Sakura in Himeji and Kyoto

Henry and I took a weekend trip to Himeji and Kyoto to see sakura (cherry blossoms).  We took the shinkansen on Saturday morning directly to Himeji .  We were also going to check out a local mountain with a temple complex in Himeji , but the weather did not cooperate…and we got on the wrong bus.  Unfortunately, it was pretty rainy on our Saturday visit to Himeji castle.

Outside of the castle there was a festival going on with many food stalls and vendors.  We sampled some onden (various items from potato to daikon to sausage simmered in broth), yakisoba, peanut covered mochi (check out the video of the guy pounding the mochi with a wooden hammer) and Hiroshima style okonomiyake.  There was also a drum and sakura festival going on in the park in front of the castle but due to the rain the crowds were small and the festival didn’t last long.

The Himeji castle complex was quite sprawling and we climbed to the very top of the castle keep.  No elevators in this castle.  Originally built in 1333, it was burned down and rebuilt in 1580 and then restored in the 1950s using close to original construction techniques and materials.  One of the interesting things about visiting the castle was that when you entered the castle keep, you had to take off your shoes which is a tradition in Japanese homes but still strange to do so at a tourist attraction.  The castle keep also held many artifacts from the Edo period and you could see the many gun racks and hiding spaces as well.  The blossoming cherry trees around the castle were beautiful even in the rain.

After we had had our fill of the castle, we headed to Osaka to spend the night in the Namba area – the center of the shopping and nightlife area.  Upon a recommendation from my boss, we went to an area in Osaka known for their traditional kushi-katsu restaurants.  Fried food on skewers!  Yum!  It definitely did not disappoint.  We picked one with a line out the front and we made use of Henry’s translated kushi-katsu cheat sheet.

We had scallops, shrimp, mushrooms, lotus root, asparagus, as well as a peanut sauce dipped motsu skewer.  As we were leaving the restaurant, I noticed large containers of what was labeled lard…no wonder it tasted so good!  While we were incredibly full, we, of course, had to snack on takoyaki later that evening.

On Sunday morning, we caught a special rapid train to Kyoto from Osaka – only 30 minutes.  Kyoto station was huge and very modern with tons of people!  It was definitely an interesting counterpoint to the ancient temples and shrines that dot the city.

We first headed to the Golden Pavilion (Kinkakuji) to see what all the fuss was about.  It was a beautiful pavilion on the edge of a pond.  We’ll definitely have to come back here during the fall season when the leaves change colors.

Next we went to the Philosopher’s Path, a river walk lined with hundreds of cherry trees.  This place was gorgeous with cherry trees drooping over the river and overhead as we walked along.  The sakura were in full bloom, too, and very impressive.

We followed the path all the way to the end and walked to Heian Temple, to view the famous garden.  The temple itself was very impressive, with a large red tori gate in front and blinding white gravel in contrast to the red-orange color of the temple.  There was also a huge cherry tree in front of the temple.

We entered the garden and were immediately in awe of the drooping cherry trees that filled the garden, all a deeper pink color than the usual variety.  We wandered through the garden which included several ponds.

Next, we headed to the Gion neighborhood and even saw a few geisha/maiko (at least I would like to believe they were real maiko and not just foreigners dressed up as such for pictures).  The old houses and feel of the Gion neighborhood was in contrast to the bustling shopping street we had to pass through in order to get there.

We wandered into the temple at the end of the neighborhood before making a quick stop at Yasaka shrine and Maruyama park.  Here, we had our first encounter with the traditional ohanami party – a bunch of people sitting on a blue tarp under the cherry trees, eating, drinking and making merry!  It was quite a sight!  We went to see the famous weeping cherry tree in Maruyama park before heading back to Kyoto station to catch our shinkansen back to Tokyo .  Overall, I would consider it a very successful cherry blossom trip.