Osaka to the Ocean: Cultural Connections and Roots

Hi folks. This post is way overdue, but we have had a lot going on lately. I won’t bore you with all the sad and chaotic things happening here in Colorado, but I have been so excited to share our trip to Japan. IT WAS AMAZING! Before I go any further, I want to say that Japan blew away every single expectation I had. I am not a big fan of crowds, and I knew going into it that it was going to be a loud and busy place. However, it had a vibe similar to New York City, where everyone just does their own thing and lets you do yours.Even though Osaka (where we spent most of our time) is twice as large as NYC, I never once felt trapped or ready to leave. In fact, it was the exact opposite! I remember asking Gene if he wanted to see about extending our trip for at least another week. Unfortunately, due to work and other commitments, we had to come back as planned. 😞 But I KNOW we will be back, God willing, as it is a wonderful place to visit—at least Osaka was! It blew my mind in a good way, lol

After a grueling 24-hour day of traveling, we finally landed in Osaka and made our way to the airport train station to head into the actual city. The airport is way out of town, which felt a lot like DIA back home in Denver. Once we made it to our stop, we grabbed some dinner right inside the station before heading over to our Airbnb. This was actually our very first taste of authentic Japanese curry, and it was incredible! It’s much thicker and sweeter than the curry we are used to here in the US, but it was a wonderful first meal in Japan. But the highlight of the station visit was that I actually got my haircut at QB House! I guess you could say it’s the Japanese equivalent of Great Clips here in the US. It was pretty fast and a little bit of a different experience, but it was fairly cheap and I really needed it, lol

Our first full day, we slept in a little bit, but we still had plenty of time to check out the Osaka Castle and Gardens. It is so beautiful, even if we just missed the cherry blossom season. 😞 Oh well, maybe in the future we will be there at the right time, lol! Either way, the area was just gorgeous. We really enjoyed walking around, exploring, doing a little shopping for a replica Osaka Castle souvinier, and sitting under a tree with a cold bottle of water to enjoy the views. By the way, there are vending machines all over Osaka with cold drinks (probably hot ones too, but who needed them in May, lol!). I thought the drinks might be a little warm since the machines were sitting out in the open sun, but nope—they were ice-cold. I really appreciated that!

After we left Osaka Castle, we made our way down to Dontobori. We had heard it was a famous, high-energy tourist and entertainment district running right alongside the Dotonbori Canal. It certainly lived up to the hype! The area is known for its dazzling neon lights and giant, moving storefront signs, like the iconic Glico Running Man and the massive Kani Doraku crab. Of course, we had to stop and take some photos, lol! It was incredibly busy and so much fun to see during the day. We even grabbed a quick meal from the endless rows of shops and street food vendors while we were walking around. We were definitely not disappointed, and we immediately planned to go back in the evening one day just to see it all lit up at night.

After leaving that area, we made our way to what we thought was a standalone Pokémon store to get my nephew some cards. It turned out the store was located inside a HUGE 10-floor mall called Daimaru Umeda. Yeah, we officially got “malled” in Osaka, lol! It was pretty cool, and I even got to embrace my inner child a bit with these cute little stuffed Pokeman characters. Seriously though, we had a blast exploring the store. Parts of the mall actually reminded me of Macy’s in New York with all the levels of escalators—except they didn’t have any wooden ones, lol! We had a wonderful dinner before heading back to our Airbnb to get some sleep, since we had an early tour the next morning a little bit outside the city limits of Osaka.

This tour was something I had really been looking forward to since we first started planning our trip to Japan. It was a partial-day bus trip to Nara Park, where we got to play with, pet, and feed the deer! It was so much fun and such an exciting experience. Just a quick forewarning for anyone else planning to go: some of them can get a little aggressive if they see you holding the special deer food you can buy right there in the park! There had to be well over 100 deer roaming freely, but a few of them were truly unique. I even had one specific deer become my absolute favorite by the time we made our way back to the bus.

The second part of the tour took us a little further out of Osaka and into the historic city of Kyoto. After driving for about an hour, we pulled in and had a few hours to explore entirely on our own. There were so many incredible things to see and do! We ended up walking around the beautiful grounds of an old, but still active temple.

Later on, we grabbed some Yakitori (delicious grilled chicken skewers) and a cold beer from a local vendor and walked over to enjoy the scenery. We had fantastic views of the Katsura River and the famous Togetsukyo Bridge. If you follow my blog, you already know I absolutely LOVE bridges, lol! It was another very warm day, but we found a great spot to sit, relax, people-watch, and just take in the gorgeous views. I even managed to pick up a few more little souvenirs along the way. Honestly, I got WAY too many of those on this trip—but more on that later, lol!

After we made our way back to Osaka and the tour officially ended, we hung out with our tour guide, Sara, and walked around the area for a bit. After saying goodbye to her and the other people on the tour, we explored another neighborhood and ended up having dinner at a place that soon became our absolute favorite go-to spot: Torikizoku! Everything on the menu—from rice and noodle bowls to many different types of chicken Yakitori, desserts, and drinks—was only 390 yen. It was cheap, delicious, and so good that we went back several times! They have multiple locations throughout Osaka, which made it super convenient. The fun thing about this place is that you order right from your table using a screen, and they bring everything out as soon as it’s ready. You can add items to a digital “cart” while you are deciding and see your rolling total as you go. Then, when you are ready, you just click a button that says “send to kitchen.” It’s a really cool setup, and you just pay for everything all at once at the very end. Here is my absolute best takeaway tip: if you go, do not miss out on the Mochi Ice Cream with strawberry syrup! By the way, strawberries were a massive thing while we were in town. I’m not sure if it’s that way all the time, or if we just hit a special season while we were there.

Share a comment below if you know anything about Japan’s strawberry seasons!

The next morning, we got up a little earlier than usual to make our way to Hiroshima. It is such a sad piece of history, but it was something we both really wanted to see. We felt a very similar way when we visited the Dachau Concentration Camp in Germany. The trip did start out on a fun and interesting note, though! We left our Airbnb and took a local train into Shin-Osaka station. As a side note, I kept accidentally calling it the “Chin-Chin” station, and Gene could not figure out why. I finally told him it was because it reminded me of Michel’s Chow Chow, Chin-Chin, from Gilmore Girls, lol! Anyway, once we made it to Shin-Osaka, we transferred and paid the separate fee to board the Shinkansen (bullet train). It was an incredibly cool experience, and the ride only took about an hour and a half because the train flies along at 186 miles per hour (300 kilometers per hour)! The train even has a few seats equipped with power outlets to charge your phone or devices, which you can secure if you pay a few extra yen for a reserved seat.

After we arrived, we walked around the bombing site and read all of the plaques and learned more about the history of this tragic event. When we were fished we dicedied to grab some lunch and enjoy the beautiful Peace Memorial Park. We didn’t try the famous okonomiyaki in Hiroshima; instead, we just enjoyed some street yakitori and cold sodas by the water. It was a beautiful, peaceful break, but the day took a tough turn afterward. While the park outside was beautiful, I felt sick inside the peace history museum. There were hundreds of people packed in, it was hot, and everyone was moving SOOO slow. I felt claustrophobic, and I don’t usually get that way, but I was starting to feel so sick that I finally had to push my way out to get to fresh air. I spent several times thinking about what Gene was thinking during all of this, since he isn’t one to generally share how he feels about some of the sad historical sites we have visited in our travels.

After taking a few more minutes to relax outside and reflect on the magnitude of the day, we made our way back to the train station. We boarded the bullet train back into Osaka, watching the scenery fly by as we unwound from the day’s events. Once we made it back to the city, we headed straight to our favorite dinner spot. It was the perfect place to finally relax, enjoy a comforting meal, and yes—there was definitely some alcohol involved, lol! It was exactly what we needed as we sat together, raised a glass, and quietly reflected on the profound gravity of everything we had seen.

The next day was a very fun and exciting day because it was Gene’s birthday! We started the day doing something that Gene already knew about, but I also had a little surprise up my sleeve. We had tickets to see the Osaka Sumo Experience with a Live Show, and it was an absolute BLAST! Aside from the wonderful women leading the show, there were two retired sumo wrestlers named Ryuu and Kai who shared their personal experiences with us. We learned so much about the world of sumo wrestling—including the official rules, the names of the different moves, how long they train every day, and exactly what they do and don’t eat. It was incredibly educational!

Toward the end of the experience, a few people were chosen to dress up in a sumo suit and try out some of the moves against Ryuu and Kai. Since it was his birthday, I made sure Gene was one of those lucky people! I thought it would be a fantastic way to celebrate a tradition so deeply cultural to his heritage. Ryuu and Kai were so kind to him, and they even gifted him a special signed handprint for his birthday (called a tegata I found out later). We both still agree that this experience was one of the absolute highlights of our entire trip!

After leaving the sumo show, we grabbed a quick lunch at a local convenience store, which is a very typical thing to do all over Japan. We ended up eating while sitting on a rock fence because we couldn’t find a place to sit inside. In Japan, it is frowned upon to eat while walking around. As a side note, you also aren’t supposed to eat or drink on the local trains—though it is perfectly okay on the long-distance bullet trains. Anyway, after finishing our quick lunch, we took the train to a local garden. It was beautiful, and I was happy to see it, but there weren’t many koi fish, and the ones we did see weren’t very colorful. I was glad we went, but I left feeling like I hadn’t fully experienced a true, classic “Japanese Garden” yet. It is definitely going on our bucket list for the next time we visit Japan! Like I said, we definitley plan to visit again one day.

After the garden, we made our way back to Dotonbori and got caught in a rainstorm that never stopped for the rest of the evening. Even with the rain, we still had a wonderful time shopping in the open-air markets that line the streets leading into Dotonbori, and we ended up picking up too many souvenirs! Since we travel so much, we don’t usually buy a lot of stuff anymore, but we just had to bring back a few things for family and friends. We still haven’t given everyone their gifts yet, so I won’t spoil the surprise by writing what they are, but we definitely ended up with too much to pack into our carry-ons, lol! More on that later.

In between shopping and walking around in the rain, we had a wonderful dinner to celebrate Gene’s birthday. We went to a restaurant where they cook the meal right in front of you (called Teppanyaki), and we finally got to try authentic Kobe beef! It was so incredibly cool to watch. We also had our first real, full taste of Sake. Dinner was a little more expensive than what we had been sticking to on our trip, but it was his birthday and we really wanted to celebrate. When the staff found out it was his special day, they even brought him a few little sweets. Everyone we met in Japan was just so incredibly nice! After dinner, we walked around a little more, enjoying the lights, the canal, and the famous, massive billboards of Dotonbori in the rain. Eventually, we decided to head back to our favorite go-to spot for another round of drinks and some dessert to officially bring our last full day in Osaka to an end. The next morning, we would be picking up a rental car and heading a couple of hoiurs south to the Kushimoto area in the Wakayama Prefecture, which is where Gene’s family originally lived before some of them moved to Hawaii. We still can’t believe how much we enjoyed Osaka and how fast the time flew by, but we were both looking forward to spending the last couple of days of our journey near the always magnificant Pacific Ocean.

Happily we made it safely to our beautiful hotel Mercure Wakayama Kushimoto Resort & Spa with a couple of short stops along the way. We wanted some lunch, and since we were driving, we decided to pull into a local McDonald’s. I know, I know—we usually try to avoid big chains when we travel, but it is always fun to see what unique regional items they have on the menu! Over the years, we’ve found cups of fresh pineapples, Portuguese sausage and rice for breakfast, and coconut pies instead of apple in Hawaii. We’ve had poutine in Canada, and bratwursts in Germany. In France, we even saw that they served macarons, though we didn’t try them. This particular Japanese McDonald’s featured a few different chicken items and some options fried in crunchy panko. Surprisingly, the main difference wasn’t the food itself, but what the meals were called. Instead of combos or Extra Value Meals, they call them “sets” there. I just thought that was so interesting! Before hitting the road again, we visited a local grocery store attached to the McDonald’s. Since there wasn’t much around the remote area where our hotel was located, we wanted to stock up on essentials. I also wanted to pick up a little “liquid courage” to drink before tackling the hotel’s onsen later that night. As it turned out, that extra courage wasn’t even necessary, but more on that in a bit!

We checked in, got settled, and headed out to do a little exploring. However, as we were leaving, we walked into the hotel bar to see about filling up my water bottle and stumbled into a completely FREE happy hour! The best part was that it wasn’t just for one hour—it ran all the way from 3:00 PM to 10:00 PM. Isn’t that wild? We happily sat down to have a quick drink and a few free snacks before continuing with our planned exploring. Eventually, we headed out and drove around the area, quietly reflecting on what life must have been like when Gene’s family lived here, and wondering if any relatives might still be around. We haven’t been able to find any exact connections yet, even with Ancestry.com. Since we had access to free drinks back at the hotel, we just grabbed some quick street yakitori for dinner and headed back to drink, eat, and take in the views from our beautiful hotel.

Finally, I felt brave enough to go down and tackle the onsen. For those who don’t know about them, let me just begin by saying they are absolute magic, lol! However, they can be a bit intimidating at first. An onsen is a natural Japanese hot spring filled with steaming, nutrient-rich water that bubbles up from deep underground. Because Japan is full of active volcanoes, there are thousands of these natural hot springs scattered across the country’s beautiful mountains and countryside. The intimidating part comes from the strict rules. First, you must be completely naked to enter. Swimsuits, shorts, and undergarments are strictly forbidden; everyone bathes completely in the nude. Public onsens are almost always separated by gender so men and women bathe in completely different areas, but it is still a bit nerve-wracking! The second rule is that before you even touch the hot spring water, you must sit on a small stool at a side shower station and scrub your body and hair completely clean with soap and shampoo. You must be perfectly clean before stepping into the communal water. The third rule is keeping your towel clean. The hotel gives you a tiny “modesty towel” to use while walking around, but this towel can never touch the hot spring water. Most people fold it up and balance it right on top of their heads while they soak!

All of these rules, on top of the requirement to be completely nude, made me extremely nervous. I kept worrying that I was going to be watched, judged, or even kicked out for being heavy or for accidentally breaking some unknown rule without realizing it. Like I said, that liquid courage was definitely needed! I admit that I was stuck way too much in my own head, lol. We put on the nice robes and slippers that the hotel provided and made our way downstairs to the baths, which is where Gene and I had to separate. I was still a little disappointed at first because I really wanted us to enjoy the water together. However, the experience turned out to be so magical and wonderful that I quickly didn’t mind being by myself. I wished we had more days at the hotel to enjoy the amenities as well as more visits to the onsen. 🙂

Once I finally got over the initial fear of being nude, I was able to completely relax, soak, unwind, and enjoy it so much more than I ever thought I would—even on my own. As for my fear of being watched, I quickly realized that everyone there was incredibly respectful. Everyone minded their own business, and I never once felt watched or judged. I loved it so much that I couldn’t wait to do it again the next morning, which I did! This time, I went out to a separate outdoor area that was completely open to the sea. No one could see you from the outside, but you could soak while taking in the spectacular, sweeping views of the Pacific Ocean. Like I said, it was absolute magic.

After my peaceful morning soak, we got dressed and headed out to see the famous Nachi Falls. We were especially excited to visit because our last name, Taki, translates to “waterfall” in Japanese! I absolutely love waterfalls, so we thought that was the coolest connection. We made our way toward the falls, stopping at a few scenic lookouts along the way to take in the spectacular views and snap a few photos. Sadly, the sky turned gray and it started raining while we were driving. It made for a bit of a messy drive and a slippery walk down to the falls, but it was still breathtaking. Afterward, we did a little more exploring and squeezed in some more souvenir shopping! 😊

Later that afternoon, we headed back to the Mercure Resort and stepped into the lobby for happy hour, which was absolutely packed this time. Luckily, one of the larger tables only had two people sitting there, and they were more than happy to share the space with us. They didn’t speak much English, and we didn’t speak much Japanese, but we had the absolute best time connecting with them and sharing stories about where we were all from. They had driven down from Osaka for a long holiday weekend and loved the hotel just as much as we did. We used Google Translate a few times to help us out, but we actually found it was way more fun and entertaining to just try our best to communicate naturally. We all shared so many laughs whenever a word didn’t come out quite right or when it was clear someone didn’t fully understand what the other was saying! Connecting with the locals (even if they were visiting from Osaka!) was another true highlight of our entire trip. Before parting ways, we exchanged Instagram and Facebook information, and we still keep up with each other on social media today.

Sadly, this is where our amazing week was about to end. 😞 After a final, refreshing dip in the ocean-view onsen the next morning, we still had to tackle the challenge of finishing our packing. We quickly realized there was absolutely no way we were going to fit everything into our standard carry-ons and personal items. We also had all the alcohol we’d picked up, which I really didn’t want to leave behind (though we could have gifted it to our new friends from Osaka!). Luckily, we were flying United Airlines and realized we each had a free checked bag—Yay! We packed one roller bag with the drinks and as much extra stuff as we could possibly squeeze inside while still being able to zip it shut, lol! We kept all of our absolute essentials in our remaining roller bag and our personal items to carry onto the plane with us. Then, we used the expandable zipper extension on our other bag to pack all the gifts and souvenirs that wouldn’t fit, and checked that bag as well. Checking those bags actually made things so much nicer and lighter when we got to the airport. After a beautiful two-hour drive back into Osaka, we dropped off the rental car and made our way to the terminal. We successfully checked our bags and began the long, twenty-four-hour journey back home to Colorado, with a quick layover in San Francisco. Not all bad, as I brought home a loaf of sourdough, lol.

Like I said at the beginning, it was an amazing week that I really wish we could have extended. We both hope to make it back to Japan one day, but we will probably check out Tokyo on our next trip and head north, maybe during cherry blossom season!

Either way, here are some of the main takeaways and random thoughts I wanted to share about our experience:

The Greenery: Japan is incredibly lush and green, but it is often rainy, very much like the Pacific Northwest.
The Rail System: The train system is fantastic in Osaka. It feels a lot like the MTA subway in New York City, except it is run by several different companies, so you often have to switch lines and ticket systems.
The People: Everyone we met was incredibly friendly, helpful, and respectful.
The Onsens: Onsens are pure magic!
The NYC Vibe: Osaka has a very similar energy to New York City. It is crazy busy, but everyone just minds their own business and does their own thing. For context, the greater Osaka metro area has about 19 million people, which is two to three times the population of NYC itself!
The Bullet Train: Riding the Shinkansen was so much fun. They fly along seamlessly at speeds between 160 and 200 miles per hour.
The Drinks: Sake is absolutely delicious!
The Train Tickets: When you buy a local train ticket, you feed it into the slot to get onto the platform, and then you have to insert it again when you exit your final station. On your way out, the machine eats your ticket for good, lol!
The Bathrooms: There are high-tech bidets absolutely everywhere, lol!
The Roads: Down south in the Wakayama Prefecture, the highways and roads cut through tons and tons of mountain tunnels.
The Desserts: Traditional Japanese sweets and pastries are very light and aren’t overly sweet like American desserts.
The Driving Speed: Speed limits on the roads are surprisingly low. The absolute fastest speed limit we saw anywhere was 100 kph (about 62 mph).
The Convenience: In Osaka, convenience stores (like 7-Eleven and Lawson) are on almost every single corner.
The Food: The culinary scene is amazing. We honestly did not have a single bad meal the entire trip.
The Language Barrier: There were a lot of people who spoke English in the big city of Osaka, but not nearly as many down in the southern Wakayama Prefecture area.
The Service: Everywhere you buy food—even if it’s just a tiny snack from a convenience store—they always hand you wet wipes to clean your hands

Osaka - Japan Flag

Arigato Japan. See you nex time. Please feel free to comment if there is something I mentioned to share, or if you wanted to share your own experience. 🙂

A couple of the hotel pics were used with their permission.