We’ve been here just over a week now and this is certainly an amazing country. Japan has long been one of the places on our ‘bucket list’ to visit – and we’re so excited to finally be here.
After arriving into Osaka airport in the evening, we needed to navigate our way on the rail system to the location of our apartment. We were lucky to connect with Shawn (Keith’s cousin) who has lived in Japan for the past 20 years and has a second apartment which he rents to friends and family. He met us at the rail station and drove us to the apartment to help us get orientated in Osaka.
The first morning we set off on a family run to explore the neighbourhood. We’re located about 20 minutes outside of the city centre in a town called Senriyama. It’s a very safe and quiet family neighbourhood here – which we just love being immersed in. These small windy roads are busy with kids riding their bikes to school, men and women in business suits making their way to the train station, and the buzz of a local Osaka suburb.
We’ve packed a lot into our time here in Osaka and Kansai so far, and we’re enjoying every moment and many Japanese ‘nows’.
Japanese Kindness
We’ve been overwhelmed with the kindness of the Japanese. Whether it’s a friendly smile on the streets, a helpful hand in the trains stations, or a spontaneous free gift for Kai and Vea from store clerks – we’re continually amazed by the generosity we’ve experienced. We even had one person walk together with us for 20 minutes making sure we got to the correct train station terminal that we were trying to find.
Vea received a free bouquet from this local flower shop because they thought she was so cute!
Lost in translation
It’s been fun trying to navigate Japan with so little English in the signage. Our first day here we were transfixed by the subway map and felt like we were on a different planet trying to make sense of the Japanese characters. After a bit more than a week here, we’ve been exploring outside of Osaka and have found a bit more English in the signage – which has been helpful and amusing at the same time. We’ve seen more than a few examples of bizarre English translations which have given us many belly laughs.
Welcoming Friends
Once again we find ourselves experiencing a piece of local living in Japan thanks to the fantastic family we’ve met here. Shawn, Sayuri, Alysha and Kayla have been wonderful to help us get settled into our apartment, and we’ve really enjoyed our times with them. We’ve had some beautiful days in the park playing family games, amazing sushi and noodle dinners, and wonderful conversations over a few Sapporos. Vea has learned how to use chopsticks from the girls, and both Kai and Vea have in turn taught the girls how to make their ‘loom bands’. Also – we’ve learned many Kendama tricks from Alysha. She’s definitely a pro and makes Kai green with envy when he sees some of her cool moves.
Mega Shopping
Japanese love their shopping!!! Since we are not really doing any shopping of our own we enjoy watching it all happen. Osaka has huge underground shopping malls, 10 floor department stores on every corner, streets devoted to everything from chopsticks to electronics, blocks and blocks of covered shopping arcades and of course a district entirely for food (our favourite)! In addition to shopping there are huge gaming arcades everywhere! One of the biggest arcade is Joypolis – and we enjoyed giving Kai and Vea a few hundred yen to pick their game of choice.
High-tech Toilets
We had heard about the amazing technology of Japanese toilets – but they certainly have to be experienced first hand to fully appreciate what they’re like. These are actually not called toilets – they are named ‘Washlets’, in which you you sit on a heated seat and have control panel at hand with a selection of water sprays (with variable pressure and directional controls!), fragrances and synchronized music to accompany your toilet ‘business’. Kai and Vea were so impressed with these Washlets that they wanted to buy one and send it home!
Osaka Cuisine
Osaka is renowned for being the food capital of Japan. There are many regional specialties here which we’ve enjoyed learning about and sampling. We’re especially loving the Ramen and Udon noodle houses which seem to be everywhere we look. These affordable and delicious noodles are quickly becoming our ‘go to’ meal. Kai loved it when we told him that in Japan, slurping the noodles is allowed and actually encouraged! The sushi here has been amazing as well – and we’ve been impressed with Kai and Vea’s courage to try new types of rolls. Norrie has been adventurous as well and has tried the local delicacy known as Takoyaki (round octopus fritters), and Okonomiyaki (somewhere between an omelet and a pancake). Kari has even tried a few dishes outside of her ‘comfort zone’ – including ‘Unni Sushi’ (sea urchin).
We enrolled in a cooking class which offered a traditional sushi making lessons for all of us. Norrie requested to learn how to make ‘inside-out-rolls’ – which we’ve often tried to create (and failed) at home. We were surprised to learn that these types of rolls are actually more of a Western adaption of sushi since most Westerners don’t like the taste of Nori Seaweed. The class was very fun for everyone – especially Kai and Vea, who got to roll their own sushi, then took part in Origami lessons from the instructors after lunch.
Koyasan Buddhist Temple
We’ve received a lot of travel advice from friends who’ve lived in Japan previously. One such recommendation from Katherine certainly struck a chord with us – which was a trip to Mount Koyasan to stay overnight in a working Buddhist temple. We were very excited to experience this one-of-a-kind opportunity and see some of the ‘real’ Japan outside the big city. After a long trip which involved several trains, a cable car and a bus transfer – we arrived in the serenity and zen of Mount Koyasan. It was so great to be in the cool mountain air and dense green trees after the hustle and bustle of Osaka. The temple we stayed at was located at the start of an amazing walk down a pathway with 200,00 tombstones and 20,000 shining garden lanterns leading to Okunoin and the resting place of Kobo Daishi (the founder of Shingon Budhism is Japan). The walk was a bit spooky for all of us. Most of the time we were the only ones on the path, and with the low light, still trees and the occasional flying squirrel swooping overheard – it was quite an experience. In the morning we woke at dawn to observe the morning prayers and chants in the temple. We all felt profound respect for all the monks that were so happy and giving of their religion and culture by allowing us to be guests in their temple.
We’re so proud of Kai and Vea to see how confident travellers they have become. To watch them easily navigate through the busy Umeda rail station during rush hour madness in Osaka makes us smile. They lead the way easily through a dense crowd of people and just look back every minute or so to make sure we’re following behind.
Soon we’ll be activating our 7 day Japan Rail pass to start travelling into the rural areas of the country. We’re excited to get out of the city and explore the Japanese Alps and possibly some coastal areas.
All 4 now!
What an exciting place to be! Certainly off of the usual travellers’ list. I know my Dad absolutely loved Japan. We are thrilled to be able to see all of this through your camera lens. Thanks for posting!
Hi Culley. We can certainly understand why Charlie would love Japan. It is a very special place – and so many things to capture with the camera! We’ll have more photos in our next blog post. Thanks for the comment!
Hi Norrie and family, Not sure that I will ever get to Japan myself and so it is very special seeing the country through your eyes. Love, Barb
Hi Barb. If you ever get the chance to visit Japan – the months of May / June are the best for spring / early summer weather. We’ve heard everyone say it gets too hot and humid here in July and August. We actually want to come back sometime to experience winter in the mountains – the snowboarding is supposed to be incredible here. Thanks for the comment!
Way to go! Not an easy place to be a tourist for sure, but you did it with ease. Glad you’re enjoying the country and all it has to offer, Koya-san included. 🙂
Hi Katherine. We’ve checked off all of your recommendations that you sent us – with the only exception being Karaoke. Vea sang enough on the trains to make up for that. You were right about the train station Ramen noodles being the best! It’s easy to see now why your time in Japan was so memorable for you and Michael.
I am so enjoying your updates, Matthews Family! I literally tear up every time I read one of your blog entries. What a priceless gift you all are experiencing together! Happy travels! xo
Thanks Teri. We’ve been thinking about you as our travels will soon bring us to Africa. Your trip looked so amazing and special – we’re looking forward to experiencing some of the African culture. Thanks for the comment.
Hello Matthews family! I enjoy reading your posts and following your journeys. I must admit that I am completely fascinated by this leg of your trip and can’t wait to read about your rural adventures in Japan. Take care and I’ll be waiting for more news and photos. 🙂
A special shout out to Kai from Mathieu aka ‘Chewy’.
Vanessa and Mathieu
Hi Vanessa and Mathieu. Great to hear from you!! Kai is closely following the soccer team stats and sends a special shout out back to Chewy! We’ve had some amazing experiences in rural Japan. It’s quite a contrast from the big cities. We really love this country and its people.
Learned so much through your experiences there and now I have Japan on my bucket list! Thanks so much for sharing. xxx Malini
Oh Malini – you would really love it here in Japan! There are so many amazing sights to photograph and the simplicity of design here is incredible. Everything is packaged so perfectly too.
Wow guys! What a Blessing to be able to experience the world first hand and all it has to offer. There must be some big plans in store for your lives after building this amazing foundation. Always love reading your posts. Safe travels and God bless
From the Schwartz’s
Thanks Colleen. Great to hear from you. We do feel very fortunate to be experiencing so many ‘nows’ as we travel – and we know that this trip will be such a life changer for all of us! Hope you’re enjoying the lake this summer. Kai is sad to be missing some wake-boarding with Brian.
Hei på dere japanesere.Tusen takk for for fine bilder og hilsen.Helt utrolig hva dere opplever.VEldig moro å følge dere.Her har vi full sommer.GLeder oss til dere kommer i September.Vi skal en tur på hytta i nord sammen med Margareh
Og Nils.Terje og Emil sykler og sykler.Alle har det bra.Store knuseklemmer til dere fra oss i Horten.
Hei Pa Dere! Vi gleder oss til Norge i September. Det kommer til bli helt topp nar vi er ferdig med Afrika – deilig og ha familie og kosses oss med! Stor Klem! xo
Hello to my very adventures family
I wish i had come to Japan , it sounds so kind and gentle,i bet that Unni sushi was amazing!!
Okina hoyo from mama!,
Impressive Japanese! You would definitely love this country. I think Norrie mentions everyday how much you would love it here. xo
That is amazing. I cannot imagine getting around with the language barrier. You are very fortunate to have friends to get you started. Can’t wait to read more!
Hi Angela. We are definitely impressed how helpful the people are here in Japan. We are looking forward to pay it forward when we come back.
Amazing blog post. How could those Westerners not like a Seaweed called Nori? They need more Kool-Aid.
I always get lots of funny laughs and smiles when I introduce myself to Japanese people because of my name. I suppose I would laugh too if I met a Japanese person in Canada with a name like ‘Bacon’. We found out also that Kari’s name means ‘Samurai Warrior’ in Japanese. Fitting for her Viking background. Kai’s name means ‘Shell’ or ‘Sea’ in Japanese, and Vea’s name means ‘Teddy Bear’.
Hello Matthews family from Venice, leave for Nova Scotia tomorrow after a wonderful 12-day cruise around the Coast of Spain,France,Italy,Greece,Turkey. I can only imagine some of the adventures you are having in japan. You make it sound so interesting – and as always the pictures say a thousand words. Thanks for sharing all those memories with the rest of us.
Love
Marion
Hi Marion. What an incredible trip to celebrate your big birthday coming up. Aren’t the canals beautiful in Venice? Now you can picture us running over all those canal bridges at the end of our Venice marathon. Can’t wait to hear more about your trip and see some pictures!
“Playing games with a hard on?” haha! The cooking class- oh, I would have loved that!