7 March A Thousand Torii Gates

Today was a bit of a marathon. After travelling on a tube, double decker train and another train to get to the outskirts of Kyoto we had a good 2 hour walk! All to explore Sebon Torii, a mountainside shrine reached by walking along a path to the mountain's summit through thousands of the traditional red Torii gates.

Looks quite straightforward on a map!

Am impressive corridor of gates. Each one sacred.

Luckily there are loads of shrines on the route where you can rest, some with little souvenir shops and refreshments.

Made it to the top.

The summit shrine. Round the sides and back of it are hundreds of mini Torii gates. Each signifying a donation.

Pleased to have the path going down - at last!

No sign of the wild boor or monkeys on our walk. I didn't even appreciate monkeys were in the wild in Japan.

We think this is actual cherry blossom that was visible from the viewing platform as we returned back to our starting point.

I noticed that my the botom of my feet weren't aching today so theyust be getting used to their daily work out 😄.

6 March A Day at Osaka Aquarium

We've had a great time at the Osaka Aquarium today.

Another manhole cover spotted on the way to the tube station.

It is one of the only aquariums in the world with whale sharks.

Feeding time was interesting as they had divers in the water with buckets of plankton, while the reef sharks and hammer heads were being distracted with fish on poles!! 

After feeding it was time for a bit of a hoover! Maybe they get paid danger money for being in a shark tank.

Later this afternoon we went via the largest bookshop in Osaka for Peter to buy some Japanese books. He's selected the first book in 3 series of Manga (like a cartoon/comic) so he can work out whether to get more in those series. 

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It was an early evening back at the apartment to rest weary feet!

5 March Osaka Castle

We had a speedy journey to Osaka in the Shinkansen and then made our way across the city on the tube. Then it was just a short walk to our 12th floor, central city apartment.

On our walk we passed the Hozenji Temple which has had the city grow up around it. It had a lovely waft of incense as we pottered by. I took this photo during the day today - last night I had my hands full carrying bags and it was dark! 

You probably think I've got a thing about the Japanese loos. But this is a great use of space. In our apartment you can wash your hands over the cistern. When the loo flushes the water always comes out of the tap to fill the cistern - immediately recycling the water! 

Today we took the tube over to Osaka Castle. What we thought was the castle (in pic) is actually the main  guard tower that housed the treasure. The castle is made up of this and other towers in a double high walled moat. 

Quite an interesting history to the recurring destruction and rebuilding of it. It has been destroyed several times in wars and by being struck by lightening. This is actually a rebuild from the 1930s!!

We had some sunshine today and the coats came off!!

The Glico Man in the Dotonbori district - equivalent to Piccadilly Circus with all its advertising boards. The Japanese come here to have their photos taken with arms raised and balanced on one leg!

This is another famous one - a 3D puppy. Pretty impressive how realistic it was.

Mid Thursday afternoon and it was pretty packed. A bit like a Spanish market 😄

The Ebisu Tower Ferris Wheel is another iconic thing in Osaka. We couldn't resist a go so enjoyed our 20 minutes spin on it with a good view of the city from the top.

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Dinner tonight was in a Kura Sushi restaurant. You have your own personal booth and sit with the conveyor belt running past your table. You either select plates that go by or you order them on a screen at your table.

We tried quite a variety of foods tonight. Peter had his dessert on the way back. Candied fruit - a bit like a toffee apple but instead this was huge grapes and strawberries. 

Another busy day today and very achy feet from all the walking. At least I'm getting my steps in!