Our Last Two Days in Japan Were a Treat (Nara & Kobe)
Nara
There’s a really big Buddha in Nara, Japan. Its 157 feet tall. Its head is surrounded by other Buddhas, all different sizes to appear the same size when gazing from below. There are two more buddhas on its left and right. The buddha is housed in an equally immense strucutre, and has been there for over 700 years.
But that’s not even the best part of Nara.
The surrounding park is swarming with deer.
The deer love crackers.
The deer are also qute pleasant shopkeepers.
They also appreciate naps as much as the rest of us.
Nara’s town mascot is also a cartoon deer.
In all seriousness , Nara was a lot of fun, and the contrast of seeing the historical sight of the former Japanese capital play against the masses of tame, if hungry, deer made for a great day trip to Nara. A leisurely hour by train from our hostel in Osaka via train, we attemped to wake up early before the horde of tourists, but even though we were not successful, it was not too crowded. Knowing that Nara was such a historical sight, we did not expect modest skyscrapers and quite a sizeable town (if small city) that was the town of Nara, but I guess that goes to show how urbanized of a country Japan is. 15 minutes walking later and we had made it into the grounds, featuring signature historical Japanese halls and temples, and even a 5-story pagoda.
We then made it to the main gate of the Todai-ji temple (where the great Buddha is housed); main gates are quite typical of grand temples of this stature.
Then we went into the main temple, and the buddha was a stunning as I ever could have expected. I even read that in its original casting, it was covered in gold leaf back in the 1300s (and nearly bankrupted Japan in the process of its construction). Plus, it was only several decades after that Japan decided to move its capital, but thankfully the relic has been able to be preserved throughout the centuries.
One of the pillars has a hole in it (the size of Buddha’s nostril), and it is said you are granted good luck if you are able to crawl through it. Many kids (and Lena) were able to accomplish the feat.
We then wandered to another temple, Nigatsu-do, which had some stunning views of the surrounding countryside. Another short walk later and we made it to Kasuga-taisha shrine, a shinto shrine originally established in 768 A.D.
We started to head back through Nara Deer Park one last time, but not before passing through a torii gate and making a friend besides some historical columns lining the path back to the train station.
Kobe
Even closer to Osaka than Nara by train(and even Osaka airport), Kobe is a seaside city that feels like a breath of quaint, fresh air from the brash, urban jungle of Osaka. We were on a mission to try some famous Kobe beef, and we were both over Osaka, so we headed to Kobe for our last full day in Japan.
We made our ways over to the hole in the wall Kobe beef place, and the waiter suggests that the most popular Kobe Beef is the $270 sirloin. With that knowledge, we ordered the two cheapest cuts they had. If you were looking for a review of the highest grade Kobe beef, then look elsewhere. As far as our cuts, they were still quite tasty, some of the best I’ve ever had, and the grilled veggies were a treat on top. Our waiter even showed us their awards (though I could not read them). Either way, they were quite impressive.
We went wandering through the town the rest of the afternoon, stopping at a Don Quixote (a 4th floor CVS on steroids), making our way to yet another shinto shrine (there are so many of these in Japan), and then to a “concept” Starbucks store that was in a converted western style home. It turns out Kobe has a Europe-town of sorts, featuring English and French architecture and streets, which was a pleasant and unexpected surprise.
As we headed back to the train station, we turned around and got the most wonderful surprise: the hills had “KOBE” lit up in lights. My phone doesn’t do it quite justice, but I loved that last moment of Japan as dusk faded into the night. We headed back and snagged some sleep for our flight to Seoul, South Korea the next day.
That’s all for now! I’ll be writing about our time in Seoul next.
