The Backpack Adventures

Day 14:   January 1, 2015 New Year in Japan Happy New Year from Japan ! After a very quiet night (no fireworks), we woke up to experience New Year's day ala Japanese. The Osechi-ryori Check out how colorful our New Year's meal is! Time to partake of the osechi The Japanese (most if not all) celebrate their New Year in a simple partaking of the traditional Japanese New Year food called osechi . Aside from that Mr. Toshi also made us try the famous sake. (Nothing beats authentic Japanese food!) While we're enjoying the feast Mr. Toshi is also explaining the important Japanese New Year traditions. He told us that their family annually visits a temple to pray for their success and health for the year. He even invited us to join him and his family that afternoon for this religious obligation. Kokawadera  in Kinokawa City, Wakayama Prefecture Inside Kokawadera That afternoon we tagged along as our Japanese family drove to  Kokawadera   in Kinokawa City in Wakay

Day 13   December 31, 2014 Rinku Town Visited  Good morning Japan ! Today is the last day of 2014. It's a great feeling that we are celebrating this special day with people close to our hearts. My wife and I made use of this day to bond more with our Japanese family. The whole morning, I spent time bonding with the kids while my wife spent hers cooking her specialties. During lunch, we got the chance to talk about the places that we wanted to visit. Mr. Toshi also mentioned some places that he would want to bring us to in the following days. He talked about Mt. Koya and Mt. Kongo . Aside from that, he also talked about the famous deer of Nara Park .  Rinku Town's Ferris Wheel Of course, I got excited about the new places that we might visit in the near future but I also got worried because the 8GB and half of my 4GB memory card were already used up and I only have one spare 8GB memory card left. They said that this one is one of the biggest in Osaka. Enjoying e

Located in 1-1 Osakajo, Chuo Ward, Osaka Prefecture in Japan , Osaka Castle ( 大坂城 or 大阪城,   Ōsaka-jō  ) is one of Japan's most famous castles. It also played a major role in the unification of Japan during the Azuchi-Momoyama period. Osaka Castle Osaka Castle History Under the orders of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Osaka Castle was built in 1563 on the site of the Ikko-Ikki Temple of Ishiyama Hogan-ji. Toyotomi wanted the castle to look like that of the Azuchi Castle (Oda Nobunaga's headquarters) but it turned out much better.  Osaka Castle - Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture Osaka Castle was completed sometime in 1597, however, Toyotomi Hideyoshi died soon after. The castle was then passed to his son Toyotomi Hideyori. Map of Osaka Castle Park Otemon Gate going to Osaka Castle grounds Eating ice cream at one of the stalls near the gate The Expo '70 Time Capsule Details of the capsule's opening date. Osaka Castle was built on two raised platforms of l