Essential Kansai - Things you must do in Kansai

Now we all know why we love Kansai, KS has taken to meditating on some of the experiences you shouldn't miss in your time here. This is not intended to be a definitive list - all our readers will have opinions about things we have not included, but this will stimulate debate and a desire to get out and about.

KOYASAN

Mt. Koya is a World Heritage Site and one of Japan's most sacred places. The priest Kuukai (also known as Kobo Daishi) founded a monastery on the mountain in the early 800s and it became the centre for the study of Shingon Esoteric Buddhism.

Although it's possible to visit Koyasan for a day trip, the real highlight of a visit is staying overnight in a Buddhist temple. Many of the temples in the area offer overnight lodging and are used to foreign visitors. You get a Japanese style room and an elegantly presented dinner consisting of traditional vegetarian temple food. Most temples also offer a chance to join a meditation session, although some of the sessions have early morning starts.

Koyasan is also home to Okunoin, a huge cemetary that houses the graves of many famous Japanese, including the remains of Kuukai. Being buried close to Kuukai is said to ensure a path to heaven, so a lot of people want to be buried here! There are also a number of unusual corporate graves (companies allow some of their workers to be buried here), including a giant grave in the style of a spaceship.

Koyasan is a bit cooler than Osaka and can offer a welcome respite from the summer heat. There are several hiking trails in the area. Koyasan has a number of special festivals. June 15th is Kuukai's birthday and there is a parade with floats. The Okunoin Candle Festival is held on August 13th and the cemetery is lit up with candles.

Getting there: Take the Nankai Koyo line to Gokurakubashi and then change to the cable car to Koyasan station (the final stop). You can take a bus to the information office and most of the temples. From Namba it takes about two hours. The main information office can reserve temple lodging for you or you can contact the temples directly • www.shukubo.jp/eng/

HANSHIN TIGERS BASEBALL

Baseball is the most popular sport in Japan and the fans of the Hanshin Tigers have the reputation of being the most fanatical in Japan. Watching the Tigers play a home game at Koshien Stadium is a fun experience. The Hanshin Tigers are Osaka and Kobe's local team and long-time rivals of the Tokyo Giants. Hanshin (阪神) comes from combing two of the characters from Osaka and Kobe.

The Hanshin Tigers are also infamous for the so-called Curse of the Colonel. Tigers fans have a tradition of jumping in the Dotombori River when the Tigers win a championship. Fans representing each of the players are chosen, but understandably it was harder to find a fan who resembled the American player on the team. So they purloined a statue of Colonel Sanders from out of the front of a KFC and threw it in the river. Supposedly the Colonel laid a curse on the Tigers in vengeance.

I'm not a fan of baseball, but I still really enjoyed my visit to Koshien Stadium. For me it was more interesting watching the fans than the game. There are organised cheerleaders (men who actually 'lead' cheers rather than female American-style cheer- leaders). Each player has their own chant and the cheerleaders will hold up signs letting the crowd know what to call out for. This is amusing in itself, watching a cheerleader hold up a sign asking the crowd to call out for a home run.

There are a number of traditions including everyone releasing balloons at the seventh inning, which makes a colourful spectacle. As the Hanshin Tigers have been doing very well, tickets for most home games sell out months in advance.

Getting There: Koshien is 15 minutes from Umeda on the Hanshin line. The stadium is near the station • http://hanshintigers.jp

SPA WORLD

Spa World is one of the world's largest spa complexes and houses a variety of opulently themed spas. It's a fun place to relax.

The European floor has a large spa based on Rome's Trevi fountain, a Finnish sauna house, a spa room with pillars based on the Acropolis and an artificial cave inspired by Italy's Blue Grotto. The Asian floor has Japanese style hot springs and outdoor wooden tubs, as well as a small Balinese style spa and an Islamic style bath.

Bathers are naked and men use one floor and women the other. Each month the men's and women's floors alternate. There is a large swimming pool with waterslides on the 8th floor. Swimsuits are required on this floor and the pool can be used by both sexes. There is an outdoor open area for sunbathing and a bar.

Spa World has a number of other facilities including a free gym. There are also a couple of clinics where you can pay extra for a massage or other beauty treatment. Spa World is open 24 hours, but there is an extra charge for using the spas between midnight and 5am. People with tattoos are not permitted entry.

Getting there: Spa World is a two-minute walk from Dobutsuen Midosuji Subway. It's a five-minute walk from Nankai & JR Shin Imamiya stations. • Cost: ¥2,400 for adults. Spa World often runs ¥1,000 campaigns, which are good value. When you visit you are given a discount coupon that entitles you to ¥1,000 off (the coupon can't be used on weekends or holidays or when the ¥1,000 campaign is running) • www.spaworld.co.jp/english/

IGA UENO NINJA TOWN

Iga Ueno in Mie Prefecture is the place to go for all things ninja. If you fancy dressing up as a ninja, want to see a live ninja show, are keen to explore a ninja house or simply tremble with excitement at the thought of purchasing a Hello Kitty ninja doll then you should hop aboard the ninja train and stealthily make your way to Iga Ueno.

Iga (which merged with the city of Ueno to become Iga Ueno) is about two hours from Osaka by train and every year in April, the city holds a ninja festival. On weekends and holidays during the festival, many children visiting the city dress up in ninja costumes and visitors have the chance to try on ninja clothes. The highlight of a visit to Iga Ueno is the ninja house and museum (which are open all year).

The ninja house features secret doors, hidden passages and revolving walls as well as places to hide weapons. The ninja museum explains the history of ninja (with explanations in English). The museum houses the world's largest collection of ninja artefacts, and includes a variety of ninja weapons, along with various tools the ninja used to climb castle walls and blend into their environment.

The museum also has live ninja shows where a few modern ninjas put on a display of acrobatics and swordsmanship. For ¥200 you can get the chance to throw a few shuriken (ninja stars) and the museum's gift shop sells a variety of ninja-themed merchandise. Ueno Castle is a short walk from the ninja museum and is also worth visiting. The ninja theme is one of Mie's main tourist attractions and in an effort to promote tourism the trains running on the Iga Tetsudo train line were decorated in a ninja theme.

Getting there: The Ninja museum is a five-minute walk from Uenoshi station. From Osaka take JR or Kintetsu to Iga-Ueno or Iga-Kambe (about 90 minutes) and then change to the Iga Tetsudo line (the ninja train). It will take about 20 minutes to get to Uenoshi station. • http://iganinja.jp/en/index.html

AWASHIMA JINJA

Awashima Jinja is an unusual shrine in the town of Kada in Wakayama. It houses a large collection of dolls of all kinds. There are hundreds of maneki neko (beckoning cats), tanuki, daruma and hina matsuri dolls. It's a great place to take photos.

The shrine is also associated with fertility, so it's popular with women who want to get pregnant. A common practice is for women to place their panties in a plastic bag and attach the bag to the prayer board. This offering is supposed to help women get pregnant.

On March 3rd every year, Awashima Jinja celebrates the doll festival by loading lots of hina matsuri dolls into wooden boats and then carrying them down to the sea. Accompanied by much fanfare the dolls are then sent out to sea. The idea behind this ritual was that any illnesses girls had would be transferred to the dolls and then sent away.

It's worth staying around after the end of the main ceremony as the wooden boats are brought back into land around the corner from the main jetty. Then the boats are doused in gas and set alight. It's a strange experience watching boatloads of burning dolls.

Getting there: Take the Nankai line to Kada station. From Namba it takes about two hours. The shrine is a 10-minute-walk from the station. • www.kada.jp/awashima/

LOVE HOTELS

Some people would tell you that themed love hotels are unique to Japan. That's not true, but it's hard to beat the strangeness of some of the hotel rooms you can find in Osaka. From the notorious Hello Kitty bondage room, to the UFO room with the abduction play corner, there's something for all tastes. Some love hotels even have party rooms.

Many Japanese live with their parents and Japanese homes are often small, so many couples have limited privacy. Love hotels are the answer to this.

Sadly these days, the number of quirky love hotels seems to be decreasing, as they are replaced by more "refreshing and relaxing" hotels designed to appeal to office ladies. Love hotels aren't just used for sex and some people use them just as a place to relax. During the soccer world cup, love hotels reported a high level of demand for rooms with widescreen TVs.

There are several love hotel districts in Namba, Umeda and Tennoji. Love hotels are easily recognised by their gaudy exterior and boards offering "rest" and "stay" times. You can stay overnight or just pay for a more limited time. Most hotels have a discreet lobby with a display panel showing the rooms available. You press the button for the room you want, go in the elevator and then go to your room, which will be unlocked. Some rooms lock when you enter and when you leave you put the money in a ticket machine that unlocks the door.

During weekends love hotels can be busy and many love hotels don't allow reservations, which means you might have to wait a while if you have your heart set on a particular room.

The Angelo group operates a chain of some of Kansai's more interesting love hotels. Tennoji's Gang Snowman love hotel was part of the Angelo chain (it was the one with the Cadillac hot tub on the roof), but it's closed now.

Hotel Adonis in Tennoji is home to the Hello Kitty S&M room. Hotel Loire is one of Osaka's most interesting love hotels. You can choose from rooms that include a UFO room, a pirate room and the obligatory bondage room.

Getting there: Hotel Loire is a 15-minute walk from exit 2 of Kire-Uriwari subway station. The Angelo hotels are in different locations in Osaka and Kobe • www.angelo-jp.com

KINOSAKI

Kinosaki is an onsen town in Hyogo. It's a great place to stay at a ryokan and visit lots of hot springs.

Staying in a ryokan is defini- tely something you should do while you're in Japan. Ryokan can be expensive and sometimes difficult to reserve, but it's worth making the effort. Most ryokan provide dinner in your room. Kinosaki is near the Japan Sea and is a popular place to eat seafood, especially crab. Many of the ryokans in Kinosaki have small indoor hot springs, which can be reserved for private use. It's a nice way to relax after dinner.

If you stay at a ryokan in Kinosaki you will get a pass that entitles you to free entry to Kinosaki's public hot springs. The pass is only valid until you check out (usually 10am the next morning). Kinosaki has seven main public hot springs, each with a different character. There are also several footbaths scattered around town.

Kinosaki is a small town, ideal for strolling around and trying out the different hot springs. At night, you'll see many Japanese people walking around in their yukata. Nearby attractions include Kinosaki Marine World (where you can see dolphin and sea lion shows), as well as Sea of Japan beaches where you can go swimming in summer.

Getting there: JR Kinosaki Onsen station is about three hours from Namba. Zentan bus operates a service from Umeda to Kinosaki. The bus takes about the same time as the train but is cheaper. www.kinosaki-hotsprings.com • www.zentanbus.co.jp

DEN-DEN TOWN

Den-Den town is Osaka's answer to Akihabara. It's the place to go for all your otaku needs – discount electronics, computer games, anime figurines or a visit to a maid café. Den-Den town is a nickname for the Nipponbashi area next to Namba. There are lots of electronic stores, some of which sell duty free export electronics such as cameras. There are also many anime and manga interest stores, including multi-storey complexes crammed with more hentai porn than you could shake a tentacle at.

Maid cafes are a popular attraction in Den-Den town. They are small cafes where young women dressed as French maids serve you drinks and cakes.

For the ladies, there are also some butler cafes.

Finding information about maid cafes in English can be difficult and don't expect the maids to speak much English. The Otamap web site has a map (in Japanese) displaying the locations of the maid cafes in Den-Den town. A typical maid café will have slightly overpriced food and drinks, cute waitresses and a cluster of somewhat socially challenged young male customers. But it's not just otaku nerds who visit maid cafes. It's not unusual to see lots of female customers.

Some of the maids write journals and leave them on display. So if you can read Japanese and are dying to know what your maid's favorite anime is, you won't go home disappointed.

Photos usually aren't allowed inside the maid cafes, but if you're willing to fork over the cash you can have your photo taken with the maids. Den-Den town has a street festival every year in March. You can see lots of maids on the march.

Getting there: The closest station is Ebisucho station on the Sakaisuji subway line, but Kintetsu Nipponbashi and the various Namba stations are all within walking distance. www.denden-town.or.jp • www.otamap.com/map/otamap_ponbashi.html

Text & photos: Aidan Doyle