Enjoy Kansai Life with my blog

Shodoshima is a very famous sightseeing place from Kansai because local foods are delicious and there are some historical places. You can go around several famous sightseeing places by car for two days. Shodoshima is the first price in Japan where olive was imported from foreign country. I have already posted my experience in Shodoshima. The links of my posts are the following.

https://www.enjoykansailife.com/blog/shodoshima-1

https://www.enjoykansailife.com/blog/shodoshima-2

https://www.enjoykansailife.com/blog/shodoshima-3

https://www.enjoykansailife.com/blog/shodoshima-4

https://www.enjoykansailife.com/blog/shodoshima-5

https://www.enjoykansailife.com/blog/shodoshima-6

In Mino city, Katsuo-ji Temple is known to give good luck for businesses, examinations, sports, accomplishments, love, elections, and so on. You can see a lot of daruma dolls there. A daruma doll is a good luck charm in Japan.

Kimiidera's name means the temple that has three spring waters and it is located in KII area in Wakayama city. Strangely, in fact, even though it is located on a hillside, clean spring waters have naturally occurred here and have not dried up.

Omamori is a good luck charm which many Japanese buy when they visit temples and shrines. When I went to Kimiidera Temple, I bought a good luck charm for my business. Some Rarejob tutors said Omamori is anting anting in Tagalog.

The Expo’70 Commemorative Park was built on the site of Japan World Exposition 1970. The park is known as a cultural park embracing natural environment. People are able to enjoy playing some sports like soccer, baseball, tennis, and so on. Tower of the sun on the picture is very famous in the park.

Himeji Castle called Himejijo is widely considered as Japan's most spectacular castle for its imposing size and beauty and its well preserved, complex castle grounds. The castle is both a national treasure and a world heritage site. Unlike many other Japanese castles, it was never destroyed by war, earthquake or fire and survives up to this day as one of the country's twelve original castles. The castle recently underwent extensive renovation over several years and was fully re-opened to the public in March 2015.

Nada Gogo is the area where many Sake factories gather and the Sake factories produce almost 1/4 of the world's sake production. The area is located in Kobe and Nishinomiya. There are some Sake museums in the area. Travelers are able to enjoy Sake-tasting in the museums and buy Sake. Nada Gogo is registered as GI(Geographical Indication) in June 28, 2018. Nada Gogo would be a great brand of sake in the future.

The National Diet Library belongs to The Diet. The main purpose why the National Diet Library was built is to support the creation of Japanese laws. It is called the "National Diet Library" because it is where all the books in Japan are preserved. People cannot borrow books, but they can read and copy them inside it. It is really a huge building.

Omi Jingu is a shrine which enshrines the 38th Emperor Tenchi. It is located near by Biwa Lake which is the biggest lake in Japan. It is also a famous shrine featured in the anime "Chihayafuru". The anime is a story wherein high school students dedicate themselves to a card game competition (Karuta) .

Team competition will be held in July 28 and individual competition will be held in July 29. The start of the competition is scheduled at 9:00 am. The venues are Omi Encouragement of Learning Museum, Shiga Community Center, Biwako Otsu-kan. Foreign travelers would experience Japanese culture and an old shrine in Omi Jingu when watcing the competition.

"Hyakunin" literally means one hundred people and "Isshu" literally means a poem. Hyakunin-Isshu means one hundred poems by one hundred famous poets in Heian period and the poems are used in a card game, Karuta. Most poems are about love or seasonal topics. So if you understand the meaning of the poems, you are able to learn Japanese life style in Heian period. When people play Karuta, someone reads a poem and others compete in finding a matching card.

Children's Day is called Kodomo no Hi in Japan. The day is a Japanese national holiday. It is a day to respect children's personalities and to celebrate their happiness.

Carp streamers can been seen in the picture. We call these carp-shaped windsocks Koinobori. We set Koinoboris in the air with hopes of our children's good health as they grow.

Ramen is one of my favorite cheap delicious foods. There are many local ramens like Hakata ramen, Nagahama ramen, Onomichi ramen, Sapporo ramen, and so on. Tokushima ramen is one of them. The feature of Tokushima ramen is a raw egg and deep brown soup.

Father's Day is on the third Sunday of June in Japan. Many stores sell something like business shirts and alcohol for fathers. I was given Amazake, which is a traditional sweet, non-alcoholic Japanese drink made from fermented rice. Amazake is one of my favorite fermented foods like Natto(fermented soybeans) and yogurt. When you come to Japan, please try to eat some fermented foods.

Yokoduna Ramen is another popular ramen chain in Kansai. They have more than 20 restaurants in Kyoto Osaka and Hyogo. I often order dandan noodle with mala sauce in Yokoduna. Dandan noodles and mala sauce originated from Chinese Sichuan cuisine. Mala sauce is spicy and oily. Several kinds of dandan noodles become popular in Japan because Japanese really like spicy foods.

Kare pan, known as curry bread in English is a popular bread in Japan. Curry is wrapped in dough and the dough is fried. It is called Kare pan. One of the superheroes in Anpanman is Karepanman. His name is inspired from curry bread (Kare pan).

Marine Day is a Japanese national holiday celebrated on the third Monday in July. The purpose of the holiday is to give thanks to the ocean's blessing and to consider the importance of the ocean. Many events like fireworks are held throughout Japan.

Japanese cuisine means Japanese traditional foods and it is called "washoku" in Japanese. It is based on rice with miso soup and other dishes like "nikujaga" and "gyoza". It features seasonal ingredients. Sashimi, sushi, tempura, udon and soba are very famous among foreign people. Travelers can buy these food in supermarkets and convenience stores. The picture shows sushi, miso soup, nikujaga, gyoza, vermicelli salad, soy source and sake.

Ojizo-Sama is a popular deity in the folk belief of Japanese. (Sama is the word that we add to show respect to a person or something.) He is a guardian deity of travelers, children, pregnant women, and old people. You can see ojizo-sama along roads everywhere in Japan.

I am writing a Japanese all-you-can-drink-alcohol and eat restaurant called Torijiro. It serves yakitori and other Japanese foods. Yakitori is a chicken dish in which the meat is cut into small pieces and skewered on bamboo sticks. All the foods in the menu are affordable and cost just 270 yen. Moreover, set meals are also great. For 2,680 yen you can eat and drink any kinds of alcohol as much as you can. I really recommend foreigners to go there. Unfortunately it does not have an English website.

August is the best month when you can see many people wearing yukata outside. That is why I am writing about yukata. It is a Japanese garment in summer. It is worn by men and women at outdoor summer events such as fireworks displays and bon dance festivals. It is also worn at traditional Japanese inns all season, especially after bathing in hot springs.

The biggest typhoon in 20 years hit Kansai area in September 4th. Many workers were sent back to their homes from offices before the typhoon arrived in Kansai. The typhoon blew down many telephone poles and roof tiles in Osaka, and uprooted a lot of trees. Typhoon is a common natural disaster in summer. All people visiting in Japan need to check out the weather forecast to avoid such disater.