Thursday Night in Osaka

Last night I went into Osaka to do a final bit of coverage for the next Lonely Planet guide to Japan. Every time I go to Osaka in the evening, I realize what a cool and exciting city it is. If you go, I recommend a walk from Umeda Station to Kita-Shinchi, then hop of the subway and walk around Shinsaibashi, Amerika-Mura and Dotombori. It's great. Here's a picture of the signs along Dotombori:


Here's a picture of the famous Ebisu-Bashi Bridge in Minami:

Koya-san Mountain Monasteries

The other day I took the trains down to the Koya-san monastery complex down in northern Wakayama-ken Prefecture. It's a lovely ride once you get into southern Osaka-fu Prefecture.

Here is a picture of the cable car (funicular) that takes you up to the complex.



This is the Yochi-in garden outside Yochi-in Temple.



Here's a picture of the Daito pagoda in the center of Koya-san. The pagoda contains murals or statues of almost all the main figures in the Japanese Buddhist cosmology. The Daito forms the center of the giant mandala formed by the monasteries and the peaks around them.