Japan adventure from Osaka to Kyoto! Ohayo!

There is a temple for everyone in Kyoto, Japan. There is a golden pavilion, and a silver one too. Many temples have beautiful Zen gardens. There are picturesque mountain temples, that become even more stunning with the colors of fall. And there is an iconic temple with thousands of vermillion gates. In fact, there are more than 1600 temples in Kyoto.

A visit to Osaka will not be complete if you don't venture to Kyoto, once the capital of Japan, and a World Heritage Site. My Japan adventure continued as I hopped from Karaksa Hotel Osaka to Karaksa Hotel Kyoto. It was a good thing they had train directions handy, which I was easily able to follow to get to Kyoto.

As soon as I arrived in Kyoto, I went straight for the food. What I like about both hotels is that they have customized food maps that help you explore the different restaurants around the neighborhood.

Here’s why your next trip to Japan should be to Osaka

Osaka has become a popular destination for Filipinos, especially for second time visitors to Japan who have already been to Tokyo. Universal Studios is a major draw, especially for families. Plus the city is also the gateway to the historic capitals of Kyoto and Nara.

For my recent trip, I was hosted by Karaksa Hotels, a new hotel chain, and a partner of GoHotels.ph, where you can book accommodation for Osaka and Kyoto. The hotel’s sister company, Karaksa Tours, arranges tours for the Southeast Asian market. In fact, it was the Karaksa Tours van that picked me up from the Kansai International Airport (Cebu Pacific flies direct from Manila to Osaka). It was very comfortable and equipped with WiFi, so you could update everyone that you’ve just arrived.

Japan: Nagoya Castle and more from Nagoya

The next day, we left for Kyoto for Nagoya via the Shinkansen. We were flying back to Manila from the Nagoya Airport. The reserved section Shinkansen tickets from Kyoto to Nagoya cost Y5440.


We took the noon train and got to enjoy the scenery along the way. The train took 37 minutes to travel the 108-kilometer distance between the two cities. The first thing we looked for was lockers to keep our big luggage and then we were off to visit Nagoya Castle.

We found out there was a Y500 day pass on the Nagoya Sightseeing Route Bus. And that gave us discounts to the attractions such as the Nagoya Castle. What a way to end our Japan tour walking around a grand Japanese castle that towered over the landscape. The entrance fee to Nagoya Castle is Y500. But with the bus day pass, you just pay Y400.

The Nagoya Castle is a wonderful sample of a Japanese castle. This was actually reconstructed in 1959 after it was destroyed by U.S. bombs in 1945. How I wish we restored our own Intramuros churches after the Americans carpet bombed Manila during the Second World War.

On the grounds of the castle was a colorful display of chrysanthemums. The next thing we knew, it was time to get to the airport which was another train ride away. Airports are no longer located within main cities (which is why they are proposing to transfer NAIA operations to DMIA). But again, the transportation system was so efficient, it was a breeze to get to the Nagoya Airport.

On my next Japan trip, I’ll definitely purchase the 7-day Shinkansen pass so I could simply hop-on and hop-off the train from Hokkaido to Kyushu!

Japan: Buddhist monuments of Horyu-ji (Ikaruga, Nara)

Our plan was to go a little further down the road to the town of Ikaruga to visit another UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Horyu-ji Temple (法隆寺 or Temple of the Flourishing Law). The full name of the temple is name is Horyu Gakumonji (法隆学問寺 or Learning Temple of the Flourishing Law).

From the JR Nara Station, it’s only three stops away (Koriyama, Yamato-Koizumi, and Horyuji) and very convenient to visit. Tickets cost Y420. I really love the efficiency of the Japanese public transportation system!

When we got there, we were met by a Y1000 entrance fee. But with all the temples, shrines and palaces we entered and paid for already the past few days, the group was content with taking photos outside. We wanted to make sure we had enough for our last day in Japan. So after Horyu-ji, we went back to Nara, and back to Kyoto where we stayed for our last night.

Japan: Feeding deer in Nara, Japan

The next day, we headed to Nara, Japan, another UNESCO World Heritage Site (Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara), and another former capital of Japan. Train tickets are free seating so it didn’t matter what time we boarded but we made sure to get a train as early as we could so we could see more attractions. The ride took us a little over 30 minutes.

In Nara, we made sure to pass by the tourism desk to ask all the information we needed. We also got a bus day pass at Y500 which was convenient as in the other cities. Our first stop was Kofuku-ji Temple where we saw a very peculiar attraction of the city, wild deer which roam around Nara freely.

In fact, tourists can feed the deer by purchasing wafers from vendors. It’s fun feeding the deer and they can get aggressive too, nudging you with their head so to grab your attention so that you’d feed them more wafers.

When in Nara, make sure you visit the Todai-ji Temple. Its Great Buddha Hall or Daibutsuden is the largest wooden structure in the world and houses the largest statue of the Buddha Vairocana in the world. Entrance fee is Y500.

I was awestruck walking into this massive temple complex. Inside the Daibutsuden are more massive statues. I really took time absorbing the grandeur and size of the building and its contents. And these were all made hundreds of years ago.

We visited one last attraction in Nara, the Kasuga Taisha Shrine which is known for the many stone lanterns that lead up to the main shrine. My companions had temple and shrine fatigue so we did not enter anymore. So we missed the bronze lanterns inside the main Shinto shrine as well as the Kasugayama Primeval Forest, also part of the UNESCO World Heritage inscription.

Japan: Kyoto, Japan and its historic monuments

Autumn in Kyoto, Japan attracts throngs of tourists every year to its temples and other historic monuments. And we're lucky that our conference coincided with the vivid colors of Japan's autumnal foliage. We arrived in the evening so we did not get to see those autumn colors and Mount Fuji while on the Shinkansen.

Tired from going around Tokyo the whole day, our group decided to go straight to the Kyoto Utano Youth Hostel where we had booked our stay for the next three nights. It's about an hour from the train station but only one bus ride on Bus No. 26. So we got to rest on the bus. But once we got there, we knew we made the right choice since for a youth hostel, this one was grand! A bed is Y3300 a night. You can also opt to have breakfast there for Y600.

The next day, we purchased one-day bus passes at the hostel counter for Y500 which is a must if you want to maximize your stay in Kyoto. Make sure you get a copy of the bus map the night before you go around so that you can plan which buses to take and where to go next.

There were so many temples to visit, many of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites. But each had its own entrance fee. So people on a tight budget have to plan their trip around Kyoto wisely.

Our first stop was Ninna-ji since it was the closest to our youth hostel. It once served as the old imperial palace of Omuro, a residence for the former emperor. The temple is most noted as the center of the Omuro school of the Shingon sect of Buddhism. To visit the grounds, we had to pay Y500. We actually chanced upon a period movie being shot on the grounds. I had wanted to take photos of the actors in costume but the crew was very strict and did not allow photos to be taken.

We again hopped on the bus to get to our next stop, a must visit when in Kyoto, Kinkaku-ji. Kinkaku-ji is the popular name of Rokuon-ji Temple, home of the golden pavilion, an iconic attraction of Kyoto. It was exciting seeing the gold colored structure by the man-made lake for which I had only seen before in pictures. To get in, you have to pay Y400.

Nijo Castle was our stop before a very late lunch. Since we wanted to visit as much as we could while the sun was out (it looked like it was going to rain), we decided to delay our lunch break until we got to Gion.

Built in 1603 as the official Kyoto residence of the first Tokugawa shogun, Ieyasu, the castle was completed in 1626 by third Tokugawa shogun Iemitsu. It is one of the finest examples of Momoyama architecture in Japan, making use of early Edo building designs. Entrance ticket is Y600.

Gion is very popular with tourists so that’s where we decided to have lunch. Gion is a district of Kyoto that originally developed in the Middle Ages to accommodate needs of travelers and visitors to the Yasaka Shrine. It became one of the most exclusive and well-known Geisha districts in all of Japan. So visiting this place is a must for people who want to see old architecture and the traditional way of the geisha.

Our last stop before the sun went down was Kiyomizudera, another iconic attraction of the city. From the temple, you get a panoramic view of Kyoto. You can get perfect sunset shots from there. Ticket price is Y300. Shortly after sunset, they let all the visitors out of the grounds. And you can wait to re-enter again, this time for the evening views of Kyoto. It’s a different entrance fee for this but since we wanted to go back to the hostel and rest, we decided to make our way down the hill, passing by the many colorful souvenir and snack shops along the way.

Kyoto Utano Youth Hostel
29 Nakayama-cho Uzumasa
Ukyo-ku, Kyoto-shi, Kyoto-fu 6
Kyoto 616-8191 Japan
+81 75 462-2288