Recommended Weekend Getaways From Osaka

Nara is just half an hour’s train journey from Osaka, and is one of Japan’s historical cities. It was one of Japan’s first capitals, and the place where Buddhism first grew to importance in Japan. Nara, even today, though it lies in the midst of Japan’s most highly industrialised areas, has a quiet charm and beauty all its own. The city has some of Japan’s oldest shrines- most of them original wooden structures, unlike the reconstructions you see in most other parts of the country. Amongst the best known shrines are the Todai-ji temple complex, with its famous Daibutsu-den, the Kasuga-Taisha, with its 2000 stone lanterns; the Shin-Yakushi-ji, Toshodai-ji, the Horyu-ji and Yakush-ji, one of the most beautiful temples in the city. There are other temples too, and gardens, such as the Nara Ko-en, and if you’re really interested in history, you could pay a visit to some of Nara’s museums- the City Museum of Photography is particularly good. While at Nara, have a traditional kaiseki meal- a formal, elaborate meal, which is generally acknowledged to be Japanese cuisine at its best. You’ll find that kaiseki is relatively cheaper in Nara, and good too.

Not far from Nara (in fact, an hours’ ride by train), lies Yoshino-san, perhaps the loveliest place to be in during mid-April, when the cherry trees are in full bloom. It is at this time that the Sakura festival is held in Yoshino-san, and the sight is unforgettable: thousands of cherry trees cover the surrounding mountains, a virtual sea of flowers.  Yes, there are actually thousands of trees: a 7th century Buddhist priest called En-no-ozunu, a skilled gardener, planted 100,000 cherry trees on the mountainside here, and put a curse- or so it’s said- on anybody who tampered with the trees. Yoshino-san is otherwise a small and unprepossessing town, with the only other noteworthy sights being a few temples- one of them dedicated to En-no-ozunu himself.