Osaka, Kobe, Kyoto & Nara

Transcription

1 Osaka, Kobe, Kyoto & Nara Memorial Day Omiyage Weekender Tour May 21 st -27 th, nts/7days from: $2395 double/triple & $2895 single Shop, Sightsee, Eat, Fun- A perfect way to spend the Memorial Day holiday weekend! Osaka is Japan s 3rd most populous city, known for having Japan s friendliest and most out-going people. Famous for its food, eating until you drop is common in Osaka. If shopping is on your list, Shinsaibashi Suji, a favorite with local folk will not disappoint. This covered shopping arcade is one of Osaka s oldest and busiest Kobe, perched on a hillside sloping down to the sea, is one of Japan's most attractive and cosmopolitan cities. It was a maritime gateway from the earliest days of trade with China and home to one of the first foreign communities after Japan reopened to the world in the mid-19th century. Kyoto is unlike any other city in Japan. Considered one of the most beautiful cities in Japan, Kyoto brings historical Japan to life in a modern age. You can experience historical Japan throughout the city while still having access to modern amenities and transportation. Nara, the ancient capital city in the Kansai region of Japan. If you think of Japan as a land of bullet trains and J-pop in Shinjuku storefronts, come to Nara a city filled with rolling hills, ancient temples, and 1,200 entitled deer roaming its old streets. Come, join us on this fun-filled weekend. Yes, it s filled with quality Omiyage shopping time, but we also included the best touring sites, 2 sake breweries, a hands-on experience, one ono Kobe beef lunch, three flower gardens & guaranteed two of the very best hotels to stay in, Cross Hotel Osaka & New Miyako Hotel Kyoto. Itinerary/Details Day 1 May 21 st, Tuesday Depart from Honolulu Hawaiian Airlines #449 Departs Honolulu 2:10 pm Arrive Kansai 6:45 pm +1 Please meet your Panda Travel representative at the Hawaiian Airlines international check-in counter, Terminal 1, Lobby 3, at least 3 hours prior to the flight departure time. Day 2 May 22 nd, Wednesday Kansai -Osaka On arrival in Osaka, please make your way to the baggage claim area and then proceed to customs clearing. On exiting customs, we will be met by our local English speaking guide. A short walk to our charter bus and then off to Osaka. The travel time will be approximately one hour. The luggage will be transferred separately by truck and meet us on arrival at the hotel.

2 Welcome to Osaka, Japan's third-largest city. Ultra-urban, hard-working Osaka is an unabashed antidote to the fashionforward frenzy of Tokyo and the prim propriety of Kyoto. This longtime capital of commerce is filled with down-to-earth citizens speaking colorful Kansai-ben (Kansai dialect) and neon-clad streetscapes bursting with over-the-top 3D signage. Osaka's real treasures are in the bustling street life in its arcades, markets, and byways. And Osaka really comes into its own at night, when locals come out for delicious eats and good times. Guaranteed, our hotel is right in the heat of everything you would want to experience of Osaka. We are literally right around the corner from the Shinsaibashi Shopping Arcade. Accommodations for our stay is at the Cross Hotel Osaka, the perfect location, just around the corner from the Dotonbori and the Shinsaibashi Shopping Arcade. This area is second to none, we guarantee it. If you arrive hungry, no worries as within steps of our hotel are several 24-hour convenience stores as well as late night dining options. Can t sleep, there is a 24-hour Don Quijote right across the street. The remainder of the evening is. Cross Hotel Osaka Accommodations: Cross Hotel Osaka Day 3 May 23 rd, Thursday Osaka-Kobe-Osaka (B/L) After breakfast, please meet your guide in the lobby by 9:00am as we are off on a full day of touring. The morning begins with a drive to Kobe, perched on a hillside sloping down to the sea, one of Japan s most attractive and cosmopolitan cities. It was a maritime gateway from the earliest days of trade with China and home to one of the first foreign communities after Japan reopened to the world in the mid-19th century. Our first stop is a visit to the Nada sake district of Kobe. While there are thousands of sake breweries in Japan, this area is known to make the best. The Nada district has about 40 breweries and produce nearly 30 percent of Japanese sake production. The history of sake brewing in Nada dates to the 17th century and their methods have been passed down to the present day. The Great Hanshin Earthquake in 1995 destroyed most of the breweries wooden facilities and new ones rebuilt. As a result, breweries have the appearance of concrete wall, but they maintain their traditional method of brewing in new buildings. Many of the breweries in the area operate small museums offering a glimpse into its 600-year history, traditions, and methods of this ancient craft. You also will have the opportunity to find out what makes Nada sake so special and to taste the difference.

3 Hakutsuru Sake Brewery Museum Next, we will be visiting the Nubobiki Herb Park, Japan s largest herb gardens with about 75,000 herbs and flowers of about 200 kinds blooming throughout the year. There are 14 garden areas where visitors are welcomed by seasonal herbs and flowers arranged per different themes. You will have the opportunity to experience the ropeway cable car ride up to the top. Enjoy some time to walk around the park and smell of these wonderful herbs. Nubobiki Herb Park Its lunch time and no visit to Kobe is complete without enjoying a Kobe beef lunch. Kobe beef is a special grade of beef from (Wagyu) cattle raised in Kobe, Japan. These cattle are massaged with sake and are fed a daily diet that includes large amounts of beer. This produces meat that is extraordinarily tender, finely marbled, and full-flavored. It is also extremely expensive, often costing more than $100 per pound. This afternoon we will be visiting Kobe s Chinatown, also known as Nankinmachi consisting of about 100 shops crowded into an area of under 700 feet. With the rising steam of dim sum and the smell of fried foods, a walk down this road and you may just find room to snack while you walk around. In addition to the main street, there are surprising shops and other hidden attractions located right off the back alleys. Close-by is Sannomiya Center Gai Shopping Street, a 550-meter shopping arcade connecting the Sannomiya and Motomachi areas. It contains numerous kinds of stores selling clothes, sundry items, food, and drink. As the main gateway to Kobe, it is always bursting with energy. Enjoy time at both areas to explore and get in some shopping. Kobe s Chinatown and Sannomiya Center Gai Shopping Street

4 We now make our way back to Osaka. The drive time is approximately 1 hour with an arrival at approximately 6:00pm. The remainder of the evening is. Accommodations: Cross Hotel Osaka Day 4 May 24 th, Friday Osaka (B) After breakfast enjoy a complete day to shop and explore this fine city. Below are a few of the options available to you. Dotonbori Best seen at night, Dotonbori never truly closes with some restaurants open 24 hours. One of Osaka s most popular tourist destinations, this street runs parallel to the Dotonbori canal. It is a popular shopping and entertainment district and is also known as a food destination. At night, it is lit by hundreds of neon lights and mechanized signs, including the famous Glico Running Man sign and Kani Doraku crab sign. Shinsaibashi Shopping Arcade Hours vary by store; typically opening around 10:00-11:00 and closing around 18:30-21:00. Shinsaibashi Shopping Arcade and the surrounding Shinsaibashi area is Osaka's premier shopping center. Approximately 600 m long, this area is unique as it combines chain retail stores and trendy boutiques with expensive department stores and top designer fashion labels. Amerikamura Hours vary by store. Locally known as "Amemura," this shopping district is considered Osaka's counterpart to Harajuku and is a good place to see the forefront of teenage fashion and culture in Japan. It is a lively atmosphere that is populated with cafes, clothing stores and thrift shops with a younger feel than the nearby Shinsaibashi. Den Den Town Hours vary by store; typically opening around 10:00-11:00 and closing around 19:00-20:00. Located in the Nipponbashi area, Den Den Town is an electronics district comparable to Tokyo's Akahabara and you may be able to bargain to a better deal. Den Den Town is becoming known as an otaku paradise with numerous manga and anime retailers as well as maid and cosplay cafes located there. Also, a short walk from our hotel and worth a visit is Kuromon Market, a busy place that prospered as the center of nation s kitchen for many years. Kuromon, which literally means black gate, was originally a fish market that opened around The name is said to have come from the black gate of Enmyo Temple, which stood in this area until 1912, the last year of the Meiji Period. Over 150 shops line the streets of the Kuromon Market, selling everything from fresh fish, produce, meats, to kimonos and household goods. It is a place where shoppers can purchase the superior quality honma mon (in the Osaka dialect it means the real stuff ). Close by is Sennichimae Doguyasuji Shopping Street. It is lined with specialty stores of all kinds of cooking utensils and kitchen items. Here you can find many different shops specializing in tools, most of which offer kitchen utensils that range from tableware to cooking tools, to professional cooking appliances. Enjoy time to stroll around the arcade in search of unique cooking appliances that you can only find in Japan, such as takoyaki andtaiyaki makers as well as rare souvenirs that you won t find elsewhere. This arcade certainty gives credence to Osaka s nickname as Japan s kitchen

5 Accommodations: Cross Hotel Osaka Day 5 May 25 th, Saturday Osaka-Kyoto (B/L) After breakfast, please meet your guide in the lobby by 8:30am. We bid Osaka good-bye and end our touring day in Kyoto. The day begins with a visit to Osaka Castle, built as a display of power by Toyotomi Hideyoshi after he achieved his goal of unifying Japan. One hundred thousand workers toiled for three years to construct an 'impregnable' granite castle, finishing the job in It was destroyed 32 years later by the armies of Tokugawa Ieyasu, rebuilt within 10 years, and then suffered a further calamity when another generation of the Tokugawa clan razed it rather than let it fall to the forces of the Meiji Restoration in The present structure is a 1931 concrete reconstruction of the original, which was refurbished in The interior houses an excellent collection of displays relating to the castle, Toyotomi Hideyoshi and the city of Osaka. On the 8th floor is an observation deck with 360-degree views. The castle and park are at their colorful best in the cherry-blossom and autumnfoliage seasons. Osaka Castle and its grounds From here we are off to Nakanoshima Park where from May through October it turns into a gorgeous rose garden. Across the 500-meter long area extending from east to west nearly 4,000 rose bushes bloom every year. The fantasy-like atmosphere of this garden filled with numerous blossoms in many colors will simply leave you speechless. The porch, gates, and almost every part of the garden are covered in roses. Within the garden are nearly 310 types of roses that paint the garden with reds, purples, whites, yellows, and more. When the spring breeze runs through the roses while in full bloom, the blossoms emit a sweet aroma while swaying beautifully in the wind. The scent of the roses and their beautiful colors fill the air within the garden. Without any gates barricading the flowers, you can see the roses up close. Enjoy time to touch, smell, and take photos of the flowers. May we also suggest that you try their rose flavored soft serve ice cream. Those who have say it is a must. Now, off to enjoy lunch at a local restaurant. On our way to Kyoto, a visit to Uji, a small city famed for its green tea, its World Heritage sites, and its association with the Tale of Genji the world s first novel. Uji lies between the ancient city of Kyoto and Nara and despite its great cultural, political, and historical importance, it seems to off the touring radar and often overlooked, but today this all changes with our visit. Once here, let enjoy a stroll of the city s sights. Uji is surrounded by lush green and Uji River, which is 5-10 minutes walk from JR Uji Station. The source of the river is Lake Biwa, the largest freshwater lake in the country. Uji bridge spans across Uji river with a fairy busy road passing over it. This is one of the oldest bridge in Japan, first constructed around 646. Uji is home to many famous historical sites, including the Byodo-In Temple and Ujigami-jinja shrine. Most of the attractions in Uji are located within a short walk from Byodo-In Temple and Uji river, so it is possible to reach most of them by foot.

6 Located just beside Uji River is Byodoin Omotesando Street, which leads to the famous Byodoin Temple. As we head down this cobbled stoned street, you begin to see a few more tourists. Uji is famed for its excellent tea cultivation and production for hundreds of years. The tea produced in Uji is usually regarded to be of superior quality. The best place to purchase tea and tea-related souvenirs in Uji is Byodoin Omotesando Street. This 300-meter-long street is lined with restaurants and shops selling tea and tea-related products, local arts and crafts. Some of the shops have tea roasters facing the street where an instant cup fresh brew of tea is sold, filling the air with the fragrance of intoxicating tea leaves. Look for Itohkyuemon, a long-established Japanese tea shop based here in Uji. The shop offers a wide range of green tea products, such as high-quality tea, sweets, ice cream, noodles, and alcoholic beverages. At the end of the street, is the famous Byodoin Temple. You will know it once you see the red Torri gate. Registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The temple was first built in 998 as a countryside retreat villa for political Fujiwara no Michinaga. From here, a fun stop at the Gekkeikan Sake Brewery, established in 1637 by Jiemon Okura in Fushimi Town, well-known for its high quality of water. Come, let tour this state-of -the-art brewery, its beautiful koi pond and Japanese garden. The tasting room offers complimentary tastings of Kobai, their latest plum wine, as well as a variety of locally produced sakes. From here we are off to our hotel for the next two nights, New Miyako Hotel Kyoto, ideally situated across the street from the Kyoto JR Station and around the corner from the Aeon Mall. No matter in which direction you turn, a wide variety of food and shopping opportunities are available. Arrival will be by 4:30pm. Accommodations: New Miyako Hotel Kyoto Day 6 May 26 th, Sunday Kyoto (B) After breakfast, please meet your guide in the lobby by 8:30as as we are off on a full day of touring. Welcome to Kyoto! Kyoto is old Japan, made up of quiet temples, grand gardens, and colorful shrines. While the rest of Japan has adopted modernity with abandon, the old ways remain in Kyoto. Take a morning stroll through the textile district of Nishijin and watch the old Kyoto ladies emerge from their machiya (traditional townhouses) to ladle water onto their stoops. Visit an old shōtengai (shopping street) and admire the ancient specialty shops: tofu sellers, fishmongers, pickle vendors and tea merchants. Then join the locals at a local sentō (public bath) to soak away the cares of the day. The morning begins with a visit at Kyoto s famed Golden Pavilion. Be it capped by snow in winter or set against a lush green background in summer, nothing is as symbolic of Kyoto as Kinkaku-ji's golden reflection shimmering across the rippled surface of the pond before it. Kinkaku-ji is one of Japan's best-known sights. The original building was built in 1397 as a retirement villa for Shōgun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu. His son converted it into a temple. In 1950 a young monk consummated his obsession with the temple by burning it to the ground. The monk's story was fictionalised in Mishima Yukio's The Golden Pavilion. In 1955 a full reconstruction was completed that exactly followed the original design, but the gold-foil covering was extended to the lower floors. The temple is set in three stories. The 1st floor is Shinden-zukuri, the palace style. It is named Ho-sui-in. The 2nd floor is Buke-zukuri, the style of the samurai house and is called Cho-on-do. The 3rd floor is Karayo style or Zen temple style. It is called Kukkyo-cho. Both the 2nd and 3rd floors are covered with gold-leaf on Japanese lacquer. The roof, upon which the Chinese phoenix settles, is thatched with shingles.

7 The entire temple is surrounded by a beautiful garden with a pond in the front called the Mirror Pond. The stones in the pond give a representation of the Buddhist era. Golden Temple & grounds Next, we are off to visit Nijo Castle, built in 1603 as the Kyoto residence of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the first shogun of the Edo Period. His grandson completed the castle's palace buildings 23 years later and further expanded the castle by adding a fivestory castle keep. The wide moat, massive stone walls, and heavy yet elaborate gates are still impressive, and were the only fortifications the inhabitants felt necessary, so firm was their grip on power. The grounds are large and contain several lovely gardens as well as groves of plum and cherry trees. The palace building itself is imposing, yet upon closer examination, is rich in decorative detail. Inside the palace are several masterpieces of Japanese art, most notably the painted screens of the main chamber. In this room, the shoguns met the daimyo (high-ranking warlord-administrators) who sought an audience. The screens were painted by artists of the Kano school and employ rich colors and large amounts of gilt to depict flowers, trees, birds, and tigers. They were meant to impress. Also, in the palace are the famous "nightingale floors," which were designed to squeak when stepped on and thus alert guards to any intruders. Nijo Castle and its grounds From here we are off to the Festival of Ages Building (Tonitoni), a new cultural shopping area in Kyoto s Okazaki district. It is on the grounds of Heian Jingu Shrine which we will be visiting this afternoon. The Festival of the Ages is held on October 22nd to commemorate the founding of Kyoto over 1000 years ago. When this date is written in Japanese, it looks as though it could be read as 'tonitoni', hence the unique name of the shopping center. The distinct interior was put together by up-and-coming artists so that you could enjoy a simulation of Kyoto's famous Festival of the Ages any time of year! Everything from quality food and sweets to alcohol to sundries; Tonitoni boasts over 30 stores and is the talk of the town! Enjoy time here to shop and have lunch on your own. Now, a visit to Heian Jingu Shrine and the inner garden.

8 This shrine has a relatively short history, built in 1895 on the 1100th anniversary of the capital s foundation in Kyoto. It is dedicated to the spirits of the first and last emperors who reigned from the city, Emperor Kammu ( ) and Emperor Komei ( ). Heian is the former name of Kyoto. A giant torii gate marks the approach to the shrine, around which there are a couple of museums. The actual shrine grounds themselves are very spacious, with a wide-open court at the center. The shrine's main buildings are a partial replica of the original Imperial Palace from the Heian Period, built on a somewhat smaller scale than the original. While here we will be visiting Heian Shrine's Shin'en Garden. Known worldwide, the garden is a perfect example of a Japanese Garden from the Meiji Period. Laid out to surround the entire shrine grounds. The founder of modern Japanese gardening completed the garden, the 7th generation master, Ogawa Jihei, (also known as "Ueji."). Shin-en Garden provides a landscape reminiscent of the long-gone days of the Heian-kyo Capital. It is a four-season garden and during our visit in the western part we hope to enjoy the more than 2,000 hanashoubu Japanese irises blooming in competition with the more than 1,000 kakistubata isises in the central part of the garden. From here, off to enjoy a hands-on experience, handkerchief painting at the Kodai Yuzen and Gallery, founded by the longestablished kimono store "Kodai Yuzen Co., Ltd.", to show the public, the beauty and tradition of Kyoto Yuzen dyed garments which also includes an exhibit featuring an array of kimonos. We now make our way back to the hotel, arrival by 4:30pm. Once back, the remainder of the afternoon and evening is. Accommodations: New Miyako Hotel Kyoto Day 7 May 27 th, Monday Kyoto-Nara-Kansai (B/L) After breakfast, please meet your guide in the lobby by 9:00am. It may be our last day on tour, but we still have much to see and do before our flight home later this evening. The morning begins with a drive to Nara for a visit to the Nara Deer Park and Todaiji Temple. Nara, the ancient capital city in the Kansai region of Japan. Throughout 2010 the city celebrated its 1300th anniversary. Centuries before anyone had heard of Delhi or Shanghai or London or Paris and long before anywhere called Kyoto (let alone Tokyo) existed Nara was the first permanent capital of Japan, and the place where the country began to establish itself as a Buddhist kingdom. If you think of Japan as a land of bullet trains and J-pop in Shinjuku storefronts, come to Nara a city filled with rolling hills, ancient temples, and 1,200 entitled deer roaming its old streets. Our first stop will be at the Nara Deer Park, home to hundreds of ly roaming deer. Considered in Shinto to be messengers of the gods, Nara's nearly 1200 deer have become a symbol of the city and have been designated a natural treasure. You can purchase deer biscuits to feed them. The deer bow immediately when they see you have food. Just steps away is Nara's premier attraction, Todaiji Temple, and its Great Buddha (Daibutsu), Japan's largest bronze Buddha. When Emperor Shomu ordered construction of both the temple and Daibutsu in the mid-700s, he intended to make Todaiji the headquarters of all Buddhist temples in the land. As part of his plans for a Buddhist utopia, he commissioned work for this huge bronze statue of Buddha. It took eight castings to complete this remarkable work of art. At a height of more than 15m (50 ft.), the Daibutsu is made of 437 tons of bronze, 286 pounds of pure gold, 165 pounds of mercury, and 7 tons of vegetable wax. However, thanks to Japan's frequent natural calamities, the Buddha of today isn't quite what it used to be. In 855, in what must have been a whopper of an earthquake, the statue lost its head. It was repaired in 861, but alas, the huge wooden building housing the Buddha was burned twice during wars, melting the Buddha's head. The present head dates from Be sure to walk in a circle around the Great Buddha to see it from all angles. Behind the statue is a model of how the Daibutsuden used to look, flanked by two massive pagodas. Behind the Great Buddha to the right is a huge wooden column with a small hole in it near the ground. According to popular belief, if you can manage to crawl through this opening, you'll

9 be sure to reach enlightenment. You can also get your English-language fortune for 200 by shaking a bamboo canister until a wooden stick with a number comes out; the number corresponds to a piece of paper. The wooden structure housing the Great Buddha, called Daibutsuden, was also destroyed several times through the centuries; the present structure dates from It is the largest wooden structure in the world, but only two-thirds its original size. Nara Deer Park Todaiji Temple The Great Buddha Lunch will be at a local restaurant close by. From here, off to Osaka to visit the Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan, one of the largest in the world. It is easily one of the best aquariums in the world and well worth a visit. A walkway winds its way past displays of life found on different ocean levels around the Pacific's 'ring of fire' region, from Antarctic penguins to coral-reef Butterfly fish to unearthly jellyfish from the deep. Most impressive is the enormous central tank, which houses a whale shark and manta, among a huge variety of other fish and rays. There are good English explanations throughout. Not surprisingly, this is a very popular attraction. Right next door is the Tempozan Area where you will have some time to browse and shop. The Tempozan Marketplace consists of shops, restaurants, amusement facilities and live concert/event halls. Inside the Marketplace is a gourmet theme park called Naniwa Kuishimbo Yokocho, an eatery park which brings together in a single venue a wide range of restaurants offering 'takoyaki', 'okonomiyaki' and other Osaka foods. We are now off to Kansai Airport, arrival by 5:45pm to begin the check-in process for our flight home. Hawaiian Airlines #450 Departs Kansai 8:45 pm Arrive Honolulu 9:45 am