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Day Trips to Nearby Cities of Interest Fifth Leg - Day trips to Nara and Hiroshima While staying in Kyoto you might consider a day trip or two to some of the other cities of interest in this part of Japan. We recommend Nara for its beautiful temples and history as well as Hiroshima for a visit to the Hiroshima Peace Park and war memorial.
"Day Trips to Nearby Cities of Interest" related links: - Information about the Todaiji temple in Nara: - Hiroshima city guide: - Hiroshima Peace Park:
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Any
trip to Nara deserves a visit to that city's great Buddha statue or Daibutsu
as it is called in Japanese. The Daibutsu (the world's largest bronze
statue) is housed within the world's largest wooden building, called the
Todaiji (photos at left). The grounds surrounding the Todaiji
include many other famous temples and shrines and an entire day could be spent
at this one location alone. When within the Todaiji look for a large
column near the back of the building (behind the Buddha) with a square hole in the bottom.
Legend holds that anyone who can pass their body through this narrow hole will
be assured a place in heaven. While wandering the grounds of the Todaiji
you will spot many deer (shika in Japanese) peacefully mingling among the
tourists. Deer such as these have been a feature of the Todaiji grounds
for centuries, and in the past were protected through tough laws which demanded
punishment by death to anyone who would harm a deer on the grounds of this
temple. As a result, the deer are today quite tame and will even bow to
you when you offer them a deer snack (these can be purchased from vendors on the
temple grounds). Nara is very close to Kyoto and a day trip here should
allow you plenty of time to explore places such as the Todaiji as well as have time
for a good Kansai-style lunch.
The Kansai
area of Japan is famous for many types of
cuisine. A popular lunchtime favorite is the pancake-like okonomiyaki.
Ask around and you should be able to easily locate a good okonomiyaki restaurant.
Some okonomiyaki restaurants include special tables where you can cook your own
okonomiyaki. Doing so is not unlike making a western pancake. The
cook will prepare the "batter" and ingredients for you in the kitchen which will
then be delivered to your table. To cook your meal, simply pour the
okonomiyaki mixture onto the cooking surface and cook it like you would a
pancake. However, instead of flipping the okonomiyaki you should simply
fold it over when the bottom appears to be nearly done. Let the okonomiyaki cook
for awhile longer and it should be ready to eat. Pour on some special
okonomiyaki sauce and sprinkle some of the toppings you will find on the table and
you are ready to dig in. To
eat this meal you should turn down the heat on the cooker and leave the
okonomiyaki on the cooking surface. Cut off sections with your special
spatula and move these to your little plate to eat from there. In this
way, okonomiyaki may be shared by one or more persons. Most okonomiyaki
chefs will happily cook your meal for you if you prefer, and they may kindly do
this automatically for foreigners if they suspect that we do not know how to do it
ourselves. If you are not familiar with Japanese chopstick etiquite then
we'd like to recommend that you
