site of Kofukuji Temple's former priest residences. The entry fee to the garden is waived for foreign tourists. There are three unique gardens within Yoshikien: a pond garden, a moss garden and a tea ceremony garden. So, a visit to Yoshikien provides the opportunity to see three different variations of Japanese gardens in one spot. If visitors still want to see more techniques of Japanese gardening, the Isuien Garden is located just across the small river.

Arashiyama

TOGETSUKYO BRIDGE The most recognizable feature of Arashiyama is the Togetsukyo Bridge, also known as the "Moon Crossing Bridge". It was most recently rebuilt in the 1930s after being created during the Heian Period (794–1185). The bridge appears especially lovely against the backdrop of the wooded slope. Adjacent to the bridge is a riverbank park dotted with scores of cherry trees. HAMMOOSE GROVES Nice walks and bicycle rides can be had along the walking routes that go through the bamboo trees. When there is a light wind and the long bamboo stalks softly move back and forth, the woods become very picturesque. Bamboo has been utilized for generations in local workshops to make a variety of goods, including mats, cups, boxes, and baskets. SANSO VILLA OKOCHI This is

Kinkakuji Temple

The upper two floors of the Zen temple Kinkakuji (Golden Pavilion), located in northern Kyoto, are entirely coated with gold leaf. Originally called Rokuonji, the temple served as Ashikaga Yoshimitsu's retirement residence. Following his death in 1408, the shogun left it as a Zen temple belonging to the Rinzai sect. Ashikaga Yoshimasa, the grandson of Yoshimitsu, erected Ginkakuji (Silver Pavilion) on the opposite side of the city a few decades after seeing Kinkakuji. The only remaining building from Yoshimitsu's former retirement community is Kinkakuji, an elegant temple erected overlooking a big pond. Throughout its history, it has burned down multiple times, twice during the Onin War, a civil war that devastated a great deal of

Fushimi Inari-taisha Shrine

A significant Shinto shrine located in southern Kyoto is called Fushimi Inari Shrine (Fushimi Inari Taisha). It is well-known for the thousands of red torii gates that cross a system of paths that run behind the major structures. The paths lead into the forested area of the holy Mount Inari, which is located on the shrine grounds and rises to a height of 233 meters. Of the thousands of shrines devoted to Inari, the Shinto god of rice, Fushimi Inari is the most significant. Since foxes are believed to be Inari's messengers, there are numerous fox statues scattered across the shrine grounds. The history of Fushimi Inari Shrine dates back to a time before Kyoto became the capital in 794. While exploring the mountain paths is the main reason most international visitors come to Fushimi Inari Shrine, the

Kiyomizu-dera Temple

One of Japan's most well-known temples is Kiyomizudera, which translates to "Pure Water Temple". It got its name from the pristine waters of the Otowa Waterfall, which is located on the forested hillsides east of Kyoto, where it was established in 780. The temple established the Kita Hosso sect in 1965 after first being connected to the Hosso sect, one of the oldest schools of Japanese Buddhism. The temple was included as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994. The most notable feature of Kiyomizudera is its wooden stage, which protrudes 13 meters over the surrounding hillside from the main hall. Visitors can enjoy a pleasant view of the many cherry and maple trees below, which burst into a sea of color, from the stage.

Gion

Gion, the most well-known geisha neighborhood in Kyoto, is situated along Shijo Avenue between the Kamo River to the west and Yasaka Shrine to the east. Shops, restaurants, and ochaya (teahouses) abound, offering entertainment by geiko (Kyoto's dialect for geisha) and maiko (geiko apprentices). Gion's significant concentration of classic wooden machiya merchant houses draws tourists. The homes were constructed with slender facades that are only five to six meters wide but extend up to twenty meters in from the street because property taxes were previously determined by street frontage. Hanami-koji Street, which runs from Shijo Avenue to Kenninji Temple, is the busiest section of Gion. The street and its side alleyways are lined with beautiful, lovely, and pricey places to eat.

Sanjusangendo Temple

Sanjusangendo Sanj sangend is the prevalent title for Rengeo in, a sanctuary in eastern Kyoto which is celebrated for its 1001 statues of Kannon, the goddess of leniency . The sanctuary was established in 1164 and modified a century afterward after the first structure had been devastated in a fire. Measuring 120 meters, the sanctuary lobby is Japan s longest wooden structure. The title Sanjusangendo truly 33 interims determines from the number of interims between the building s back columns, a conventional strategy of measuring the size of a building.

Ginkakuji Temple

Ginkakuji Silver Structure may be a Zen sanctuary along Kyoto s eastern mountains Higashiyama . In 1482, shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa built his retirement estate on the grounds of today s sanctuary , modeling it after Kinkakuji Brilliant Structure , his grandfather s retirement estate at the base of Kyoto s northern mountains Kitayama . The estate was changed over into a Zen sanctuary after Yoshimasa s passing in 1490. As the retirement estate of an craftsmanship fixated shogun, Ginkakuji got to be a center of modern culture, known as the Higashiyama Culture in differentiate to the Kitayama Culture of his grandfather s times. Not at all like the Kitayama Culture, which remained restricted to the highborn circles of Kyoto, the Higashiyama Culture had a wide affect on the whole nation . The expressions created and refined amid the time incorporate the tea ceremony, bloom course of action , noh theater, verse , cultivate plan and design.

Nishiki Market Shopping District

Nishiki Market (Nishiki Ichiba) is a narrow, five block long shopping street lined by more than one hundred shops and restaurants. Known as "Kyoto's Kitchen", this lively retail market specializes in all things food related, like fresh seafood, produce, knives and cookware, and is a great place to find seasonal foods and Kyoto specialties, such as Japanese sweets, pickles, dried seafood and sushi. Nishiki Market has a pleasant but busy atmosphere that is inviting to those who want to explore the variety of culinary delights that Kyoto is famous for. The stores found throughout the market range in size from small narrow stalls to larger two story shops. Most specialize in a particular type of food, and almost everything sold at the market is locally produced and procured.

Kyoto Imperial Palace

The Kyoto Imperial Palace (Kyōto Gosho) used to be the residence of Japan's Imperial Family until 1868, when the emperor and capital were moved from Kyoto to Tokyo. It is located in the spacious Kyoto Imperial Park (Kyōto Gyoen), an attractive park in the center of the city that also encompasses the Sento Imperial Palace and a few other attractions. The current Imperial Palace was reconstructed in 1855 after it had burnt down and moved around town repeatedly over the centuries. The complex is enclosed by long walls and consists of several gates, halls and gardens. The enthronement ceremonies of Emperors Taisho and Showa were still held in the palace's main hall. Tokyo Imperial Palace is now used for enthronement ceremonies.