Bamboo Groves Arashiyama Kyoto Japan

Bamboo Groves
The walking paths that cut through the bamboo groves make for a nice walk or bicycle ride. The groves are particularly attractive when there is a light wind and the tall bamboo stalks sway gently back and forth. The bamboo has been used to manufacture various products, such as baskets, cups, boxes and mats at local workshops for centuries.

Togetsukyo Bridge Arashiyama Kyoto

Togetsukyo Bridge
The Togetsukyo Bridge (lit. "Moon Crossing Bridge") is Arashiyama's most iconic landmark. It was originally built during the Heian Period (794-1185) and most recently reconstructed in the 1930s. The bridge looks particularly attractive in combination with the forested mountainside in the background. A riverside park with dozens of cherry trees is located just adjacent to the bridge.

Namba Osaka Japan

Namba (難波 Nanba?, IPA: [namba]) is a district of Osaka, Japan. Namba is regarded as the center of so-called Minami ("South") area of Osaka.[1] Its name is one of variations on the former name of Osaka, Naniwa. Namba is best known as the city's main south-central railway terminus: JR, Kintetsu, Nankai, Hanshin, and three lines of the Osaka Municipal Subway have stations there.

Some of the most famous images of Osaka, including the Glico Man and the Kani Doraku Crab, are located around the Dōtonbori canal in Namba. Namba is also known as an entertainment district, and hosts many of the city's most popular bars, restaurants, nightclubs, arcades, and pachinko parlors. The area is also known for shopping, with the Takashimaya department store (for older styles) and the sprawling underground Namba City shopping mall (for newer styles).

Namba Parks is a new development consisting of a high office building, called "Parks Tower," and a 120-tenant shopping mall with rooftop garden. Various kinds of restaurants (Japanese, Korean, Italian, etc.) are located on the 6th floor, and shops on the 2nd to 5th floors. Parks Garden features enough greenery to help visitors forget that they’re in the middle of the city. There is also an amphitheater for live shows, as well as space for small personal vegetable gardens and wagon shops.

Namba is located in Chūō and Naniwa wards.

Shitenoji Osaka Japan

Shitennoji (四天王寺, Shitennōji) is one of Japan's oldest temples and the first ever to be built by the state. It was founded in 593 by Prince Shotoku, who supported the introduction of Buddhism into Japan. Although the temple's buildings burned down several times throughout the centuries, they were always carefully reconstructed to reflect the original 6th century design.

The outer temple grounds are free to enter, but admission to the inner precinct, the Gokuraku-jodo Garden and the treasure house is paid. In the pebble covered courtyard of the inner precinct stand a five-storied pagoda that can be entered and ascended and the Main Hall (Kondo) in which Prince Shotoku is enshrined as a statue of Kannon.

A short walk away, the Gokuraku-jodo Garden was designed based on descriptions of the Western Paradise of the Amida Buddha. Also on the temple grounds stands a treasure house that displays paintings, scriptures and other valuable belongings of the temple in periodic, themed exhibitions.

Osaka Castle Japan

Osaka Castle (大坂城 or 大阪城, Ōsaka-jō?) is a Japanese castle in Chūō-ku, Osaka, Japan. The castle is one of Japan's most famous and it played a major role in the unification of Japan during the sixteenth century of the Azuchi-Momoyama period.