Tuesday Travels - Himeji Black Cat Cafe

We took the bullet train to Himeji, not to see the famous castle, but to visit a black cat cafe!

The cafe was about a 20 minute walk from the train station.  This is the entrance to the building...the cafe is on the second floor. 

Cute black cat things all around...its a good thing I'm not a thief!  LOL

We hung out in the cafe for about an hour.  We were the only people there besides the owner.  The cats were very friendly.  I believe there were 9 of them.

This is the owner of the cafe, and of all the cats.  She has rescued them from shelters and off the streets.  She continues to work to rescue and place the strays in the area.

The cats all wore collars of a particular color to tell them apart.  I can appreciate this...my boys do the same!

The cafe was very clean with lots of places for the cats to climb and explore.

Good kitty to scratch the post!

We had the best time here, because we were both missing our black cats back home.  This was the revitalization we needed!

This green collared cat claimed me...I loved it!

Happy to get a funny tongue shot!  Cats are the same no matter where they live.

Tuesday Travels - Wakayama the City

After spending the morning visiting the Tama train, we were ready for some lunch.  We heard that Wakayama was known for a special type of Negi (green onion) Ramen, so we wanted to try it.  There were a few well-known places to experience this type of ramen, so we picked one and headed to it.

The negi ramen did not disappoint!  It was delicious!  The onions helped to cut the otherwise greasy pork broth and were very refreshing.  We did an order of handmade gyoza as well.

Next, we headed for Wakayama Castle and gardens.  The Japanese known how to create a beautiful and serene garden...we enjoyed strolling around.

The sun helped created some beautiful reflections in the water...

Looking back at the path we had traveled down...

Gorgeous fall leaves and a glimpse of the castle

A large torii marks the entrance to the castle...

Views as we approach...I have probably mentioned before, but just know that everything worth seeing in Japan is up a large steep hill! 

In the courtyard

An unusual sign, but one I was thankful for!  This castle has been rebuilt and restored so it isn't the original, which is why you can leave the shoes on.

Views of Wakayama from the castle

Another beautiful city and one we are glad to have visited, at least for a day.  I think this region is one you could spend several days exploring.  Maybe on the next trip :)

Back in Osaka, we settled for tempura udon for dinner because we were still pretty full from lunch!

Tuesday Travels - Wakayama - Tama Train

This post is photo heavy...

One of the places we wanted to go was to Wakayama, to ride the Tama Train.  This train is designed to look like a cat, and the station master is a cat.  The original Tama died in 2015, but Tama the second has taken over.  Tama the fourth is apprenticing at another station.

Tama the third's owner decided they couldn't part with her, so she never took office :)

We arrived at Wakayama, which was about an hour from Osaka.  Then we looked for the Wakayama Electric Railway line, which thankfully, was marked with a cat icon on the signs!

There were cats marking our path to the right platform

Platform 9 it is...

Beautiful countryside as we traveled along...

Kishi station is the last one on the line.  Tama is here!

Everything Tama!!  This railway line was about to be out of business.  They fired all the station masters, and had volunteers business owners assume the role.  This station decided to have a cat as their station master.  The cat brought in tourist and basically saved the line!

Nitama, or Tama the second on duty.

Cat shaped snacks from the cafe...very tasty.

Shrine to the original Tama.  Her ashes are entombed here.

If you step across the street, you can see the building is shaped like a cat too!

We wanted to ride the cat train, so we had to kill time at the station.  There isn't anything to do in the town.  There are four themed trains on the line.  Umeboshi (pickled plums), Strawberries, and toys.  This area is known for growing plums and strawberries.

Finally, the Tama train approaches!  We rode the Plum train on the first trip.

The outside is decorated with over 100 Tama designs...

Inside there are cats and cat fabrics everywhere!

We stopped off to see Tama the fourth, or Yontama.

Her station master hat...

We had to wait about 30 minutes before another train would come by to take us back to Wakayama, so we looked around the station some and thought about what we were going to do once back to civilization :)

Next week, Wakayama the city

Tuesday Travels - Kyoto Part Two

After Nyan Nyan Ji, we headed over to Fushimi Inari.  It is a shrine known for the red torii gates.

Street approaching the shrine...there are many shops and restaurants surrounding shrines and temples.

Fushimi Inari is a large shrine complex with many buildings

Vermillion Red is the color of choice because it wards off evil spirits

Map of the complex...

It is guarded by Fox

I love all the different types of lanterns you can find...

Another structure.  The roof is wood and needs to be replaces quite often

This shrine is dedicated to the Shinto god of Rice

This shrine has ancient origins, predating the capital's move to Kyoto in 794

The fox are the messengers...

Thousands of Torii gates form a walkway up the mountain.  The large ones were donated by companies, and the smaller ones by families.

Getting dark and the shrines takes on an eerie feel...

Main building...

Seeing the full moon through the gate

We left Fushimi and headed to a Starbucks.  On the way, we found a fun cat store...

This is the starbucks.  It was built inside a 100 year old house.  The area is near the famous temple called Kiyomizu-dera.

Inside is all the modern equipment needed...place your order here and pick it up down the hall

Tatami mats line many of the sitting rooms, so you much remove your shoes.

Kyoto Tower at night.

A couple of days later we went back to Kyoto for a special Starbucks drink.  It is only a 16 minute train ride from Osaka.  Here though, is a vending machine.  The top two shelves with the red border are hot drinks..the rest are cold.  So clever!

There was a special drink for the 20th anniversary of Starbucks in Kyoto.  The drink was available for one week, and only at certain stores. 

Thankfully, the store at Kyoto Station had it!

We decided to go up in the Kyoto Tower and see the city...it did not disappoint

Here you can see the Shinkansen coming into town...

I have a feeling if you looked at an aerial view of this area, that Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe are probably all one really large city!