Our Trip Southwest to Osaka and Shirahama in Wakayama Prefecture (5)

6:13 PM by Ren , under , ,

We made it to Osaka!


A jam-packed, rainy Wednesday morning train from my place in the suburbs of Tokyo, to Tokyo Station started Sami and my trip to the southwest to stay in Osaka and Shirahama of Wakayama prefecture. We had avoided rush hour trains until this point of Sami's visit, and this ride was especially grueling because it was a warm rain storm so everyone was overheating in their damp suits. This was also the first day we used our seven-consecutive-day unlimited train pass.
I just had a random memory from a few weeks ago when it was raining hard which causes backup in front of train stations as everyone carefully closes their umbrellas without getting themselves wet. However, as I closed my umbrella all of the water on it rushed down to the tip right into a woman's purse. Luckily she didn't notice. Oops!

The location of Shirahama. Osaka is right by it.
(Click the "X" to close the information box in the map)




Our first stop: Osaka Castle


We were met in Osaka by our old friend Asami, and her mother who guided us around for the day. We were only to spend around twenty-four hours in Osaka, but I liked it and really got the feeling that it is not nearly as busy of a city as Tokyo is.

On a hill and surrounded by a moat


View from the castle: Park, hotels, and offices


More offices


Asami and her mother with us in Namba, Osaka

We stayed the night at Asami's house and were treated to some great hospitality and delicious food. I was happy that Sami got a chance to go inside a Japanese house while here. Japanese people don't have people over to their houses as often as Americans do so it is rare for foreigners to see exactly how people live here.

The town of Shirahama (meaning "white beach")


We left Osaka around noon the day after we arrived and went to the town of Shirahama for a night. Getting from Shirahama station to the coast requires a twenty-minute bus ride.

Empty Bus


The lacking of people in this bus illustrates how there were very few tourists in Shirahama being that it was the middle of the week. Thankfully, the public busses, which mainly cater to tourists, still were efficient and ran on time.

Shirahama's main beach


"What a pretty beach, Japan is full of natural wonders," you may ponder to yourself. Think more down the lines of "Japanese people do some crazy things to make money," because this sand was all brought in from Australia to compliment this hot-spring-rich area, and turn it to a tourist destination. I think they did a pretty good job!

A peaceful escape


Sakinoyu Hot Spring

(photo from WikiTravel)

Just out of view in second picture up from here is a very famous hot spring that Sami and I indulged in that evening. Men and women each had their own, seperate pools, and you are required to go naked. These springs are some of the few in Japan that are outdoors and right on the coast. They were very beautiful and relaxing, but I still like the springs on Shinkinejima more.

Befriending locals


We ate dinner at one of the only restaurants we could find that was open. These two girls were our waitresses and we could tell they were very interested in us, and were actually talking about us loud enough that I could understand everything they were saying. When they took our order I let them know what we wanted and as I did a man jumps out of the kitchen and says "Your Japanese is really good!" I thanked him and later on the two waitresses got less shy and started chatting with us, and at one point the whole staff surrounded us as we told them about ourselves. An older lady, probably one of the owners, gifted us a couple of oranges which we ate at our table after our meals. They liked us so much that I was pretty sure they were going to give us our meal for free, but alas we paid and went to our hotel. Oh ya, Sami was told she looks like "Britney".

Sami in her bath-robe


Our hotel was a very old, dirty, and somewhat creepy place. The staff were all old and slow, and seemingly unable to take care of this place effeciently. The lesson learned here was that you get what you pay for, because this is the cheapest place we could find.

Our morning walk

In the morning we walked to the main beach and took a paved, coastal path to view a famous, little island that Shirahama is known for. It was great weather that morning, but it started to get cool and breezy later that day.

View from the trail


Continuing on the trail


Arrival!


This beautiful landmark is seen on many postcards and travel brocheures. The coast at Shirahama is primarily sandstone and there are many caves and interesting sights, some of which I got pictures of so keep scrolling down!

Off to see some of the sandstone sights


A quick bus ride brought us here:






Old man and the sea


We the walked to some cliffs


Looking down at some caves


This picture still makes me cringe


Japanese Romeo and Juliet


Tourist photo op'!





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5 Reply to "Our Trip Southwest to Osaka and Shirahama in Wakayama Prefecture"

Anonymous on May 27, 2009 at 9:36 PM

I love Japanese architecture, old and new. The information about the sand from Australia is quite amazing! I guess they have more than made up for the cost of it in tourist dollars.

Sami, you look adorable in your bathrobe. Did you do as I suggested, and buy yourself a kimono? If so, be sure to bring it to the family reunion, I'd love to see it.

What a wonderful side trip this was, and it's so nice to be able to enjoy it through your camera lens, Ren.

A.J.

 

Miho on May 28, 2009 at 5:08 AM

i should go to those areas on another "golden week" in Sep.
id love to go to America much more tho :D

 

Ren on May 28, 2009 at 7:38 AM

Thanks for the nice comments!

Miho: Come to America asap! :D

 

Anonymous on May 28, 2009 at 9:43 AM

Wow! This looked like a great adventure. A more blue to the ocean than here, yet not as blue as hawaii. There were not that many people in the picture. Nice! I had not seen Asami in along time. I did not know you guys saw her.

DAD

 

buy cialis on May 18, 2011 at 11:20 AM

Awesome pictures, indeed Japan is a great nation, it is a shame how many people died in this earthquake/tsunami that hit them on march 11, RIP.

 

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