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《This is Part 2 of Sofia's Travelogue. If you haven't read Part 1 yet, be sure to check it out first!》

Awajishima & Kagawa (Hyogo & Kagawa Prefectures, Kansai & Shikoku):

I got the really awesome opportunity to travel to Awaji Island and Kagawa with my host family! 

Awaji island is a small island in Osaka Bay, fairly close to Kobe, while Kagawa is in Shikoku, the island south of Chugoku.
First, my host family and I rented a car to drive from our home to Awajishima. Our first stop was a local strawberry farm where we picked strawberries with their friends! And look at this beautiful Shiba I met! She was guarding the farm, so sweet!

Next we went to a local park called England Hill, an agricultural park with beautiful foliage and animals, like Koalas, Ibis, Capybara, etc.! Here is me in a field of Nanohana, a flower that while we have in the west, is really highlighted here in Japan for its bright yellow color. They’re gorgeous!

Kagawa is famous for the “Udon Pilgrimage.” Because the region is very fertile, their flour is known to be quite high-quality. Thus, their udon, which is a simple noodle made of flour, is renowned for its quality. So the next day, we spent the entire day driving between different places in Kagawa trying Udon (as well as a few historic spots, like Seto Ohashi bridge Marugame castle!).

 I had nine different types in a single day, but my favorites were a classic hot udon with namatamago raw egg) and koucha (black pepper), and Ume Tororo, which features grated yam (tororo) and umeboshi (pickled plum). 

The egg gives the first one a silky, buttery taste broken by the spice of the pepper, while the Ume Tororo has this almost indescribable umami that is both sour, sweet, bitter, and savory. I recommend you try it!

For my sweet treat recommendation, I say get soft serve ice cream! Awaji is known for having amazing dairy products, because like Kagawa, the land is very fertile which makes for well-fed cows. The soft serve is so high-quality, just so so delicious! Naruto, on Awaji, is also known for sweet potatoes, so you should get a sweet potato cookie while you’re at it, like mine here!

Osaka (Osaka Prefecture, Kansai):

So, this is cheating a bit. I actually lived in Osaka during my time in Japan, so this is my actual home base. But I live in Suita on the outskirts of the city proper, so I’m counting trips into Osaka itself as their own travel.
Since I live in Suita… let me tell you about Bampakukoen, the ‘70 World Expo Commemorative Park and home of the Statue of the Sun—Taiyo no To. 

I fully believe this is one of the most underrated places in the country, particularly in this region. Maybe I’m just biased because I see Taiyo no To every day when I leave my apartment, but I really love this place. The park has so much to look at, from Ume groves to Sakura trees lining beautiful green spaces. There is a large, gorgeous Japanese garden with a tea-house restoration, bamboo forest, flower hill, and waterfalls. The statue of the sun itself has a museum inside, but I still haven’t been able to go yet! There is also the World Expo City, where there is a public park, massive mall, restaurants, and a very lovely ferris wheel!

I’ve visited Dotonbori in Osaka with two other friends from our program, as well as with my parents and I’ll be totally honest. I didn’t like it. Neither did they. Granted, none of us are fans of crowds (so how I’ll survive Tokyo is anyone’s guess) and Dotonbori is super crowded. 

But it’s still worth a visit for one thing and one thing only: the food. Osaka is the street food capital of Japan (some would argue the world!), and it earns that name.

But besides the busy streets, Osaka Castle is beautiful, but honestly, I wouldn’t go inside it. It’s overly crowded, the views aren’t great, but the and shrines gardens surrounding the castle itself are definitely worth the visit, and you get to see the gorgeous green and gold roof of the castle against the horizon while you do it.
When you are eating in Osaka, it’s street food street food street food. Osaka-style Okonomiyaki is my absolute favorite in all of Japan.  Here’s a version that my host made for me!

But while you’re in the area, hit up Sakai for their Dorayaki! Sakai is most famous for its Kofun, the massive key-shaped tombs were ancient emperors were buried during the titular Kofun period, but it is now home to some of the most delicious Wagashiya in Osaka.

Kinosaki Onsen (Hyogo Prefecture, Kansai):

Kinosaki Onsen gets its own section, because even though Awajishima is also in Hyogo, they’re so far apart and distinct that I thought I should separate them. This wasn’t a bucket-list thing for me, but when looking at places to explore in Kansai, I knew I wanted to come here. Kinosaki is a two-hour express train ride from Kyoto station through the countryside of Japan, so it’s really easy to travel here! The town is small but very peaceful, with a beautiful, slow river under stone bridges and streets that frame the various famed onsen.
Kinosaki is home to the “seven mystic onsen,” and for the ridiculously cheap price of 1,500 yen, you can buy a day pass and experience as many of the Onsen as are open that day. The thing is, not every onsen is open every day, but all are open on holidays. Unless one is under construction, which one was when I went.
My favorite Onsen was “Kono-Yu,” located towards the back of town close to the Onsen temple. It is the oldest of the bathouse buildings in Kinosaki, and its waters are said to promote happiness and longevity. There’s a story that an Oriental White Stork, Kinosaki’s iconic bird, was healing its wounds in the spring, and that’s how the waters were discovered! The onsen has a beautiful outdoor hot spring in a quaint, peaceful garden. The hot water felt so good on a chilly day!
After a day of hard work relaxing in the hot springs, there are two things in Kinosaki I recommend you have. Onsen milk and Crab. Onsen milk is said to promote rehydration and replenishment of the nutrients the body lost after the springs. The three most popular flavors are plain, coffee, and fruit-flavored milk. The coffee is like a sweet, cool, cafe-au-lait, and was such a perfect drink after the baths! Crab is another Kinosaki specialty, and really, you could have it any way and it would be delicious, but I’m partial to this stuffed crab head I had during my visit. Gooey rice paired perfectly with the salty roe and umami crab inside the head-turned-bowl!

Nagoya & Gifu (Aichi & Gifu Prefectures, Chubu):

Once my friend and travel partner (same person as Kinosaki Onsen!) and I got to Nagoya, we hit some of the cities best parks and nature spots before making our way to our lodgings, the Ryusenji-no-yu Super Sento beside Ryusen-ji temple.
One of Nagoya’s famous foods is Miso, which they incorporate into classically Japanese dishes. Example: this Miso Katsu I had. Oh my god, this was mind-blowingly good. The miso gives the Tonkatsu an almost sourness which brightens up the sauce. The meat itself was perfect tender with a crispy crust, and made for such a delicious lunch.
On the sweet side, let's pop over to Gifu, which is quite known for Chestnuts and “kurikinton” or traditionalChestnut sweets. There is a great Wagashiya in Gifu station that sells a variety of eastern and western sweets made with chestnut. I bought a big variety: tarts, financier, madeline, etc., and I really enjoyed them! Not too sweet, not too heavy, just little perfect bites.

Tokyo & Nikko (Tokyo & Tochigi Prefectures, Kanto):

So my latest travels were to Tokyo, where I also visited Nikko and Hakone during my time there! I stayed with my parents in Ikebukuro, which was such a lively and fun area to explore! It’s such an interesting mix of different kinds of Japanese culture, from business offices, anime and hobby stores, restaurants stacked on top of host clubs on top of bars, etc. Harajuku was also a highlight; I love fashion, so I was so happy to see so many of the alternative styles that Harajuku is known for, as well as more casual street styles. I’m really a fan of the way Japanese historical clothing has influenced their modern trends. Lots of cuts of jackets and uses of fabrics give even the most “normal” of clothing a unique look. But this has been a pretty long post (assuming you’re still here! Hi!) so… I’m going to leave it there! There’s enough Tokyo to go around, so explore, get out there and find your favorite spots!

I have two upcoming trips planned for after this blog post: Okinawa and Kyushu (Tsushima, Fukuoka, and Oita)! So please wish me luck on my travels. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to travel to Tohoku this semester, so I’ll just have to come back to Japan again to hit Sendai and Akita! I hope from reading this post you get inspired to come to Japan, or explore wherever it is you live and find new and exciting places, foods, and people wherever you go!

Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed!