Despite throwing the trip together last minute, I had an amazing time in Osaka and Kyoto!
After an eight-hour night bus ride, I arrived in Osaka at 7 a.m., excited for the big day ahead. There was a volleyball sports fest I planned to attend with Olympic players such as Yuji Nishida and Matthew Anderson. Looking over the water of the Tosahori River, I was filled with anticipation for the events to come.
This area of Osaka is known for having a retro vibe. I found it to be charming, with many places to play carnival games and huge decorative walls with 3D figures that advertised the shops below. There was so much going on in every direction.
Concluding the sports fest was a game between the Hiroshima Thunders (green) and Sekai Blazers (yellow). It was so fun to watch the game live and hear the audience clap in sync for every serve. At the end of the game, all the athletes went around the court and high-fived the audience, which was so cool to see!
One of the most famous spots in Osaka is Dotonbori, where the Glico Running Man sign lives. The walk to it was filled with tax-free shops and hordes of people. When I finally got there, there was a local rapper on the bridge and tons of people snapping photos.
Finally, my last day in Osaka was topped with the jewel of a castle. Walking up, I got to see the beautiful curving walls of the outer moats. Inside the castle itself, I learned about the history of Osaka Castle and got to see the surrounding city from the observation deck.
The World Expo—which happens every five years—was hosted in Osaka, and there was no way you could avoid this little character and all its accompanying merch anywhere you went. The culmination of this was seeing the colorful manhole cover, which just made me laugh and smile.
This Shrine in Kyoto was so relaxing. Since it was later in the evening, there were fewer people, and I was able to just absorb the serenity and beauty of the lights and night sky.
Walking through the forest with the early afternoon light coming through the bamboo trees in Arashiyama was just gorgeous. So many of the people visiting were in kimonos and looked so pretty.
Within the same park as the bamboo forest, I got to see an overview of the Katsura River. It was nice to get away from the bustle of the crowds and just watch the boats come down the river.
Getting to see the Katsura River and mountains from up high was nice, but getting to ride alongside the water was even better. The Sugamo train ride is about 20 minutes, just following the river upstream, which was so beautiful. I loved that whenever we passed a boat, all the riders would wave up at us.
Finally, with the last of the light, I went down to the Togetsukyō Bridge to get yet another view of the Katsura River.
Directly across from Kiyomizu-dera temple, this pagoda is dedicated to easy childbirth. It was such a pretty site, and much smaller than many of the other pagodas around. It's a bit of a hidden gem and way less crowded than the temple itself.
The temple itself is beautiful, apparently having been built without any screws or nails—just purely in Japanese architecture. It was cool seeing it from afar with all the little people on it.
It was surreal seeing so many Torii gates. They seemed to go on forever, each with that bright shade of red-orange. When going up, all you can see is those bright columns, but if you turn around, you'll see words carved in the pillars colored in stark black paint.
