Golden Week Travel
July 26, 2022
“Golden Week” in Japan is a week from late May to early April that encompasses several public holidays. I was lucky enough to be given additional time off so that I could spend an entire work week on holiday. Considering that up to that point I had spent the overwhelming majority of my time in the Tokyo area, I decided to get out of the city and to travel to the Kansai region of Japan. I boarded a bullet train on the morning of April 29th and made it to Kyoto Station by the afternoon of the same day. I split my time between three main areas: Kyoto, Osaka, and Nara.
The majority of my time was spent in Kyoto. I ended up staying in a lovely guest house called Kingyoya for 5 days and 4 nights. If you have the time and money for it, I really recommend going on a guided tour of the area. There’s so much history to see in Kyoto that it can be somewhat hard to know where to even start on your own. After spending time taking in the views of the city, I traveled to Arashiyama to enjoy a more natural beauty. I particularly enjoyed walking through the garden of Okochi Sanso, which offers absolutely breathtaking views of the surrounding area. I also of course visited Fushimi Inari-taisha, one of the iconic sights of Kyoto. I booked a hiking tour that took me through the less traveled paths of the Inari mountain. The sheer number of vermilion torii can’t be done justice by the pictures that I took. I would say that the highlight of visiting Kyoto was a tea ceremony that I took part in. I donned a kimono and learned how to properly prepare and present matcha tea.
In hindsight, I wish that I would have spent more time in Osaka, I just had no idea how much I would come to love the city. In the end, I was only able to stay for 3 days and 2 nights. Above all else, I have to recommend Backstreet Osaka Tours. The tour that I took with my guide Andy was the highlight of my Golden Week travels. On the tour I had the chance to try some amazing food, as well as the opportunity to see Osaka as it is authentically, flaws and all. In my opinion, Tokyo lacks the level of genuinity that I found in Osaka. It seems like so many people in Tokyo try to be someone that they aren’t, while in Osaka people act more truthfully. Besides the amazing tour, I also enjoyed my time walking through the Nakanoshima Kosetsu Museum of Art. If you get the chance, I’d also recommend visiting Katsuo-ji, it really is something to see the hundreds of small red dolls (daruma) in person.
I wrapped up my Golden Week travels with a short stint of 2 days and 1 night in Nara. I wanted to make sure that I got one last dose of nature before returning to the concrete jungle of Tokyo. I really enjoyed seeing the Great Buddha Hall of Todai-ji. The scale of Todai-ji is incredible to see in person. Seeing the lights of Todai-ji Nigatsudo at night was another highlight. My time in Nara was the least structured compared to what I had done in Kyoto and Osaka. I just did my best to take in all of the sights that I could and to enjoy my last bit of freedom before returning to work.
~ JHE
