Osaka Day 4

Lots of pics and details today, so will try to keep it short...

Our first stop of the day was at Yasaka Jinja (aka Gion Shrine), a short walk from our apartment. We used to visit this temple on New Years Eve for their festivities (bell ringing, rope burning).

From there, we walked through historic Gion down to the Shijo Kawaramachi Hankyu station and headed over to Katsura...our former 'hood. We were both so excited to see how much it had changed...but as we've been discovering all over the city- it really hadn't changed much at all. All of favorite stops (restaurants, stores, businesses) were still there! The only thing missing from 13 years ago was...us! :-)

Our apartment building...we lived on the third floor above a juku (cram school for kids).  Rich knocked on the door of our old apartment while I ran away.

The old rice field across the street was still there. *Smile*

After our nostalgic time in Katsura, we hopped back on the Hankyu line for Umeda Station in Osaka, then transferred over to Shin Osaka station.

This is how we rode half the trains each day...in the front car, peering through the window at the driver. ;-) 

First stop in Osaka- we checked out the legendary, uber modern and futuristic Umeda Sky Building nearby...our view wasn't so hot so we took this fake photo in front of a billboard for it! Looks almost real though, doesn't it?

Seriously, everything about the modernity of Japan amazes me...one positive change we noticed over time...the restrooms in some the train stations were so beautiful! Rich is now committed to buying one of those multi-functional Japanese TOTO toilets for our home.

While Rich killed time in Osaka's Den Den town (electronics district), I showed Ryan one of my favorite places in Japan- Takashimaya's food floor!

The sushi rolls give our island's version (Earl's) some competition!

Food is art in Japan. Which means I've got plenty of culture, baby.

Our main reason for heading to Osaka? So Ryan could fulfill his dream of riding a Shinkansen! We did our best to turn a short, 15-min. ride (from Osaka back to Kyoto) on the speedy Nozomi train into a 2+ hour experience- Ry donned his new birthday Shinkansen t-shirt from the Hale's, and posed with every Shinkansen employee on duty that day...

The helpful platform ladies

One of the Shinkansen drivers

The gentleman who makes sure we don't get too close to the tracks (side note: the station is so modern, that the railings slide open and shut automatically whenever a train rolls in).

Getting ready to board the Nozomi (the fastest of the three Shinaksen trains)...the N700.

The trains roll in about every 15 minutes, so it was no problem securing open seats in the unreserved car.

Arriving back in Kyoto station and bidding all a fond "Arigatou and Sayonara" to some new friends