Expocity and park area in Osaka

When I had arrived in Osaka (and before things acctually turned) I was rather depressed. I had no friends and my weekdays were passed going to class and then spend the evening in my room. So on my weekends I really wanted to get out and do stuff. Osaka University is close the the Expocity and the Bampaku-kinen park, an area built during the 70s for the Japan World Exposition. The Expocity is obviously built later, and is a big mall including various shops from 100yen Daiso to Ghibli and Uniqlo.
I spent, easily, a whole day in this area. I started off with the Japanese Garden. The entrance to the whole garden area is accessible through any entrance, and the fee is as low as 250yen, which is fairly low considering the huge area.
Perhaps it's because I'm not used to Osaka, but my impression is that Tokyo has a lot more gardens so I missed that alot and was very happy to find this Japanese garden!

Unfortunately my Pictures doesn't make the garden justice. I really need to get a better camera... 

The garden is very big, and I just really wanted to have a seat and enjoy the view as well so plan your visit carefully so that you will have enough time!

I went in late October and by that time there aren't much blossoming unfortunately. Outside of the Japanese garden are enormous areas made for various flowers, and I did get a glimpse of the roses, but much of the autumn plants had began withering. 

Even so I did have a nice walk around the different areas, ending with the famous Tower of the Sun, a 70 meter tall building made for the 70 expo by Japanese artist Okamoto Taro. I saw the tower every day on my way to school and I have to admit, I hate it. The first thing which came to mind was the angels from Neon Genesis Evangelion. It looks creepy, sorry.

I was about done by the time the park closed so I then went for the Expo City to see what kind of shops were available. And like mentioned before, most things could be found. I'm not much of a shopper so didn't spend that much time there, but went to my final stop; the biggest ferris Wheel in Japan with a height of 123 meters!

I love ferris wheels, and I ride most I can find, so I've also been on the Tempozan which is 112 meters also located in Osaka (my favorite one has to be the Daikanransha on Odaiba, Tokyo though). One of the charms with riding a ferris Wheel to me is the night view, I just love seeing the city lit up, so I waited until it was all dark and then I bought my ticket! The line was pretty long, and the worst part was when I realised I was the only one riding alone. All around me were couples and some families, the worst part came when I had to pass the photographer. Yes, they have one of those memory photographies, where you can have your picture taken and buy it later. The staff looked like young university students, and I kindly rejected his offer, then he tells me something in the line of "it can be a nice memory :)" I felt like shaking him, bursting into tears "the memory of being f** alone?!!", fortunate for him I did not...

Anyway, the biggest disapointment was not that I could see all the couples sitting in their carts, but the view! There was almost nothing! The park is in a kind of isolated area, so not many buildings surrounding as in Yokohama, Odaiba etc. the only thing you got to see was the cars on the streets below and that damn Tower of the Sun, now with lit up eyes to really add to the creepyness.

It would probably have been better to go during the afternoon, I bet the view over the park is really nice.

Visiting the Bampaku-kinen kouen and expocity is highly recomended for those visiting Osaka, you can easily spend a whole day here. Plus, you get to experience the monorail, the view is amazing!

Back in Japan

It's been a bit over 1 year since I left Tokyo, and tomorrow I'll return to Japan. 

Starting in Tokyo I will spend some exciting 6 nights and then I'll head for Osaka where I'll do an exchange semester at Osaka University as a gradstudent.

Of course I'll attend different concerts like always but since I will be staying in Osaka not as many. I will however this time try and travel more around Japan, on my to do list is a definite visit to Kyoto and Nara, as well as Hiroshima.

As for bands, so far I will attend Schwarz Stein's outevent on September 15th in Shibuya, Tokyo. 

Later in November I have tickets to see Buck-Tick in Osaka on their standing tour (23rd) as well as for their Fish Tanker's only gig on the following day.

I hope this will be a just as fun experience in Japan as always!

Tokyo big Buddha (Daibutsu) Jorenji Temple

This was my second time living in Japan for a longer period of time (not that long, but almost a year) and I rented an apartment in a suburb area on the subway Mita line in Tokyo. When you go to the city office to register (I mentioned that procedure in another entry) you'll get like a welcoming package with information, map etc. I thought I should have a good look around the area, because I'm a bit sad I didn't in the place I lived last time. On the map I found some interesting temples and I marked them for me to go at a later time. Time flew by and I had still not gone anywhere in the area. I had made plans to go see the big Buddha in Kamakura with a friend since I missed the opening hours last time I was in Kamakura. I felt fairly excited and decided to see if there's any hidden gems left for me to see. The big Buddha in Kamakura is really famous and mentioned in every guidebook there is. But I had the feeling Japan should have more of these big statues, so I began googling for the biggest statues in the world. On second place I found that Japan, close to Tokyo, was listed and I'll make an entry about that very fieldtrip later!

Anyway, I also found that in Tokyo area a Buddha of almost the same size as the Kamakura one was located, no less than two stations away from my apartment! I checked my map and saw the temple and now I really had to go.

So on a free saturday, in a burning August day I took the train the two stations needed and went for it. My sense of directions is worthless, it took me one hour to get there, eventhough it was like a 15 minute walk. In case there are any other people like me, I'll have a walkthrough with pictures below how to get there!

First thing to do is take the Mita line subway to Shintakashimadaira station. Takes about 25 minutes from JR Yamanote line Sugamo station.
Once you've arrived at the station you want to take the south exit and cross the street on the left!

To the left is a picture of the station, and on the right is the street which should be visible when you've exited the station and walked a bit up on the street.
Now all you have to do is keep walking straight forward!

You'll pass a 7/11 on your right, as can be seen in the picture below.

 After a while you'll reach a high way, with a bridge, cross the street and go up the small road.

 Just follow the road straight ahead and you'll see a small shrine on your right and this sign to your left.

While I was passing by I thought I might aswell have a loof. It's very small though.

Now, this is where I got lost. Because when you've passed the shrine it looks as if there's just apartment buildings and greens. But keep goign straight forward until you reach the 7/11 in the photo above and then turn left and keep walking until you reach the building in the picture to the left. As you can see there's a sign and an arrow pointing to the right, that's for some garden, but you have to turn right here too. 

After a while you'll reach the sign in the photo to the right, saying 東京大仏, Tokyo big Buddha. Congratulations, you've made it!

Go up the stairs and you're there. This temple is very pretty, and since a lot of people don't know about it, it's not crowded at all! I arrived one hour before closing, and it was very peacefull and nice to walk around. The Buddha is pretty big, BUT, it's only almost as big as the Kamakura one because of the elevation it sits on. So the Buddha itself is smaller, still worth seeing though! Besides the Buddha they have a statue of a 我慢鬼, gaman oni, oni of patience, a pond, and of course a shop from which you can get a mamori. I found a really cute one for my phone, in plastic, shaped as a bag.

 Especially if you're staying in Tokyo, and might not have the time, money or just don't feel like doing the 1h train ride to Kamakura, this is a very good option! Also this area, around the Buddha and also Itabashi, rarely has any tourists, so it's a very calm and quiet place, highly recomended to visit.
In the area around the temple is a small bakey (if you keep going straight and don't turn right with the sign to the garden), and right by the parking lot by that sign is a soba restaurant. I didn't visit the garden or the art museum, but I think it might be fun things to do while in the area. If going right, instead of left by the second 7/11 you'll reach the museum.

I hope this guide will have helped you reach the Jorenji temple and the Tokyo daibutsu!