In June, we went to Japan! We visited Osaka and Kobe.

1 2026-06-14: Arrival in Osaka

We arrived!!! We checked into the Intercontinental Osaka in Umeda. The hotel was really amazing. The room is super spacious and comfortable. The only problem is the presence of a large granite rock with an extraordinarily coarse texture which was part of the writing desk. With a babby that has just learned to walk zooming around, we were very scared that he would faceplant into it (fortunately, this did not happen).

After settling into our hotel room, we went to eat food. Our first meal in Japan was Unaju at Nakashou. It’s not bad — the eel was very crispy and fluffy. Somehow I preferred Unatetsu back in 2024 though.

2 2026-06-15: Dotonbori

Due to jet lag, we woke up at 6 am, and then we ate hotel breakfast (which was open at 6:30 am). The hotel buffet was really great! There was a great selection of delicious hot and cold dishes. You could also request the noodle of the day (either udon or ramen) or various egg dishes (omelettes and such) to be made on demand. There were tasty Japanese classic breakfast items such as koshihikari rice with mentaiko, poached onsen egg in dashi, natto, curry, and various pickles. There were also various cold cuts, cheeses, and smoked salmon and tuna.

2.1 Dotonbori

We went to Dotonbori in the morning. The popular riverside shops are usually only open in the afternoons and evenings, but with a baby, we wanted to avoid the crowds and enjoy at our own pace. First, we took the Midosuji line to Namba. It was super crowded at 8:30 in the morning!

Then we walked around the Dotonbori area, visited the tiny temple Hozen-ji, then gradually walked north along the Shinsaibashi shopping arcade.

2.2 Utsubo Park and lunch

We went to Utsubo Park so that baby could stretch his legs. He’s super good at walking now! He traversed some grassy terrain full of tree roots without falling. Then, we had lunch at a random spot (Ganko Izakaya). This was a typical (but perhaps mildly upscale) izakaya popular with working people. Though not considered particularly delicious according to its Tabelog reviews, we still found it to be quite decent.

Then we took the Midosuji line back from Honmachi back to Umeda.

2.3 Line scan photography of JR Kyoto trains

In the afternoon, while baby was having his second nap in the hotel (after the morning nap in the stroller), I decided to abandon my family and engage in extreme train photography!

First, I went to Minami-Suita to catch some trains on the JR Kyoto Line.

2.4 Line scan photography of Hankyu trains

Then I went to Nakatsuritsu bridge to scan the Hankyu trains!

2.5 Sushi dinner

We had sushi at Sushi Fukushima.

The restaurant had a very “foreigners-friendly” vibe. They had a big map on the wall where you could place a pin, indicating where you’re from. There were some English-speaking servers, and a multilingual tablet to order your food. Compared to the last omakase we had in Japan, where an elderly non-English-speaking master just plopped down piece after piece after announcing the names of the pieces in Japanese, this was a much more relaxed experience and perhaps the only baby-compatible one.

At one point, the servers dressed up as Mario and Luigi to pour abalone liver sauce over our abalone.

3 2026-06-16: Train enjoyment

3.1 Line scan photography of Nankai trains

In the morning, after our delicious morning hotel buffet, I departed to engage in extreme train photography once again! I took the Midosuji line to Daikokucho in order to go and take line scan photos of Nankai Line trains at Imamiyaebisu station. I had the pleasure of riding in one of the rare and soon-to-be-retired Midosuji 8000 series trains.

It was super cool to see some wildly different rolling stock coupled together. I love trains!!!

3.2 Hanging out at the Yodobashi Camera

We had lunch at a random izakaya upstairs in the Yodobashi Camera LINKS mall called Sumi-Roman. It was actually really good.

Then babby and I played with toy trains in the children’s play area at Yodobashi Camera’s toy train section.

3.3 Dinner: Yakiniku

For dinner we had yakiniku at Yakiniku Ushigoro Umeda-ten. It was amazing!

4 2026-06-17: Nara

We caught the Kintetsu line to Nara. We just took a random limited express which was served by a boring 5800 series rather than a fancy Aoniyoshi or something.

Generally, Nara is really great, but I didn’t take that many pictures due to pushing the babby stroller around and occasionally carrying him. There were also a lot of tourists, though a manageable amount compared to peak season.

For lunch we went to a restaurant called Yamato An Kintetsu Nara. I had a salmon and ikura kamameshi set with tempura, sashimi, miso soup, tofu, and pickles.

Due to babby screaming, the table next to us left without ordering anything, and the staff had to apologize to every guest that there was a baby in the restaurant. But he soon calmed down and was well behaved afterwards.

Then we had coffee at Rokumei, and caught the train back to the hotel.

Back at the hotel, baby napped and then we had dinner in the hotel.

5 2026-06-18: Going to Kobe

In the morning, before heading out for Kobe, I took babby to Nakanoshima. We checked out the Osaka City Central Public Hall, and the park and rose garden.

Then, babby napped a bit and we went shopping a little. We had lunch at Din Tai Fung in the Lucua, which had local specialties such as mentaiko xiaolongbao which are super delicious.

Then we departed for Kobe! We took the JR Kyoto line to Shin-Osaka and then took the Shinkansen to Shin-Kobe, as our hotel in Kobe was located very close to Shin-Kobe. It was more annoying than expected to navigate Shin-Kobe with luggage (two large suitcases) and a stroller. There were rather few elevators. We wanted to get the Nozomi with non-reserved seats but we had to wait for the elevator to go up and down several times before we could get on, and then the elevator was located on the end of the platform super far from the non-reserved seats car in the 16-car formation.

We checked into ANA Crowne Plaza, super mad and tired! So we just chilled in the hotel and did laundry while babby napped. The hotel was quite old. It seems that it hadn’t been updated since it was built in the late 1980s. The room had a radio and one of those beige prefab bathrooms. The mall that it’s located in seemed almost abandoned, with perhaps 95% empty storefronts. Very depressing.

The view was great, though!

For dinner, we had takeout from a supermarket downstairs. It was very cheap.

6 2026-06-19: Kobe

We got up, had hotel buffet breakfast, and went on an extreme city walk! The hotel breakfast was somewhat worse than the other hotel but still very respectable with a very large array of different tasty foods.

6.1 Meriken Park and Kobe beef

First, we went to Meriken park. Babby fell asleep and napped there.

Then we walked over to Nankinmachi where we got a black-haired beef croquette. It was mostly potato and we could hardly detect the beef, not to mention discerning the fancy beef from regular beef.

For lunch, we went to Sannomiya and had actual Kobe beef at Yazawa.

Then we went to buy bread at a bakery called Ça Marche. It was really tasty.

6.2 Hiking

In the afternoon, babby was napping so I went to take photos. I hiked up all the way to Nunobiki falls.

6.3 Dinner: Kaitenzushi

For dinner, we returned to Sannomiya and had some really tasty kaitenzushi at Morimori. While waiting in line, we had a great view of the PORTLINER.

7 2026-06-20: More Kobe

In the morning we went to the Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art. It’s an amazing work of architecture by Tadao Ando.

7.1 Lunch: Kaiseki

We went to a restaurant called Haze. We had the June lunch-only “Misaki” 9-course menu for ¥7,700. We had a great private room with extremely good service. This was by far the best dining experience of the entire Japan trip.

• 前菜 Appetizer assortment
  • 金時草と榎木茸のお浸し — Kintoki-sō greens and enoki mushrooms, lightly dressed/soaked in dashi
  • 神戸ポークのテリーヌ — Kobe pork terrine
  • アボカド豆腐 — Avocado tofu
  • 山桃杏露酒漬 — Japanese bayberry (yamamomo) marinated in apricot liqueur
  • 太刀魚一夜干し — Overnight-dried cutlassfish
  • 加賀太胡瓜翁煮 — Simmered Kaga thick cucumber, okina-ni style
  • 川津海老唐揚げ — Deep-fried Kawazu shrimp
• 御椀 Soup
• 造里 Sashimi: Tuna, madai, kanpachi
• 煮物 Simmered dish
  • 伊佐木揚煮　霙あん掛け — Fried-and-simmered isaki (chicken grunt), with a mizore-an sauce of grated daikon
  • 厚揚げ — Thick fried tofu
  • 生麩 — Fresh wheat gluten (nama-fu)
  • おくら — Okra
  • 木の芽 — Young sansho leaves
• 焼物 Grilled dish
  • 鱸味彩焼 — Grilled Japanese sea bass (suzuki), “Ajisai-yaki” / 味彩焼 (a sweet corn)
• 揚物 Fried dish
  • 穴子山椒揚げ — Fried conger eel with sansho pepper
  • 淡路の藻塩 — Awaji Island moshio (seaweed-infused sea salt)
  • 檸檬 — Lemon
• 留鉢 Refreshing course
  • 水雲養老寄せ — Mozuku seaweed and yam yōrō-yose, a chilled set preparation
  • 蛇腹蛸 — Octopus cut in an accordion pattern
  • 蛇の目胡瓜＆ラディッシュ — Decoratively cut “snake-eye” cucumber and radish
  • 振り柚子 — A sprinkling of grated yuzu zest
  • 加減酢 — Light seasoned vinegar dressing
• 食事 Rice: Takikomi-gohan (炊き込み御飯), tai mixed with rice with pickles
• 水物 Dessert

Then we napped. For dinner we ordered delivery ramen.

7.2 Night

At night I went to take photos of Shin-Kobe station during the rain.

8 2026-06-21: Ijinkan-gai and flight back

It was our last day in Japan. We wanted to go to Nunobiki ropeway and herb garden, but it was closed due to risk of high winds.

So we went to Ijinkan-gai, had some ice cream, bought some bread, and caught the airport shuttle bus to the airport.

We chilled at the lounge a bit and then boarded our really horrible long flight home.

The United flight was quite displeasing:

• Rude staff. At one point they were collecting trash and they were just like “just throw it in yourself lol”.
• One of them suggested putting bags on top of my tennis rackets in the overhead compartment (which would certainly crush and damage them) when my rackets were already on top of my backpack and stroller in a safe way that optimally utilizes the space.
• Really bad tasting food. the “gyudon” was simultaneously very watery in texture and ridiculously sweet. The chicken soboro was even sweeter. The rice was compacted into a starchy mush. Clearly no Japanese person was ever involved in making these.
• $2500 per person for Basic Economy.
• Annoying touchscreen that keeps lighting up at the slightest brush and blasting us with blue light even after we tried turning it off multiple times. I really wanted to smash it to bits. Like, after jumping through the hoops in the menu to turn it off, the moment I (or babby) comes within 1 cm, it automatically turns on. You don’t even need to press the screen properly.
• Annoying “deep sleep mode” on the infotainment shows a giant and super bright video of the sun. You know, the same thing that we have evolved over millions of years to associate with daylight and wakefulness.
• A guy sitting next to us who didn’t realize that the only way to turn off the super bright reading light is through the infotainment touchscreen and spent the first 5 hours trying to sleep with the super bright light turned on (which also prevented us from sleeping).
• Dirty floor with an eye mask from a previous passenger as well as random crumbs and stuff.
• No space for babby. Babby was too long while sleeping across both of our laps so he kept kicking or headbutting the person with the light on, or extending head or limbs into the aisle where he would get smashed by a high speed meal trolley.
• There was a medical emergency so they had all the cabin lights on as well as a team of people trying to resuscitate a passenger in the other aisle. Upon arriving, we had to wait for the EMT team to go pick up that passenger. Not United’s fault for this one, but still not great for trying to get some sleep.
• The passenger in front of us was a deadheading crew member and the rest of the crew kept stopping by to chat with him and saying “otsukaresama deshita” and he also had a giant ceremonial box that was a present apparently and had the whole row to himself with great legroom (it was the exit row). Maybe he was retiring or something. But he was sitting in front of me and babby instead of in front of the person with the light on. He also kept watching movies with super bright flashing lights. When deplaning, he kept spinning around really fast while wearing the box as a backpack and came close to hitting my wife and baby with it multiple times, and the other crew members had to keep telling him “kiotsukete akachan” (be careful, baby).
• One of the other crew members, while on professional work duty in uniform, took a picture of the sleeping deadheading employee in front (I guess just a harmless fun thing to take photos of your sleeping friends) but accidentally left her flash on so it flashed all of us.
• Super expensive and slow $8 per hour in-flight wifi. The free “messaging” option advertised working with WeChat, Facebook Messenger, and Google Chat, but I tried all three of those and none of them worked.

Oh well, such is life. Still worth it for the train pics.