Easter in Kansai

OK, so no real offense meant but, fucking influencers! The increased level of postings all across social media about things to see and do in Japan has really ruined certain places, at least for the time being. What a difference a year makes. Last year, many of my little hidden spots around Kansai were still pretty accessible but as I was researching this year’s trip, to show a friend of mine around for her first time to Japan, I was noticing with increasing horror more social media posts along the lines of “10 spots in Osaka you have to see!” Oh, no, I thought. Sure enough, several of the places I had intended to go ended up being jam packed. I suppose it was inevitable but it made me sad. I still have a few places that have so far remained off the influencer radar, but for how long remains to be seen.

This was third-time-lucky for my friend to get over for her first trip to Japan. Around the beginning of the year she contacted me and gave me a list of dates that she had available for holidays and Easter coincided brilliantly. Once the dates were set, I proceeded to overplan. That was by design. I knew we’d never get to it all but I wanted to leave room for changes in plan or for what we decided we wanted to see. It worked out brilliantly as it will give more options for next time. At least I also got to see some places for the first time or first time in a long time. Despite both living in Kansai in the past, and lots of return trips over the past 20-plus years, there is still an awful lot of the country that I have yet to see.

Sakura were quite late this year but we managed to catch mankai (full bloom) in the last few days of the trip. Highlights of the trip included places like Kobe (where my journey in Japan began 20+ years ago), Kyoto (while attempting to avoid crowds, sometimes successfully, other times not so much. The one day of heavy rain helped keep the crowds somewhat at bay.), Himeji, (we did our impersonation of herded cattle throughout the castle. I’ve been many times and have never seen it this crazy. The gardens of Koko-en next door, and the walk around the castle were lovely.), Omihachiman in Shiga (to see the canals and the old town), Hasedera in southern Nara (for sublime sakura) and various parts of Osaka. Fabulous restaurants and equally wonderful bars were visited. My friend discovered the joys of the Japanese konbini (convenience stores). If I’m not mistaken, she deemed the Family Mart egg-salad sandwich to be top-notch in a highly scientific comparison test (she sampled all on offer at Family Mart, Circle K, 7-11 and Lawsons). Edit: I have since been corrected, it was actually Lawsons egg-salad that scored top honours.

Anyway, the following is just a wee taste of some of the digital shots taken in the 9 day trip over the Easter break. Film (yep, still film) has yet to be scanned so I’ll revisit those images later, but as I said in the previous post that I’d try to get images and stories up in a more timely manner, here we go.