Marvels of South/Central Japan
Table of Contents
Story by Dan Ciufo
Photos by Daphne Ciufo (unless otherwise noted)
Shrines, Sushi, and Stairs
For travelers looking to overload on shrines and temples, uncooked meat, and some excellent stair workouts, look no further than south-central Japan. It is important to get geographically oriented so just imagine Japan as a long, thin island cucumber, angled southwest to northeast.
The island of Kyushu rests on the bottom of the cucumber and the larger island of Hokkaido on the top. The main island is Honshu, with its largest city, Tokyo on the lower side and about half way up the cucumber, which is the Pacific Ocean side. The other edge of the Japan cucumber is the Sea of Japan side. This article highlights the lower third of the cucumber where we’ll find Japan’s second largest city, Osaka.
Getting Around Japan
There are many places to fly into Japan. When flying into southern Japan, Osaka, with its two large airports, is a good stepping off point. In fact, depending on how much time you have and how far you want to venture, it’s a good stay location since there are plenteous transportation options available. When traveling anywhere as developed as Japan, one of the first questions is “how do we get around?”
The answer to that question depends entirely on what you are planning to see…and how brave you are. Be aware they drive on the left side of the road with righthand drive autos. This takes some getting used to, but is definitely worth it depending on what you plan to see and your level of adventure. A good rule of thumb is if you plan to stay and hub primarily out of cities, there is really no reason to rent a car — do the metros, trains and buses.
Driving in Japan Can Be a Challenge
If you want a more “off-the-beaten-path” (and perhaps authentic) experience, go with a rental car. Be brave. Be bold. And don’t back into poles and scrape the mirrors like I did! Toyota and Nissan both have reliable auto rental services in Japan and typically have English speaking representatives, which is very handy. The insurance came in even handier.
We spent three weeks and our travel included smaller, more remote areas. Therefore, we elected to rent, but also parked the car and utilized the trains and buses in the cities. Most cities have abundant and cheap public transportation. However, parking a car can be tricky and horrifyingly expensive — especially when you can’t read the parking lot signs and rates! In addition, they have an extravagant tolling system that can add up fast.
Be Thankful for Google Maps
If you’re thinking about driving, definitely count on using Google Maps! If you’re thinking about public transportation definitely count on using Google Maps! If you’re going to walk the cities definitely plan on using Google Maps! You probably get the message—we would possibly still be finding our way out of Japan without Google Maps. The app has an EXCELLENT public transportation function which provides the recommended bus or train, the line, platform, times, and even cost. Waze is another app that works well in Japan. However, even in “English mode”, rental car navi is buggy and still foreign. Setting out on foot and getting lost is one of the great pleasures of the adventure of traveling and this app allows you to do that, but with a reassurance of actually returning!
Where Should We Stay Tonight?
What about STAYING? There are copious options from traditional to contemporary and it is fun to experience them all. Air BnB selections and traditional warehouser lodging sites like Expedia, Booking.com, etc. are all fairly robust and reliable in Japan. We stayed at a variety of lodgings. Our choices ranged from personal homes, to traditional rooms, to a slightly aged chain hotel with an “Onsen” (which is a hot public bath).
Yes, public bathing is both a common and legitimate thing in Japan. More on this steamy subject later. We experienced a couple of privately owned traditional Japanese guest houses, and we can recommend it. This was particularly true in smaller towns, where you get a real feel for the authentic Japanese day-to-day life, complete with the elderly ladies chatting in the alleys about their gardens. Small kitchenettes, sparse rooms with legless chairs that sit on the floors, rice paper doors, and futon mats are common.
One of the most unique lodgings was on the Japan Sea side of the island in a very interesting town known for its hot baths, Kinosaki Onsen. This was a small commercial guest house called Utsuroi Tsuchiya, with single small rooms and tatami matted floors, just big enough for a small knee-high table and chairs with no legs sitting flat on the floor. In the evening the staff comes through and puts mats on the floor for bedding. Fairly common arrangements are to have a toilet and sink, but with a shower/hot bath that is shared with the rest of your fellow occupants. It sounds dauntingly embarrassing, but one gets used to it!
Stay in Kyoto
Since Kyoto is such a highly desired location, it’s only proper to address overnighting there. It is a fairly common option to overnight in Osaka and catch the train into Kyoto, but I recommend staying in Kyoto for at least a couple of nights. And if staying in Kyoto, the Gion district is a must.
When you think of quintessential Kyoto, think Gion district. It’s a puzzling concoction of a typical Japanese city mixed with traditional wooden Japanese buildings, homes, streets and markets. And don’t forget the shrines and temples. Gion is noted for its Geisha areas and it’s very common, not to mention odd, to see both ladies and gentlemen walking the small, quaint streets in their kimono finery. If you have a stereotype of what it looks like, you’re probably right-highly decorative kimonos, wooden sandals, fancy hair and make-up.
Let's Take a Bath - Together
Kinosaki Onsen is an experience that just has to be…well, experienced. It is a smallish town with seven natural hot bath facilities, each of which are unique. Patrons and residents can be seen at all hours of the day or night in their Yukatas (Japanese robes) and Getas (flat, heavy, clunky, painfully punishing planks of wood alleged to be sandals) traipsing off to their hot baths. There is a strict protocol for bathing. First of all, men and women are separated, but yes…you’re showering and then getting in a steaming hot pool with total strangers. Many locals use these baths for their primary bathing source. Some have caves or stone gardens, some have sections outdoors under the stars, and they are all unique. It’s an experience not to be missed and you can find “onsens” all over Japan.
Shrines and Temples Infuse Japan
Japan is a great place to PLAY! It’s hard to imagine — in fact without visiting you probably can’t imagine — the number of shrines and temples in the southern part of Japan. As an editorial footnote, shrines are for Shintoism and temples are for Buddhism.
Big, elaborate shrine and temple complexes occupy footprints of dozens or more acres with pagodas and smaller shrines or temples within. They’re a feast of architecture and cultural interest. Then you can turn the corner from your little lodging and find a tiny niche shrine that may be less than a couple feet square.
Most of the ubiquitous shrines and temples we encountered were still in use. Evidence like recent incense sticks, candles, or other offerings, are abundant. Many offerings are what you would think of as everyday objects like water bottles, small coins, or a piece of fruit.
Both Shinto and Buddhism are very prevalent in Japan and it is said, “you’re born Shinto and die Buddhist.” This saying means Shinto ceremonies may welcome a baby, but the funerals are typically Buddhist. We were fortunate enough to experience a Shinto baby dedication service, several Buddhist prayer sessions, and a Buddhist funeral ceremony. We found it very interesting, and one of the benefits of just wandering when you travel!
Fushimi Inari Shrine in Kyoto
Many temples and shrines also offer the opportunity for more PLAY in the form of hiking! One of the prime examples is the Fushimi Inari Shrine in Kyoto, also known as the Shrine of the Thousand Torii Gates. A Torii Gate is a very common Japanese gate found at the entrance or within a Shinto shrine representing a transition into a holy space.
The Fushimi Inari shrine hike is a star attraction in Kyoto. This strenuous hike incorporates approximately a 3-mile hike, but it’s nearly entirely all stairs to the final shrine on top. And it’s not 1,000 Torii gates, but more like 10,000 — a stunningly beautiful hike with what has to be several thousand small shrines to other deities along the way.
Arashiyama Monkey Park
Outside Kyoto is a do-not-miss location called Arashiyama, easily accessible from central Kyoto by bus for 230 Yen (about two dollars). One attraction here is what is surely the most intense bamboo forest you’ll ever see. Simply magnificent. There’s a first-class temple grounds in the area, with good food and ice cream since it’s a popular tourist attraction.
The capstone for us was the Arashiyama Monkey Park, also called Iwatayama. It’s a good half hour hike up to the top, but so worth it to see approximately 120 Japanese Macaque Monkeys. They are in a wild habitat, but protected, fed and cared for…not domesticated, but savvy! Absolutely mesmerizing, and is worth a couple hours with the hike up and back. The views of metro Kyoto are an excellent added bonus!
Raw Food, Anyone?
Being an old military man, my culinary tastes are not as keen as some. Add to that fact I’m not what you would call an “adventurous” eater, and that means it doesn’t take much to satisfy me. EATING in this part of Japan can be a joy, and there are several locations with a strong culinary tradition. We traveled for three weeks and had good food every single day.
One hit for me were the curry dishes. These were a safe alternative, because you generally know what you’re eating, and you can find them everywhere, even in convenience stores, known as “combinis”. Seafood is popular and plentiful, but just be alerted that they do like to present the entire fish.
Sushi is obviously what most people think of as classic Japanese food, and there is a lot of it. If one can find a rotating sushi counter, fun will be had, though you may have no idea what you’re eating. The items tend to be small portions and at the sushi restaurants it is typical to get many different dishes. I prefer my food cooked, thank you, and fortunately there were offerings for cretins like me available. Tempura is plentiful, as is pretty good street food in the form of grilled chicken or beef kabobs.
Other Dining Alternatives
We have enjoyed the “hole in the wall” local places, which, though sometimes awkward, have turned out to be really good. Just imagine pointing at items on an indecipherable menu sitting right next to a guy smoking cigarettes between tofu dishes, hoping the person you’re watching cook your food understands what you ordered. That was some great ramen and by the end of the meal, what was a seemingly hostile audience was very pleasant and helpful. Noodle dishes, vegetable and fish dishes have all been rather good.
Teppanyaki was also a great experience — again local, one small room, and intimate. We sat on the floor at a knee-high table and the waitress brought a metal tub of hot coals and a platter of raw meat and vegetables for us to cook. One culinary oddity and pleasant surprise is the “combinis” like Lawson Station and Family Mart. They are everywhere in Japan, and they do have the typical convenience store prepackaged junk. However, they also have really good fresh sections of rice meals — freshly packaged triangle shaped rice balls, usually with something like salmon flakes or a tiny bit of pork inside. They’re excellent and a couple of them make a great lunch. Lunch for two can easily come in under eight dollars.
Vending Machines for a Quick Bite or Drink
They also have prepackaged meals like curry and rice, which the staff will heat for customers. Then there are sections of all kinds of weird, dried fish, octopus, and seaweed type products for your snacking pleasure. Believe it or not, they also all have pretty good coffee.
Which puts one in mind of the other real taste treat; vending machines with little espresso cans are everywhere. For around 120 yen (just over a buck), you can select multiple different types of lattes, black coffees, and more, along with offerings of teas and other drinks. A popular vending drink here, maybe just because of the name, is a hydration drink with a great name…Porcaro Sweat.
Where Should We Go?
We had the benefit of having three weeks to explore. Therefore, we started in Osaka, went south to Iwakune, then up the coast to Okayama, and across to the north for Mount Daisen. Next was Kinosaki Onsen, Kyoto, and back to Osaka. Though I don’t address Tokyo here, obviously if you only have a week, Tokyo and Kyoto should probably top your list.
Alternatively, Osaka, with its 19 million people, has the big city feel of Tokyo with the lights and giant LED billboards, covered markets, plenteous great food and human buzz. It also features Universal Studios, and is only a short train ride to Kyoto and its environs. So, a one-week itinerary could comfortably cover a couple fun nights in Osaka and a couple of nights in Kyoto before flying back out of Osaka.
Find Your Next Adventure in Southern and Central Japan
Staying, playing and eating in southern and central Japan is an amazing journey with abundant rich cultural experiences, tasty gastronomical experiences, and a lot of just plain fun!
After four years in the US Marines, then nearly 24 years in the US Air Force, finally finishing up in Hawaii, Dan Ciufo retired in 2006 and began a career in education, teaching Air Force Junior ROTC at a local high school in Texas. Dan and his wife Daphne have a passion for travel and have been to nearly 30 countries. An assignment in Germany led them to fall in love with their little German village in the Rhineland Pfalz, but also gave them the opportunity to take their young children Anna and Leah to over 15 other European countries. Dan also enjoyed traveling to numerous more exotic locations with the military. Recent travel highlights include three weeks of independent travel in the Balkans, a terrific itinerary in California, and an upcoming trip of several weeks to Israel and Jordan. Dan and Daphne enjoy unusual and off-the-beaten path locations, interesting and diverse cultures, and independent travel.
Dan is just getting started in the travel writing genre, but enjoys chronicling their many adventures, and has done a lot of writing over his career.