Shinkansen Bullet train to Osaka after a day at Kamakura

I loved the way the Shinkansens sailed in  beautifully. 

The Shinkansen just floats in soundlessly as you wait for the train at the platform. Having heard about the bullet trains for decades, this was the first time that I had seen one and it looked so elegant and glossy. We had to reach Tokyo station from Shinjuku to get onto the 'Hikari'  Shinkansen which would transport us to Shin Osaka station in under 3 hours. Hikari is the name of one of the Shinkansen's as there are others named like Sakura, Nozomi etc.  You need special tracks and platforms for handling these trains so that's why we had to go to main Tokyo station as Shinjuku did not have these tracks. The distance of 500 km's in under 3 hours is just terrific and that too after it stops at several stations. For taking a flight one has to travel a considerable distance and then reach much ahead of time for security checks. Shinkansens do not have any such checks and the trains are always punctual to a few seconds ! Why would anyone then take a flight for internal travel ?

We inaugurated our JR pass that day and it would remain valid for 7 full days. The journey from Shinjuku station to Tokyo station was also done by us on JR pass. For the journey to Osaka we had made reservations in advance and the compartment was neat and clean with enough place for luggage and a lot of leg space. There are 3-5 compartments which are always there for unreserved tickets but it's always better to take reservations as with JR pass there are no extra charges. There are a few Shinkansens called the 'Nozomi' and 'Mizuho' on which JR pass is not valid but that doesn't matter as there are enough trains otherwise. The shape of the train is like a bullet but as soon as the train took off and caught the speed - it was not difficult to realise that we were travelling in a train which had the speed of a bullet.

Kamakura

A day earlier we had done a day trip to a charming little town called the Kamakura. It wasn't very far from Tokyo ( Must be around an hour away by train) and it is a coastal town with beaches and several temples. We didn't go to any beach but from the station walked for around a km to reach Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gu Shrine. This was a rare Shinto shrine in a town dominated by Buddhist shrines. We were lucky to catch their ritual dance in the plaza in front of main shrine. Its a treat when this kind of cultural activity takes place in front of you unexpectedly. Right from the time these young Japanese women in colorful traditional clothing lined up to the time they ended their performance, a large crowd applauded every move they made.  

We walked back through a very touristy and crowded market full of souvenir shops and eateries. School kids were everywhere and there was a beeline for softy ice cream cones. It was a very interesting market and we strolled leisurely through it till we reached near the station. 

After a lunch consisting of Ramen noodles in a small Japanese restaurant we took a taxi till the 'Great Buddha' temple known as Kotukuin. I was told that this was the third largest bronze statue of Buddha in Japan. It used to be in an enclosure earlier but the enclosure had been swept away by Tsunami. Now that it was in open, it looked very nice as there was a backdrop of green hills.The temple was quite crowded and I was told that this was one of the most popular Buddhist shrines in Japan. They do charge entrance fee for most temples in Japan and sometimes it can be as steep as Yen 500 a person. A few days later we were to see an even bigger statue of Buddha a few hundred kms away. 

The Great Buddha statue is visited by thousands each day

Osaka

We were in Osaka for 5 days as we had decided to make it into our base for travel to Nara, Kyoto and Hiroshima. This was a good decision as with efficient train system of Japan and our JR pass we could reach any town quickly and didn't have to check in and check out of the hotels on daily basis.

Our hotel Daiwa Roynet Kithama had good location as it was above the Kithama subway station and just 5 minutes walk from the Yodoyabashi station. While trains from Kithama would take us quickly to the most lively Dotonburi- Namba areas, the trains from Yodoyabashi were good for reaching Shin Osaka station and the lively areas of Umeda.

Hotel had a nice bakery next door which became our regular place for breakfast and it also had a few eateries nearby including Japanese. Kids liked going to a burger joint called Mos burgers for delicious and juicy burgers. Rooms were slightly larger in this hotel and that was a relief. 

The main areas for shopping and eating were Dotonburi and Namba. Most of our evenings were spent here. Prominent in Dotonbury is a large billboard for Glico (a confectionary Company) which displays the image of a runner and this is seen as an Icon of Osaka. If you have to meet someone and you want a landmark - 'the Glico man' is a landmark everyone knows of. 

The Glico Man image is what symbolizes Osaka

Next to it runs the Dotonburi canal and while we would often sit by the canal having a drink or something, there were always some shows going on and people would be taking boat rides in the canal. Sometimes it was just fascinating watching waves of people walking in the lanes and by lanes of Dotonburi. Often we would join the wave and walk all over looking for shops and right type of food which would be liked by the entire family. I really can't describe the energy of the place as you could walk in any direction and take any lane or road and you would be see people walking at a brisk pace, the shops all lighted up, the restaurants doing brisk business and we found many lanes which seemed to have many mini casinos. 

The Dotonburi Canal is located just where the entire population of Osaka converges all day long. 

Street food is very interesting in Osaka. Takoyaki was very popular. 

Queuing up for food 

Food in Osaka wasn't too expensive and in Dotonburi area each restaurant on the tourist belt seemed to have long queues. People love to queue up in Japan and though for us this was a great way to learn discipline, sometimes you wondered if this was habit forming as we also started queuing up at places where there were long queues. The Kobe Beef restaurant had a perennial queue outside the restaurant. Often it was for the fast food takeaways that people relly lined up. Takoyaki was particularly good as they were the wheat flour based balls with diced octopus inside. The Chinese dumplings were known as Gyoza and long queues were there as well as there was a particular takeaway specializing in the fried as well as steamed Gyozas. The Gyozas were pretty good but what impressed me was the efficiency with which the lady on counter handled those long queues.

The Gyoza takeaway

There were lanes and lanes of Korean food restaurants which described in details what parts of animals they would provide in a particular dish. The ladies of the family would immediately shun such restaurants and would refuse to even walk in those lanes. But there were enough restaurants of all types so finding food wasn't that difficult. While in Osaka we had Japanese, Chinese, Korean, American and Spanish food. 

Touristy Places of Osaka

We went to quite a few touristy places. There were the usual shrines and lovely gardens in Osaka. Tsutenkaku tower is right in the middle of action and it means 'building leading to heaven.' It was built in 1912 . It was destroyed in a fire and was rebuilt after the world war II. I think the locals compare it to Eiffel Tower of Paris. 

Tsutenkaku tower

Right next to the Osaka station you will see this large Ferris wheel on top of a building which actually is a shopping centre known as HEP five. It gives great views of the city and cabins are air conditioned. The rides last around 15 minutes. The building has shopping as well as entertainment arcade. In fact all around the building there are shopping centres and the place is quite lively.

HEP five Ferris wheel

Osaka Castle is a landmark building and has a lot of history behind it. One early afternoon we had gone to a shopping centre and took a train from there. The train got us to some place from where the castle was supposed to be a few minutes away. We kept walking and it was a good 25 minutes walk before we reached near the castle on a warm day. On the way we came to a big stadium where some show was happening and people were thronging in. Devicka and Sanya decided that they had no energy to climb up to the grounds where the castle was situated. They sat under the tree near the canal and chilled out while Kartik and I explored the castle and the grounds. Not surprising that we took a cab back to hotel. But to get to a cab too we had to walk quite a bit. 

Osaka Castle has a lot of history behind it. 

Making Friends

I did mention in my earlier blog that Japanese were the most helpful, polite and friendly people.

At the time we visited the Big Buddha in Kamakura , some schoolkids were fascinated by the look and hair of my daughter Sanya and they approached her to have a chat and get some photographs clicked together. It was all  so sweet and innocent. They were overjoyed when I clicked their snap with Sanya.

Sanya makes friends at near the statue of the Big Buddha.

One evening in Osaka we walked into a busy Japanese restaurant and the food came a semi cooked condition  as they expected the diners to do the cooking themselves on the hot plates provided on the table. While we wondered how to go about it, a Japanese group consisting of young people on the next table sensed our distress and offered to help.  For the next hour or so we had fun as they taught us how to cook by adding condiments and spices, and we had fun talking and laughing together. They were quite decent in spoken English and that really helped.

We have a nice evening with people we met at a restaurant. 

We had set base in Osaka for five days. Each day we would get out to explore a different city. It wasn't difficult as Bullet train gets you everywhere in no time. In my next blog there would be a description of experiencing those day trips.

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