Even more species hunting adventures in Japan: Kyoto.

Arriving at Osaka's Itami airport in the afternoon, Ryan's girlfriend Xin Yun's flight arrived at about the same time, so we met up with her at baggage reclaim and headed into the city. After checking into our accommodation, the four of us headed out to spend the evening wandering around Dotonbori, soaking up the atmosphere, snacking throughout the night on Kobe beef skewers, molten hot Takoyaki, tasty gyoza, incredibly crispy, yet tender chicken Karaage and some super sweet strawberry mochi and ice cream.

You can't visit Osaka and not spend an evening strolling around Dotonbori.

Ryan and Xin Yun splash some cash on some premium Kobe beef skewers.

The restaurants all try to outdo each other with huge 3D signage.

Before calling it a night, the four of us rode the unusually shaped Don Quijote Ferris "Wheel".

The next day, we headed south to explore the vibrant area of Shinsekai. After walking through Tennoji Park, we had some tasty yakisoba for lunch and then went up Tsutenkaku Tower, also known as Hitachi Tower.

Tsutenkaku Tower from the pond in Tennoji Park.

Tennoji Park from the top of Tsutenkaku Tower.

Don’t look down! Ryan and Xin Yun stand out on a glass floored platform at the end of a walkway that juts out near the top of the tower. 

Exiting Tsutenkaku Tower, we wandered south down Shinsekai's main shopping street, where we passed some dog owners who had dressed up their pets for some reason and were pushing them around in prams. One was wearing a clown costume that I’d later discover was that of Kuidaore Tarō, an iconic clown and the unofficial mascot of Osaka's vibrant Dotonbori district.

You see some strange things in Japan! The dog didn't seem to mind.

Next, we visited the Shinsekai Magic Café & Bar, where we enjoyed a few drinks and an hour of close up magic performed by three different magicians. Tricks involving playing cards, coins, rope and Rubik's Cubes had us all scratching our heads and if you're ever in Osaka I'd highly recommend the experience. By this point, we were quite hungry, and a restaurant where you can fish for your dinner was too good an opportunity to miss!

In this restaurant you can fish for various different types of fish and then have it prepared in several different ways. 

There were plenty of fish swimming around the boat shaped dining areas.

Most of the other diners seemed to be struggling to catch their dinner. Being experienced anglers, Ryan and I both caught a red bream almost straight away! We decided we wouldn't add the species to our trip's tally! 

Handing our catch to the restaurant staff, we were soon enjoying the two fish we caught four different ways. My favourite was the sashimi. 

After our delicious meal, we spent the remainder of the evening wandering around, admiring all the colourful signs around Shinsekai before heading back to the apartment via Nipponbashi Denden Town, where we checked out some of its interesting shops, including one that sold Pokémon cards.

This illuminated lantern style display above a kushikatsu restaurant in Shinsekai was incredible.

The next day, we caught a train north to spend the day in Kyoto. Ryan and I took minimal fishing tackle with us, just in case an opportunity to do some fishing could be slotted into our busy schedule. With way more places to see than we could possibly have done in one day, we had to choose which places we visited and which we did not. The first place on our itinerary was Kiyomizu-dera, a Buddhist temple located up in the hills to the east of the city. From Kyoto Station we decided to walk there as taking public transport wasn't going to save us that much time, and it was a lovely day.

With the leaves turning red, the views of the temple and Kyoto beyond were stunning

Heading back down the hill, we walked down the picturesque narrow streets of Sannenzaka, passing the Hōkan-ji Temple and its impressive Yasaka Pagoda, before wandering through the grounds of the much quieter Kenninji Temple.

The imposing Yasaka Pagoda of Hōkan-ji Temple.

In stark contrast to the rest of our morning walk, Kenninji Temple had hardly any tourists visiting it, which was nice.

We did intend to visit Nishiki Market to get some street food style snacks for lunch, but when we reached the eastern bank of the Kamo River, we stopped underneath a bridge crossing it to get out of the sun and a plan was formulated for how we would spend the afternoon. We'd already eaten some onigiri in the morning, so in order to fit what we wanted to do in, we opted to skip lunch in favour of a short fishing session instead. In no time at all, Ryan and I were freelining bread flake to see if we could tempt the resident fish.

What a beautiful place to fish!

The Kamo River contains a good head of common carp, but I was hoping to locate and catch my first ever Japanese barbel if I'm being honest. All we saw as we moved up and down the concrete blocks at the water's edge were groups of common carp moving around the pool. With no sign of any Japanese barbel, when a large common carp slowly swam up and took my bait from just below the surface, I was glad it did. The battle that ensued on my Nebula Rock Rover was something else! Being patient, and letting the fish take line when it made surging runs, it was at least ten minutes before I had the fish's head on the surface and beaten. Lillian was by my side, ready with my net, and a cracking fish was carefully drawn into it.

What a beauty! Easily the biggest fish I've caught on such light tackle.

Ryan hooked a couple of fish too, but sadly both threw the hook. Before we left, I tied on a tanago hook and caught a tiny dark chub from the small pools of water in amongst the concrete blocks we had been fishing from.

Every species counts, and this tiny fish had added another species to our tally!

Packing up, we caught a train and then a bus to visit the Golden Pavilion in northern Kyoto. For some reason, Lillian and I failed to visit it the last time we were in Kyoto, and we were there for several days back in 2018! Lillian really wanted to make sure we got there this time, and when we walked through the grounds and the Golden Pavilion came into view, it didn't disappoint.

Set in beautiful gardens, next to a pond, the top two levels of the Golden Pavilion are covered in actual gold leaf!

The next stop on our mini tour of Kyoto was the Monkey Park in Arashiyama. Due to the time and the relative locations, we decided to get a taxi to make sure we had ample time to arrive, climb the hill to the park and spend a reasonable amount of time at the top. The hike up into the hills is a bit of a slog, but when you get up there and see all the Japanese macaque there, it's well worth it.

This was about as close as I got to one out in the open. You're not supposed to get within two metres of them or look directly in their eyes.

In the centre of the open area at the top of the hill, you can enter a small building where you can buy some fruit and nuts. These can be fed to the monkeys through a caged opening.

Making our way back down the hill, we headed over the wooden bridge that crosses over the Katsura River and headed through the town of Arashiyama to visit the famous bamboo grove there. By this point the light was beginning to fade, and just as we reached the middle of the incredibly popular attraction, it started raining, so we hastily turned around, headed to the station and caught a train to Gion, Kyoto's geisha district. There we strolled south, enjoying the beautiful traditional architecture, and then headed for something to eat before returning to the station to take a train back to Osaka.

Having skipped lunch, we settled for some filling, and very tasty, Osaka style okonomiyaki.

We'd made quite a hectic start to our stay in Osaka, and our day trip to Kyoto had been pretty full on too. A generous portion of house special okonomiyaki washed down with a few beers was what we all needed I think! The next day, we had a bit more of a relaxing itinerary planned, including a little spot of fishing.

Tight lines, Scott.

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