JAPAN SAM

Living and working in Osaka. Copyright © 2017 Samantha Milligan

[saminjapan]

Thursday 23rd November 2017. 14:30 Mt. Kurama Kyoto.

Part of the trail up the to peak of the mountain was closed due to fallen tress from the recent Typhoon, which was a shame, but no the end of the world. I felt satisfied in my visit to Kurama today, so so beautiful.

[saminjapan]

Thursday 23rd November 2017. 13:00 Mt. Kurama Kyoto.

The higher I walked towards the top of the mountain the more intense and beautiful the Koyo became. I had definitely decided to visit on the best day, I feel like the Koyo was at its peak here. 

[saminjapan]

Thursday 23rd November 2017. 12:00 Mt. Kurama Kyoto.

Today was another public holiday, which I didn’t know about again until this morning haha, so I decided to get the train to Kyoto and climb Mt. Kurama. It was only a few days ago when I was thinking about the Koyo in Kyoto so I was grateful for this day off to go and see the Koyo and have some time outside. It was a beautiful day, but the trains were super busy due to it being the public holiday.

Kurama didn’t disappoint, it was a dream!

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Sunday 12th November 2017. 14:00 Osaka.

Me stood outside my new apartment. Excited for what’s to come in Osaka!

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Monday 6th November 2017. Mt.Kongo Osaka.

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Monday 6th November 2017. 16:30 Mt.Kongo Osaka.

On our descent from Kongo San we were greeted by beautiful golden hour light combined with the awesome autumn colours of the mountain was perfect. We also came across the most amazing tree which looked like it had started as one but has split during it’s growth, it was huge! 

[saminjapan]

Monday 6th November 2017. 14:00 Mt.Kongo Osaka.

We reached the summit after about an hour and 30/40 minutes climbing. There is actually nothing more satisfying than climbing a big old mountain. I’ve always loved hiking, ever since I was little, and to be able to it here so regularly is amazing.  Although it was a beautiful sunny day there was a haze over the city so we couldn’t actually see anything below haha but still rewarding nonetheless. I would love to come back here when it’s covered in snow, that would be something special. They say the best time to come is in February so we’ll see! 

[saminjapan]

Monday 6th November 2017. 13:00 Mt.Kongo Osaka.

Mount Kongo (金剛山) in Osaka, at 1,125 meters is Osaka’s tallest mountain, with the border between the Osaka and Nara prefectures slicing right through it. Mount Kongō has a rich history as the birthplace of the Shugendo, a religion where one attains enlightenment by understating the relation between humans and nature through mountain dwelling and worship. The mountain also hosted an epic battle around 1330 between imperial loyalists and the Shogunate totalitarian ruler of Japan. On clear weather days the view from the summit include the plains of Settsu, the Rokko Mountains and even as far as Awaji Island.

I love having Mondays off with Ellen because we can actually do stuff together now that we live in the same city which is so nice. We escaped to the mountains on the most beautiful day, we couldn’t have asked for better weather to hike in. We got the train to Kawachi-nagano and then jumped on a bus from here which took us to the bottom of our hiking trail.

[saminjapan]

Sunday 5th November 2017. 17:30 Osaka Castle Park.

We spent a couple of hours mooching around the park and we came across the festival parade leaving the park grounds. It was super dark but the carts looked so cool all lit up. There was so much energy, the men were tipping the carts up and down, running backwards and forwards, chanting, singing, everything. Such a vibe. Nice Sunday.

[saminjapan]

Sunday 5th November 2017. 14:30 Osaka Castle Park.

Osaka Castle Park (大阪城公園 Osaka-Jō-Kōen) is a public urban park and historical site situated at Osaka-Jō in Chūō-ku, Osaka, Japan. It lies on the south of the Ōkawa (Kyū-Yodo River) and occupies a large area in the centre of the city of Osaka. This park is the second largest park in the city.

This place is so close to my house, 2 stops down on the train or a 25 minute bike ride. Perfect.

We jumped on the train and went for a wander. We were greeted by a huge festival, we had no idea this was taking place, but there was such a great vibe and everything was so loud! We walked up to the castle and sat on the top of the turrets watching the sunset over the city. The koyo looked amazing too. 

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Friday 3rd November 2017. 18:00 Umeda Osaka.

Rush hour at Osaka Station.

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Friday 3rd November 2017. 16:30 Minoo Osaka.

I couldn’t reach the waterfall today but one of the hiking trails was still open so I decided to hike up to one of the viewpoints instead. This was definitely a good decision as I was just in time to watch the sunset. It was a short hike but very steep. The view was beautiful and the golden hour light was even better. 

[saminjapan]

Friday 3rd November 2017. 14:30 Minoo Osaka.

Today was yet another public holiday, which I completely forgot about until late last night, so it came as a nice surprise. I decided to get some fresh air away from the city and head to Minoo Park.

Minoo Park (箕面公園, Minō Kōen, also spelled Mino or Minoh) is a forested valley on the outskirts of Osaka, just north of the urban sprawl. During the fall, it is one of the best places in the Kansai Region to see the autumn colours in a natural setting, as opposed to the attractive fall foliage found at temples and gardens. The colours are usually best in the second half of November.

Similar to Tokyo's Mount Takao, Minoo Park is the closest spot to the busy metropolis of Osaka to find a spacious natural recreation area. The park can be reached in less than 30 minutes from the downtown Umeda area. Another similarity, Takao and Minoo were both given quasi-national park status in 1967 to commemorate the hundredth anniversary of the Meiji Period (1867-1912).

Minoo Park is famous for its waterfall but unfortunately when I arrived and had walked through the village, the rest of the walk leading up to the waterfall was closed off due to damage and fallen trees on the path caused by the typhoon a few weeks ago. It was still beautiful and made for a lovely afternoon out of the city. I also saw my first ever Japanese Giant Hornet but of course I didn’t get close enough to take a picture lol.

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Thursday 2nd November 2017. 08:30 Tsuruhashi Osaka.

Still surreal that I actually live here now. I wonder how long it’s going to take me to settle in?

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Thursday 2nd November 2017. 08:00 Osaka Japan.

It was a beautiful autumn day today so I decided to head out early and go for a stroll around my new neighbourhood. My house is super to Sanadayama park which I didn’t realise had it’s own baseball field, tennis courts, swimming pool and running track! All on my doorstep; this is great. The colours of the Koyo in the park this morning were awesome too; so nice to have this small piece of nature next to my house within the hustle and bustle of the big city.

[saminjapan]

Wednesday 1st November 2017. 16:00 Osaka Japan.

This was the first glimpse of how a lot of my sunsets are going to look from now on inside the big city. It was day 2 of commuting from my new apartment in Osaka, everything is still up in the air, but I’m happy to be living and working in the same city already.

[saminjapan]

Sunday 22nd October 2017. 15:45 Kyoto Japan.

Kiyomizu at sunset. It was actually not as busy as what I had anticipated which made for a nice change instead of crazy touristy crowds squashed together lol. The koyo is just breaking through here at the temple, still slightly early yet, but the colours were lovely.