BLOG -- My Trip to Japan V.5 -- ADVENTURE PART 4 (Tempozan Harbor Village, Nara)

Here is Part 4 of my Japan blogs. This covers two new areas that are on my future re-visit list!

TEMPOZAN HARBOR VILLAGE

DAYS SPENT: 0.5

OVERALL THOUGHTS: We went to Tempozan Harbor Village mainly for the aquarium. I was also considering experiencing one of the cruises or going on the ferris wheel but couldn't fit them into the itinerary. It also would have been nice to check out Legoland, but like all Legolands adults usually need to be accompanied by a kid.

PLACES VISITED:

Tempozan Market Place

The Tempozan Market Place is a shopping area close to the aquarium. Legoland is also inside the Tempozan Market Place. Overall, this was a nice place to bum around while waiting for our admission time for the aquarium.

What you see when you enter Tempozan Market Place from the front entrance. The display is very nice.

The entrance to Legoland.

The entrance for Naniwa Kuishinbo Yokocho, an area serving various street foods in an old Showa-era setting (between late 1926-early 1989).

Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan

When we got to Tempozan Harbor Village around 10:12 AM, there was already a long line to buy tickets for the Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan (which I'll refer to as "the aquarium" for the rest of this entry). We joined the line and was able to buy tickets for 11 AM. You are not able to enter the aquarium before your slotted time, but once you enter you can stay there for as long as you like for that day. Around 10:55 AM, we got in line to enter the aquarium. There was a family ahead of us who had tickets for the aquarium but it turned out that their tickets were for a later timeslot. Their tickets for a cruise, however, was happening at 11 AM! They ran off towards the cruise.

Ticket prices for the aquarium vary by day. The ticket prices can be viewed on the aquarium's official website in the "Admission fees & other tickets" section. I've noticed that when you get to the website for the first time, it might automatically translate text to your language, but the calendar and ticket info don't show. To make the calendar and ticket info show, change the language in the top left corner of the site to Japanese (the option above English), then change the language back to the desired language. I'm not sure if that works for everybody, but that's how I've been able to see the calendar and ticket info. When we went, tickets costed 2700 yen each.

The aquarium was really fun! We saw a variety of animal life, many on the aquatic side. We took our time going through each exhibit, spending most of the time looking at the huge whale shark. My favourite exhibit was the penguins. The penguins just moved about and did their thing, not seeming to care that lots of people were looking at them.

There were also inkpad stamps to collect throughout the aquarium. Whenever we came across one, we'd stamp the design into our notebooks.  

Aside from the very crowded gift shop, it was a very fun experience and I would totally visit again! :)

A black-crowned night heron to the left, and a mandarin duck on the right.

The mandarin duck cleaning itself.

The black-crowned night heron cleaning itself.

A South American coati.

I wonder what aquatic animal this is. ;)

The whale shark! It is huge!

Some spotted and splendid garden eel.

Jellyfish! XD

Some jellyfish moving.

More jellyfish moving.

Penguins. Lots and lots of penguins.

It was around 1:17 PM when I took this photo and tickets were on sale for the 2:45 PM slot!

OTHER PHOTOS:

Our route to Tempozan Harbor Village partially shared the same route for people getting to Expo 2025. This means that commuting, even after the rush hour, was very crowded!

A neat display at I think Osakako station.

A wide view shot of Tempozan Harbor Village.

I don't know why, but I like this shot, hahaha.

NARA

DAYS SPENT: 0.5

OVERALL THOUGHTS: If you want to spend a day looking at deer, possibly feeding some deer, and also running away from some deer, Nara is the place for you! We missed visiting Nara during the last Japan trip because I got sick. I wasn't going to miss it again!

Aside from Nara Park, we checked out the Higashimuki Shopping Mall that was close to Nara station, which had some neat places. 

PLACES VISITED:

Nara Park and some surrounding spots

We got to Nara Park around 10:10 AM, thinking that there'd be very few people around. We were wrong. The place was full of tourists... and deer! We walked a bit in Nara Park and then we walked towards Todai-ji Temple. When we got to the entrance of Todai-ji Temple, we decided to walk along the edges instead of paying the 800-1200 yen admission to go inside. Wherever we walked, we encountered deer. Some were lazing about; some were standing and observing the crowd; some bowed their heads (so cute); some approached with their deer-eyed looks in hopes of getting fed.

If you want to feed the deer safely, below are some things to keep in mind:

-There are tons of vendors selling deer crackers throughout the park. You don't have to get into the long line that might form at the vendors closest to the subway station (i.e. the vendors most people might see first if commuting to Nara Park).

-As of this writing, deer crackers are 200 yen. Deer crackers are the only things you should feed to the deer.

-Based off reading some Reddit threads, aim to get to Nara Park earlier than noon for a better chance at feeding the deer. Sometimes vendors may sell out of the deer crackers or the deer may no longer be as hungry in the afternoon.

-Aim to feed deer that are by themselves to avoid getting crowded. Once other deer see you feeding or holding any kind of food, there is a good chance that they will approach you. They don't make much sounds when moving so you could get surrounded and not even notice until it's too late. When deer get really close they could nip or bite so try to avoid getting into that situation. My boyfriend got bit on his side once and one deer bit above my butt. Thankfully we didn't bleed, but my boyfriend had a small reddish mark for a few days.

-Keep unused deer crackers in a pouch or bag with a zipper as some curious deer may poke around your pockets or open bags. Along the same vein, keep any personal belongings in a pouch or bag with a zipper. That wallet or phone in the back pocket is not safe!

-Be extra cautious of feeding deer with antlers, filed down antlers, or nubs. They are males and tend to be more aggressive than females.

-If you want to try communicating to the deer that you have no food, hold up your hands high while showing your empty palms to the deer. I can't say it will work all the time, but some of the deer should understand.

Overall, our time there was very nice and relaxing (with a mix of alertness for any ninja deer). Seeing the deer was great and we'll definitely come back again!

The deer crackers. One pack was more than enough for us.

A map of restaurants and cafes nearby.

A sign cautioning getting close to male deer during mating season.

Cute.

More cute.

Some deers surrounding us.

My boyfriend feeds a deer (I don't show my boyfriend's face).

Feeding a sitting deer.

A father kites a bunch of deer and then gives the cracker to his son.

Did this deer make a sound?

My boyfriend feeding that deer.

The deer making more sounds.

A deer bowing.

OTHER PHOTOS:

A display at Nara station.

The entrance to Higashimuki Kita shopping street (across from Higashimuki Shopping Mall). We didn't explore it.

A vending machine for macarons.

That's it for Part 4. One Adventure portion and three other Japan-related entries are left! I've really been taking my sweet time haven't I? ^^; Hopefully I'll get them done before the year is over ^^;

Thank you for reading! If you have any questions or comments about any of these places I visited, feel free to say something in the comments box or fill out a contact form!

Take care, stay safe, and until next time! :)

BLOG -- My Trip to Japan V.5 -- ADVENTURE PART 3 (Shinsaibashi, Tennoji)

Here is Part 3 of my Japan blogs. We briefly explored a couple new areas -- one to get a souvenir for a friend and the other to check out a couple temples.

SHINSAIBASHI

DAYS SPENT: 0.5

OVERALL THOUGHTS: We came here mainly to get a souvenir for a friend and spent some time in line to get that souvenir. After checking online, I found out that Shinsaibashi is next to Dotonbori and Shinsaibashi has a large shopping street (Shinsaibashi-suji Shopping Street) that leads to Dotonbori. We have explored that large shopping street multiple times and didn't realize it was part of Shinsaibashi. ^^;

PLACES VISITED:

America-mura (American Village)

If you are looking for "non-mainstream" fashion, America-mura is the place to check out. We did some window shopping, but didn't step inside 'cuz of the pricing on the displayed T-shirts. If the T-shirts costed 3000-4500 yen, how much would other clothing cost? Close to the end of our exploration, we saw a BOOKOFF shop and went inside. What a relief to see T-shirts at more reasonable prices (around 1350 yen), even though the clothing was secondhand.

If we had more time, I think I'd like to come back. I'm almost certain we missed some shops. There should be a small Statue of Liberty in America-mura, but we missed seeing it. ^^;

A shot of America-mura.

The line we were in to get the souvenir. The shop is called Lilo Coffee Roasters.

The inner goth / punk in me wanted to check this shop out (Volcan & Aphrodite), but I was too shy to walk in.

TENNOJI

DAYS SPENT: 0.5

OVERALL THOUGHTS: Tennoji was our area for visiting temples. There were two temples within walking distance of each other. There was also a zoo and a museum but they were closed (we were the area way too early). If you plan to visit the zoo and the museum, aim to get to the Tennoji area after 9:30 AM and not on a Monday. There was a place I missed exploring so I'll definitely come back to Tennoji again. 

PLACES VISITED:

Isshin-ji Temple

This was a temple with some interesting statues. It was raining so we kept the visit pretty short. The greenery gave a serene atmosphere and the front entrance had an interesting canopy design.

A back entrance to Isshin-ji Temple.

A statue among some greenery.

The front entrance. Those statues look intimidating.

Shitennoji Temple (outside)

The walk to Shitennoji Temple was about 8-10 minutes from Isshin-ji Temple. As we were walking, we noticed a number of children in school uniforms walking in the same direction. My initial thought was, 'Is there a school trip going on?'. It turns out that there is a school right next to the temple! There was a sign next to the school's entrance expressing that this is a school and to please not take pictures. 

When we reached Shitennoji Temple, we realized that we were in a "lobby area" and we had to pay an admission to really enter the temple. There were three different admissions: 300 yen to the inner precinct, 300 yen to the garden, and 500 yen to the treasure house (why was there so many different admissions?). With our schedule being a bit tight that day, we ended up not paying the admission and instead briefly exploring the lobby area before heading towards our next destination (which was the Hikaru no Go exhibit in Den Den Town).

The entrance to Shitennoji temple.

A map. It looks pretty huge!

A glimpse of what we would have seen if we had paid the admission.

This souvenir shop has been taken in by the gacha. The first 4 green characters in the sign above reads "omiyage", which loosely translates to souvenirs for friends, colleagues, and family from a destination.

OTHER PHOTOS:

A vibrant mural in Dobutsuen-Mae station.

The entrance to Shinsekai, a place I wanted to check out in the evening.

All the stalls in Shinsekai were closed in the morning.

A long bridge towards the Osaka Museum of Fine Arts.

That's it for Part 3. Thanks for reading! If you are still here despite all the long pauses in between, thank you for sticking around! XD

If you have any questions or comments about any of these places I visited, feel free to say something in the comments box or fill out a contact form!

Take care, stay safe, and until next time! :)

BLOG -- My Trip to Japan V.5 -- ADVENTURE PART 2 (Nipponbashi, Namba, Dotonbori)

Here is Part 2 of my Japan blogs. This covers the areas within walking distance of the hotel. Every spot mentioned here took about 10-15 minutes.

NOTE: Even though I have Namba and Dotonbori in two separate sections, Dotonbori is actually within Namba. Since Dotonbori is a key location in some of the Yakuza games, I like highlighting it as a separate place.

Below is a link to a previous entry about these areas.

Japan Trip 2023: Nipponbashi / Den Den Town, Namba, Dotonbori

NIPPONBASHI

DAYS SPENT: Several mornings and afternoons

OVERALL THOUGHTS: We wandered around Nipponbashi often, especially when we wanted to check out Den Den Town for some nerdy shops like Animate or Volks. I liked that this area was within walking distance.

PLACES VISITED:

Den Den Town (RE-VISIT)

I'm sure I've mentioned this in my last Japan trip, but Den Den Town is Osaka's version of Akihabara. Looking for some anime, video games, or electronic goods? Den Den Town's got it. There are some shops that carry second-hand figures or claw game prizes for low-ish prices. There is also a Lawson 100 shop closeby where you can buy some things on the cheap. Only thing to keep in mind is that most shops in Den Den Town open around 10 AM so avoid getting there too early.

A shot of Den Den Town.

Oh my... I wanted this so badly. But the cost... it's too much (approx $954 CAD)! D:

A shop that sells goods for Dark Souls, Warhammer, Elden Ring, World of Warcraft, and other series. The merchandise is pretty pricey but looks like nice quality.

Look at all the Yakuza games! <3

Hikaru no Go Exhibit

While my boyfriend and I were walking around Namba, I saw a poster and standee advertising a Hikaru no Go exhibit. Being a Hikaru no Go fan, I wanted to check it out. It was located in Space Gratus, which we found out was some gallery space with Animate. We went to Animate on the last day of the exhibit, but couldn't find Space Gratus on any of its floors. When we were about to give up, I saw a Hikaru no Go sign or poster on a building just across. It turned out that the building across from Animate was Space Gratus. Phew!

Admission into the exhibit was 2200 yen each. I was a bit surprised because the poster didn't mention any admission price, but I didn't mind. For me, the exhibit was very nice. There were tons of original manga pages with a few key locations or scenes recreated with real furniture. Close to the end there were coloured pieces like manga covers and some promotional artwork. 

On another floor was an eating area, which I think needed some kind of ticket or reservation to enter. There was also a gift shop that had tons and tons of goods. For any Hikaru no Go fan, it was a shopping paradise. Sadly, almost everything was a bit on the pricey side (and in gacha format, ugh). I still got a few things, which you'll see later in my "Swags" post. 

Overall, I really enjoyed myself. I was also happy to see attendees of varying ages (around 20-50+) at the exhibit. The fandom for Hikaru no Go still lives on! :)

A random card that's given with your admission. We got Akira and Sai on the top left. Akira's my favourite character so I was very happy. XD

A Go board and some stools. I think the Go problem was shown in the series. We were allowed to sit on the stools.

A recreation of Hikaru's room depicting a specific scene.

Sai and some manga pages featuring him!

Kuromon Market

When I looked up places to visit in Namba, Kuromon Market often came up. Kuromon Market is a shotengai (a shopping street) that has a lot of foods and goods to buy. We got there just as the stalls and shops were opening up. Barely anybody was there but when it got to noon, the market was packed. 

It was a really neat place. There was a dining area with a bunch of benches and lots of food stalls. I haven't seen any other shotengai with a dining area before. There was also a supermarket. We also saw a small walkway in the middle of Kuromon Market leading outside to a couple cafes selling what looked like handmade souvenirs. 

I would definitely come back! :)

One entrance into Kuromon Market.

Inside the market. The canopy design looks nice.

The little walkway in the middle of Kuromon Market. It was random and inviting.

OTHER PHOTOS:

Something neat around Den Den Town.

Why are there figures of the Netflix One Piece characters??

In Animate, there are capsule machines containing fanart merch. I never realized it before!

There was so many fanart merch of Blue Archive. The machines were tempting me so much.

Here are some other Blue Archive merch, but official ones.

NAMBA

DAYS SPENT: Several mornings and afternoons

OVERALL THOUGHTS: For this blog, Namba covers the rest of the areas surrounding the hotel that aren't highlighted. We did a lot more exploring on foot to see what things we could do and check out close by. 

Keeping this here from the previous Japan blog:

For those wanting to maximize the JR lines, you may want to stay at a hotel closer to the Osaka Loop Line or closer to JR Namba, if you don't mind changing lines. It was about a 10-13 minute walk to JR Namba from our hotel. 

PLACES VISITED:

Namba Yasaka Shrine

This was about a 10 minute walk from the hotel. My boyfriend enjoys checking out shrines and temples so I try to include some in the itinerary. Namba Yasaka Shrine doesn't cover too much area, but the large lion head stage more than makes up for it. That lion head is huge and menacing in an awe-inspiring way. There weren't too many people when we were there so the shrine also felt very peaceful with all the surrounding greenery. I'd recommend checking it out at least once.

The entrance to Namba Yasaka Shrine. The lion's head really stands out.

A closer look at the lion's head. It looks ready to suck up everything surrounding it.

There is a note to not write on the table. Clearly, it wasn't followed!

An area to do the cleansing ritual that is common at shrines. The cleansing ritual involved drinking some of the water, but apparently the ritual got changed after the COVID pandemic.

Parks Garden

Parks Garden is at the top of this shopping complex called Namba Parks. We checked this out on a whim and it was very scenic. There was a lot of greenery and neat architecture. There were several flights of stairs with varied plants at each level. It's definitely a place to visit for a scenic experience. It was slightly windy, though, so maybe bring a light jacket.

My boyfriend standing in front of the Parks Garden signage.

The entrance looks a bit majestic.

Look at all the plants!

I like that there are some people just chilling on the green.

Pop-up Events at Namba Square

Across from the hotel was Namba Square, an open area that would often have chairs and tables for passersby to sit and relax a bit. Sometimes those chairs and tables would be put away and events would happen instead. During our trip, we saw two events pop up in Namba Square. We checked out the first event briefly because we had some time and it was music-oriented (which really interested me). We didn't have time to check out the second event, but we glanced at it briefly when walking by.

Overall, it's nice seeing random events pop up in Namba Square and seeing various people gather.

The schedule for the first pop-up event.

Going by the schedule above and the time I took this pic, this would be the idols segment. They were singing and dancing.

The schedule for the second pop-up event.

The set up looked very interesting.

OTHER PHOTOS:

A shot of Namba at night.

Pay phones still exist!

These were the movies playing while we were there. I watched Kokuho in theatres (in Canada) months after the trip!

The standee and poster advertising the Hikaru no Go exhibition. I'm glad I noticed them.

We went to Karaoke-kan again. Prices went up slightly but they were still cheaper when compared to doing karaoke in Toronto.

I crappily sung a song from this anime, hehe. :)

I took a picture here because infomen booths are in the Yakuza games.

Whoever put these two prizes side by side is cruel! T_T

DOTONBORI

DAYS SPENT: Several mornings and afternoons

OVERALL THOUGHTS: Dotonbori is still Dotonbori. It's a place with a lot of beauty, food, shopping, and people. The crowd can be off-putting sometimes, but if I'm ever in Osaka, I will always do my best to stop by -- because I love Dotonbori so much. :)

The beauty of Dotonbori at night.

Dotonbori Hotel looks very funky!

Another shot of Dotonbori at night.

The crowd of people wanting to go on the Tombori River Cruise. If the crowd wasn't so huge then we would have tried taking the cruise.

Water bottles and flowers offered to the two firefighters who were killed during the Dotonbori fire back in August 18, 2025. May they rest in peace *bows*

That's it for Part 2. For anybody waiting all this time since Part 1, thank you for waiting! Fingers crossed that Part 3 will come much sooner *fingers crossed*

Thank you for reading! If you have any questions or comments about any of these places I visited, feel free to say something in the comments box or fill out a contact form!

Take care, stay safe, and until next time! :)