Hearton Hotel Nishi Umeda Osaka

This modern business hotel is ideally located close to JR Osaka Station, allowing easy access to all of Osaka's top attractions, sports facilities, restaurants, and bars. The JR station is the best option for transportation with JR, Hankyu, Hanshin, and several subway lines available. Hearton Hotel Nishi Umeda offers a total of 471 rooms perfectly fitted with high standard facilities including a LAN data port with free broadband, free Wi-Fi, and basic bathroom amenities. There are two on-site restaurants, coin-operated laundry, vending machines, and a 24-hour front desk for further conveniences.

Hotel Nikko Kansai International Airport

Boasting maximum convenience, this 24-hour getaway is situated within walking distance from passenger terminals and the train station. Located at Kansai International Airport, one of the world’s major air transport hubs, Hotel Nikko Kansai Airport is a great way to spend 24 hours in Japan. The Nikko brand is renowned for creating a relaxing ambience with the function of a business hotel. The hotel features several restaurants serving Japanese, Chinese, and Teppan grilled dishes. The hotel also houses a business center for those who need to get in touch with clients. With its location close to the train station and the airport, this luxury hotel is an ideal location for travelers in Osaka.

Kansai International Airport Japan

Kansai International Airport (KIX) is one of Japan's most important international airports. Located on a man made island about 40 km south of central Osaka, Kansai Airport was opened in 1994, taking over all international and some of the domestic air traffic formerly handled by Osaka's Itami Airport.

Kansai Airport has two terminals. Terminal 1, the main terminal, is housed in a long, modern building and serves both domestic and international flights by regular airlines. The railway station is located directly adjacent to it. Added in 2012 in a more remote, spartan building, terminal 2 serves low-cost airlines (LCCs). It has fewer bus connections and no train service, and is connected to terminal 1 and the railway station by a free shuttle bus.

Kyoto Station Japan

The Kyoto Station (京都駅, Kyōto-eki) building was constructed on the 1200th anniversary of the capital's foundation in Kyoto. It was opened to the public in 1997 and stands in perfect contrast to many foreign tourists' image of Kyoto as the capital of traditional Japan.

The building's futuristic design and atmosphere was conceived by the Japanese architect Hara Hiroshi. Hara's design attempts to convey historical Kyoto through a modern aesthetic. The station's large main hall with its exposed steel beamed roof, called the Matrix, is meant to reflect both the structure of the station and the grid like layout of Kyoto's street network. Hara also designed the Umeda Sky Building in Osaka.

Kyoto Tower Japan

Standing 131 meters tall just across Kyoto Station, Kyoto Tower (京都タワー) is Kyoto's tallest building and a rare modern iconic landmark in the city famous for its ancient temples and shrines. The tower was completed in 1964, the same year as the opening of the shinkansen and the Tokyo Olympics.

A viewing platform is located 100 meters above ground and affords a 360 degree view of Kyoto and as far as Osaka on clear days. Kyoto Tower stands on top of a typical commercial building, which contains souvenir shops, restaurants and a hotel, as well as a public bath in the basement.

Nijo Castle Kyoto Japan

Nijo Castle (二条城, Nijōjō) was built in 1603 as the Kyoto residence of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the first shogun of the Edo Period (1603-1867). His grandson Iemitsu completed the castle's palace buildings 23 years later and further expanded the castle by adding a five story castle keep.

After the Tokugawa Shogunate fell in 1867, Nijo Castle was used as an imperial palace for a while before being donated to the city and opened up to the public as a historic site. Its palace buildings are arguably the best surviving examples of castle palace architecture of Japan's feudal era, and the castle was designated a UNESCO world heritage site in 1994.

Nijo Castle can be divided into three areas: the Honmaru (main circle of defense), the Ninomaru (secondary circle of defense) and some gardens that encircle the Honmaru and Ninomaru. The entire castle grounds and the Honmaru are surrounded by stone walls and moats.

Heijo Palace Japan

During most of the Nara Period (710-794), Nara served as the capital of Japan and was known as Heijo-kyo. The Heijo Palace extended about one kilometer wide and one kilometer long and served as the site of the emperor's residence and government offices. For its great historical and cultural importance, the palace site is included as one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites of Nara.

Although the palace once stood as the majestic center of the ancient capital, all of its original buildings were eventually lost, with the exception of a single hall that was moved in the 8th century and now stands at Toshodaiji Temple. When the capital was moved away from Heijo-kyo in 784, Heijo Palace and a large part of the city were abandoned as people flocked to the new capital. The temples on the outskirts of the former capital, however, retained their importance, and the city of Nara eventually resumed its growth around these temples, while the palace grounds were used for nothing but rice fields.

Todaiji Nara Japan

Todaiji (東大寺, Tōdaiji, "Great Eastern Temple") is one of Japan's most famous and historically significant temples and a landmark of Nara. The temple was constructed in 752 as the head temple of all provincial Buddhist temples of Japan and grew so powerful that the capital was moved from Nara to Nagaoka in 784 in order to lower the temple's influence on government affairs.

Todaiji's main hall, the Daibutsuden (Big Buddha Hall) is the world's largest wooden building, despite the fact that the present reconstruction of 1692 is only two thirds of the original temple hall's size. The massive building houses one of Japan's largest bronze statues of Buddha (Daibutsu). The 15 meters tall, seated Buddha represents Vairocana and is flanked by two Bodhisattvas

Nara Park Japan

Nara Park (奈良公園, Nara Kōen) is a large park in central Nara. Established in 1880, it is the location of many of Nara's main attractions including Todaiji, Kasuga Taisha, Kofukuji and the Nara National Museum.

The park is home to hundreds of freely roaming deer. Considered in Shinto to be messengers of the gods, Nara's nearly 1200 deer have become a symbol of the city and have even been designated as a natural treasure. Nara's deer are surprisingly tame, although they can be aggressive if they think you will feed them. Deer crackers are for sale around the park, and some deer have learned to bow to visitors to ask to be fed