Kansai Trip During the 2011 3/11 Disaster

More than two years have passed since the devastating earthquake and tsunami disaster (3/11 Disaster) that hit the Tohoku area in northeastern Japan on March 11, 2011 and during that time, I was an international student studying in graduate school in Hiroshima on the opposite side of where the disaster hit in Japan. While going through my files, I discovered some photos I had not yet posted and those were the ones taken while I was traveling in the Kansai region during that time.

In the beginning of 2011, my mom made travel plans to visit me during the Japanese university academic calendar spring vacation (from February to the end of March) and we started off by visiting the Kansai (Osaka, Kobe and Kyoto) region.

So what was it like to be in Japan during the 3/11 Disaster in the Kansai region in western Japan? Surprisingly normal.

The Fushimi Inari Shrine (伏見稲荷大社) that we visited in Kyoto on March 12, 2011.

Biking in Kyoto in January

On the 5th and last day of my trip to the Kansai area during the school winter vacations in 2012, on January 4, 2012, I decided to explore the "local areas of Kyoto" by renting a bicycle and biking around Kyoto.

I had been to Kyoto many times in the past and I always thought that it was the perfect city to explore by bicycle because it is mostly flat and the city streets are laid out in a grid-like pattern meaning that it would be hard to get lost unlike in other cities of Japan like Tokyo for example.

It started out with perfect weather, but as I would experience in later visits to Kyoto during the same month, the weather in Kyoto in January is really unpredictable...

My primary interest in biking in Kyoto was to explore the urban areas and local neighbourhoods and only by bike can you explore less touristy areas like this one. The Toji Temple (東寺) area south of Kyoto station.

The City of Uji (宇治) and Fushimi (伏見) in Kyoto Prefecture

On the 4th day of my trip to Kansai during the winter school vacations in 2012, on January 3, 2012, I went to the city of Uji (宇治) and Fushimi (伏見) which is just south of the city of Kyoto.

Kyoto is one of my favourite cities to visit in Japan because a lot of the nice traditional city atmosphere of "old Japan" still remains, unlike most other cities in Japan. Because I had basically visited most of the attractions in Kyoto at least once, I wanted to find another area near Kyoto that I had not been to before. After looking at some tourist guides, the city of Uji and Fushimi looked like an interesting place to visit.

In Uji, the main attraction is the Byodoin Temple (平等院) which is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site "Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto".

Osamu Tezuka Manga Museum in Takarazuka (宝塚), Nishinomiya (西宮) and Ashiya (芦屋)

On the 3rd day of my trip to Kansai in 2012, I went to the area of Kansai between Osaka and Kobe. I visited the cities of Takarazuka, Nishinomiya and Ashiya. Previously I had gone to Kobe and Koya-san on December 31, 2011 and January 1, 2012 respectively.

There were a couple of reasons why I choose to visit these un-touristy areas. (1) Due to my interest in railway plus property urban planning and development, I wanted to see what the areas along the Hankyu Railway lines looked like since Hankyu Railway was considered a pioneer of this urban development model in Japan. (2) Since the Hankyu lines went through Takarazuka, I could also make a visit to the Osamu Tezuka Manga Museum on the way. (3) Because of the New Years, Hankyu was selling its 1 day unlimited pass as the "New Year Ticket" for only 1000 yen (US$10) compared to the normal price of 1200 yen (US$12).

The Osamu Tezuka Manga Museum in Takarazuka.

2012 New Year's Trip to Koya-san/Mount Koya (高野山)

On January 1, 2012, during my winter trip to Kansai, I went to Koya-san/Mount Koya (高野山). One of the reasons I choose to go to Koya-san on New Years is because nothing is open on New Years Day in Japan and going to a commerce-free mountainous temple town seemed to be a good idea and it would be interesting to soak up the atmosphere of a temple town.

Koya-san is the centre of Shingon Buddhism which was introduced in 805 by the monk Kukai (空海) (Kobo Daishi, 弘法大師) and Koya-san was first settled in 819. Koya-san is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site under the name of the "Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range".

The main gate of Koya-san, the traditional entrance to Koya-san before the advent of modern transportation means.

Kobe: New Towns, Arima Onsen (有馬温泉) and Mt. Rokko (六甲山)

On December 31, 2011, I visited Kobe, Japan (神戸) again as part of a trip to the Kansai (関西) area because luckily I had a Japanese classmate who was going back to his hometown in the Kansai area for the New Years Holidays and I could share a ride in his car for the 4 hour journey from the campus of Hiroshima University to the Kobe suburban town of Kakogawa (加古川).

I actually arrived in Kobe the previous day at around mid-afternoon and I stayed at a hotel north of the main Sannomiya (三宮) railway station called the Hotel Area One. In all my travels around Japan, it was one of the worst stays I ever had in a hotel. The hotel was located right behind a shrine and in preparation for the new year, the shrine was open for some sort of festival the entire night and because buildings in Japan generally have poor noise insulation, from the room, the noise was so loud that I could hardly sleep!

Generally in my opinion, there are not a good range of easily accessible hotels in Kobe, it is often better to stay in a hotel in Osaka and just take the 30 minute train ride to Kobe as there is a large selection of affordable and cheap hotels in Osaka.

One of the reasons for visiting Kobe (again) was to see the areas of Kobe that I had never seen before this was mainly the Kobe new town suburbs, Arima Onsen (有馬温泉) and Mt. Rokko (六甲山).

One of the interesting things I saw by chance in Kobe, the Gigantor (鉄人28号, Tetsujin 28-gō) statue.

Osaka Urban Walks

This is a collection of pictures that I took while walking around in Osaka during my mini-Kansai trip in Sept. 2010.

For some reason after they selected the "Inukshuk" as the logo for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Canada, this symbol of the native Inuit peoples of Canada suddenly became one of the symbols of Canada?

Anyways I found in inside a subway station in Osaka, Japan. I think it has to do with the fact that intensive wood was used in the architectural design of this Keihan Railway station.

Kobe - The World's Longest Suspension Bridge, City Walks

(Updated: June 1, 2013 with high resolution photos and new descriptions)

On March 31, 2006, I visited Kobe for the second time. The first time was when I visited Kobe on my first trip to Japan in 2004.

The first stop I made was to the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge, the world's longest suspension bridge. The bridge connects the main island of Honshu (where all the major cities of Japan are located) with the island of Shikoku.

Osaka - Modern Transportation Museum and Harbour

(Updated: June 1, 2013 with high resolution photos and new descriptions)

On March 30, 2006, during the morning and afternoon I visited the Modern Transportation Museum and the Osaka waterfront.

My first destination was the corporate museum of West Japan Railway Company, more commonly known as JR West. Their Modern Transportation Museum was located in Osaka. This was my first time visiting a railway museum in Japan.

Although the museum was quite old, it still had many interesting things for me to spend the whole morning there.

One of their highlights is a display of the original rolling stock of the 0-series first generation Shinkansen (high speed rail).

The world's first high speed line, the Tokaido Shinkansen, opened between Tokyo and Osaka in 1964 and this was the original high speed trainset.

Visiting Toyota's Main Factory and Kyoto At Night

(Updated: June 1, 2013 with high resolution photos and new descriptions)

On March 29, 2006, I went to Nagoya with the purpose of visiting Toyota's main factory in Toyota city which is located in the suburbs of Nagoya.

From Nagoya it took 1 hour to get to Toyota city where Toyota's headquarters were located.

Sign indicating the South Gate of the Toyota factory.

Going to Chubu, Kansai and Kyushu

I am going to the above places by a combination of local/rapid train (Seishun 18 Kippu), plane, and highway bus for the next 10 days so if your wondering why there is no updates, thats why.

Kyoto - Nintendo, Kiyomizu Temple, Gion

(Updated: October 7, 2007 with Google Map; June 4, 2013 with high resolution photos and new descriptions)

On December 27, 2005, I went to Kyoto from Nagoya. Going to Kyoto took about 2 hours by local train, it involved going up a mountain pass. When it was going up the mountain pass, it was snowing hard so it looked really nice. I had to transfer trains at some station in the mountainous area. At the station there was a lot of snow and fresh snow too.

I arrived at Kyoto at around 9 am or 10 am, and I only had 2 places that I wanted to visit, the Nijo Castle (二条城) and the Kiyomizu Temple (清水寺). I wanted to visit these 2 places because the first time I came here in 2004 I had already seen to other stuff. Once again, the Nijo Castle was closed, last year when my family and I came to Kyoto, we went to Nijo Castle late and it was closed and we came back on another day after doing sightseeing elsewhere and we were late and it was closed so this is the 3rd time I came and it was closed. The Kiyomizu Temple was open but since I had all day I wanted to “visit” Nintendo headquarters. I asked the tourist information where it was and it was only 2 subway stops away from the train station.

The following map shows the places that I visited on this day in Kyoto.