Do you remember the song ‘Big in Japan’ by eighties band Alphaville? Listen to it on Youtube if you don’t… now that I’ve mentioned it, you will not be able to get the stupid song out of your head. I know I’m not!): Although Osaka is a convenient port of entry to Japan, it is probably not the country’s most exciting city. We thought that two of the nicest attractions are the Osaka aquarium, which has a magnificent ‘Pacific Ocean aquarium’ that features two whalesharks (!), two manta rays and a number of other shark varieties, and the Umeda Sky tower, which offers a very romantic view of the city, especially at night. As Osaka is a good base for daytrips, we visited the Himeji castle from there, a very lovely 16th century, oriental looking castle.
Kyoto is much nicer, and looks more Japanese than Osaka does, which is basically just another concrete jungle. There are very many temples here. We only managed to visit a few today, so we’ll have to get up early tomorrow morning to see the rest…
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