bunny – Resurface to Reality

*Bunny ema hanging at Miwa Shrine in Nagoya’s Osu Shopping District.* *Some have very unique faces*!

It’s been almost 2 months since my last article regarding my travels through Indonesia, but I hope everyone’s new year is off to a great start! Since my last update, I briefly visited my home country for Christmas and have been working to save up for my trip to Europe in April. However, over the last week I decided to give myself a break and go backpacking through Nagoya, Kyoto, Osaka, and Kobe! The purpose of this trip was to try new cafes, visit some shrines that were still on my bucket list, and see my Kansai friends before my month-long trip to Italy and other surrounding countries. Though I have traveled to these cities many times, it’s always satisfying to walk down old streets and see what new things lie in wait. In this article, I am happy to share several new recommendations that I found during my travels.

Visiting the Rabbit Shrine: Miwa Shrine

Last year everyone was making the pilgrimage to Nara’s Tiger Temple, but this year Nagoya’s Rabbit Shrine (called Miwa Shrine) is receiving a large number of visitors! Located in the heart of the Osu Shopping district, this shrine has a large rabbit statue you can rub for good luck and enshrines a god that is said to represent love and marriage. If you walk around to the back of shrine’s main area, you will see an arrow that has pierced through a tree. This is where the Owari Clan used to practice archery. If you would like to learn more about the significance of this shrine, please see the Miwa Shrine article from Centrip Japan. Also be sure to check out the hanging rabbit ema because they have unique designs drawn by visitors to the shrine. I loved the Psyduck rabbit! You can purchase them at the building adjacent to the shrine.

Address: 3 Chome-9-32 Osu, Naka Ward, Nagoya, Aichi 460-0011

Dining at Osu’s Penguin Café (PG Café)

With penguin décor in every inch of the room, this themed café was truly a lot to take in! We personality enjoyed spotting all of the penguins from anime and games on the shelves while we waited for our food, not to mention the (nearly) life-sized penguin plushies lounging around. They make the perfect companions if you dine alone. There is also a mini claw machine game you can play to win tiny keychains of fuzzy animals (I won two in one try). As for the food, there are a lot of drink and dessert options plus some very filling entrees. My friends and I decided to split a dessert set with three tiers of penguin pastries, and also ordered a plate of omurice and hot coffee in penguin cups. My personal favorites were the pancakes with the PG Café logo, the chocolate penguin tart, and the original cookies. They also make penguin latte art for those who are interested. Though I’ve been to tastier dessert cafes, I’d definitely say that the food here is above average. A lot of heart went into creating the penguin collection of PG Café.

Feel free to just walk into this café because no reservations are required, but there may be a wait time since the space is pretty cozy.

Address: 3 Chome-23-27 Osu, Naka Ward, Nagoya, Aichi 460-0011

Nanten Sushi

Nanten Sushi is a well-received sushi and kaisendon (seafood rice bowl) restaurant south of Nagoya Station. When first saw their Peanuts-themed kaisendon on Instagram, I knew I had to make the journey out here and try it for myself! This is perhaps the most elaborate and detailed seafood bowl that I have ever eaten in my life. I loved the adorable faces of the onigiri and flower display surrounding the bowl. Not to mention that the taste of the seafood was out of this world! I watched the sushi chef sear eel right in front of me so I know that it was made fresh. The staff was very kind to me as well. Please note that a reservation is required for these character seafood bowls, but you can easily make them over phone. I would recommend this place to all seafood lovers because it is one of the best places I have been to in Nagoya!

Address: 〒457-0027 Aichi, Nagoya, Minami Ward, Yayoicho, 165 南天寿し

Sweet Yasuko

Another place I highly recommend trying is a tiny pink bakery called Sweet Yasuko that sells cute cookies and soft serve ice cream. When I saw their puppy-themed strawberry ice cream in my recommended feed and knew I had to try it! They also sell adorably decorated cookies of hearts, mermaids, and cute accessories for low prices. Additionally courses (in Japanese) are offered for those who are looking to improve their decoration skills. I love supporting small businesses—especially when they’re pink—so that’s why I enjoyed my time here.

Address: 3 Chome-2-23 Izumi, Higashi Ward, Nagoya, Aichi 461-0001

Used Line New Beer

Another place that I was dying to try was a sandwich and craft beer restaurant called Used Like New Beer in Kamejima. I saw the egg sandwich and loved the aesthetic of it, so my friend and I ordered three of them plus a vegetable sandwich with tuna in it. The sandwiches were made with fresh ingredients and did not disappoint. They also make sandwiches with keema curry, mentaiko, and mackerel for those who like toppings that are unique to Japan, but they make traditional sandwiches like BLTs here too. Some of the craft beers they had for sale here I had never seen before! Though I am usually not a beer person, I tried the Patisserie Nyankoro beer that had chunks of strawberry in it and was the best beer that I had ever tasted. I would highly recommend stopping here if you are a beer fan, because you’ll definitely find some pretty unique flavors here.

Address: 2 Chome-17-5 Kikui, Nishi Ward, Nagoya, Aichi 451-0044

Other Recommendations

One bar that I’ve recommend in the past and can’t recommend enough is Nagoya’s most famous international gaming bar, Critical Hit. I have made so many friends here over the years that I will keep for life. I loved the Mario pipes with the Slime plushies coming out of them, plus the wide arrange of classic and modern games that you can play here. This time I played Kirby’s Dream Course with one of my friends which is probably the most entertaining golf spinoff that I have ever played. I enjoyed how they placed some of the bosses on the courses to try and derail your shot. We also went to a Vivienne Westwood-themed bar called Drowning Fish. The bartenders here were also anime and gaming enthusiasts so we had a great time chatting. All of the tiny bars that I have visited in Nagoya are amazing, and Aichi Prefecture really deserves more recognition for its nightlife!

Accommodation

Usually when I go to Nagoya I always stay with friends, but since I came on a weekday I decided to stay in a hotel in central Sakae called Hotel Erenoa. What I liked about this hotel is that it was only 2900 yen per night and had a public bath. The only disappointing thing was that the bath was only useable for three hours per day at night. I really wish that I could have used it in the morning to, but otherwise I had a pleasant stay here. This is one of the cheapest hotels in central Nagoya and I would recommend staying here if you are on a budget.

Thank you for reading the first article in my latest series. In my next article, I will be writing about my trip to Kyoto and various recommendations that I have there.

Over the weekend I went on the ultimate countryside paradise road trip to Kobe and Awaji Island with my friends from Yamanashi who own a car. I have been to Kobe three times total—once during my study abroad trip, another time to Nunobiki Waterfall, and this past holiday weekend because Shin Kobe Station is the closest shinkansen station to Awaji Island. Kobe is a small city you can easily see in a day but it has a beautiful harbor and amazing food. I had a nice stroll down memory lane visiting Chinatown, Harborland, and seeing Spiderman defend the city from atop a Kobe beef store. Glad to know that the city is still safe from heinous crime after all of these years! Without further ado, here are my top recommendations in Kobe:

Dick Bruna Table

When most people come to Kobe they go straight for the beef, but since I don’t eat meat I decided to search for the cutest restaurant in town which I deem Dick Bruna Table. This bunny themed restaurant has delicious entrees, wine, and cute desserts with unique interior decor. I loved how they used giant bunny plushies to help enforce social distancing too. I decided to order the rabbit rice with a fish à la carte for lunch and it was delicious! I notice the sekihan (sweet bean rice) in Hyogo has a defined texture and is less sweet than sekihan I’ve tried in other areas of Japan making it go well with a lot of dishes. Overall the food here was very high quality and even on a weekend I was able to get in without much of a wait. I would definitely recommend this place for lunch, and Chinatown for dinner!

Address: 2 Chome-16-1 Takashima, Nishi Ward, Yokohama, Kanagawa 220-0011

Dessert at Kobe Milk

Kobe Milk is an adorable stand outside of the entrance to Chinatown that sells top quality ice cream and pudding. You can customize your order by adding cookies and decorations on top or just order a regular ice cream cone or jar of pudding. I decided to get creative and request the bear and the Kobe Milk jug on top of mine. I’ve been eating a lot of ice cream this summer, and next to goat milk ice cream on Amami Island, I would have to say that this was the best that I’ve had!

Address: 50-0022 Hyogo, Kobe, Chuo Ward, Motomachidori, 1 Chome-1-1 Shinmotomachi Building 1F

Exploring Rokko Island

In hopes of entering the Kobe Artists Museum which I had never seen before, I decided to ride the Rokko-Line to Kobe’s man-made island with beautiful fountains, museums, and restaurants. To my dismay upon arrival I found out that the museum was closed until mid-December due to the pandemic, but fortunately the weather was sunny and there was a lot for me to see. The most shocking part of being on Rokko Island was seeing so many near naked children swimming in the fountain water while their parents idly chatted on the benches like this was some kind of giant onsen. My brain swiftly shifted gears from “shocked” to “I want to set up my tripod and get in too” so that is exactly what I did! Though I just dipped my feet in, the water was very pure and soothing on a warm summer day. Rokko is a lot similar to Odaiba in Tokyo except smaller in scale but it has the same kind of vibe. I would definitely recommend coming here to kill time during the day because it’s prettier than most of the parks that I’ve seen in central Kobe!

China Town

Chinatown is one of the most iconic spots in Kobe and has a lot neat stuff to see. Though there are a lot of Chinese restaurants here, you’ll see Kobe beef specialty shops strategically placed in between them. There are also arcades and souvenir shops here making Kobe’s Chinatown feel like a miniature version of Yokohama’s Chinatown. What makes Kobe’s Chinatown unique is definitely the statues of Spiderman. They’re definitely authentic and add to the culture of the city.

China Town Food

Since we were starving and on a time crunch, we decided to eat at literally the first restaurant we saw which was called 荟華源 and had an all you can eat menu for 1298 yen for an hour. We were the only people in the restaurant and did major damage in terms of how many dishes we ordered. My personal favorite is the shrimp chili, but the dumplings and vegetable tofu dish I ordered were very good too. The only thing I didn’t like was this bamboo wrapped fried rice with meat in it that was listed on the dessert menu by mistake (either that, or the waiter made a mistake with our order) but all the other food we had was amazing. You really can’t go wrong with any food you order here.

Kobe Harborland

After eating to our hearts’ content, we decided to walk to Kobe Harborland and end the night there. Hardborland is the ideal place for a stroll because it has wide paths and a glistening ocean, not to mention a variety of colorful ships. There are ferries here that you can ride to other places of Japan such as Shodoshima and Oita if you’re up for the long journey. There also is a giant ferris wheel that you can ride. I came here again on my morning run because it’s one of my favorite places in the city due to its cheerful atmosphere.

One thing that really surprised me was how well Kobe followed the emergency state guidelines by completely shutting off the majority of lights from shops and attractions at 8pm. Chinatown was a ghost town after we left. Parts of Harborland were still illuminated but it was darker than what I remembered. Additionally, no bars or restaurants on the central street were in operation at night. Though some might find this disappointing, I actually was impressed. I also saved a lot of money by not drinking!

Access & Accommodation

From Tokyo Station, Shin Kobe Station is around 3 hours and 15000 yen one way. Kobe is best seen on a combined trip to Osaka because there is more to see and do between both cities and they are very close.

Usually I always spend the night in Osaka, but since we were panning on going to Awaji Island early the next day we decided to stay in Kobe Luminous Hotel which was 5000 yen per night. This was a tad expensive compared to what I am normally used to paying, but it was close to the station and ideal for travel. My room was very high quality, extremely quiet, and I slept well here which was important because I had a lot of activities planned for the next day.

Please look forward to my next article on all of the best places to see on Awaji Island!

Tag: bunny

A Pilgrimage to Nagoya’s Rabbit Shrine and Penguin Café