Explore the world with Magelline!

Crossing from Miyajimaguchi over calm water, you watch a huge vermilion gate rise directly out of the sea. Japanese artists have ranked this view among the country's top three scenic spots for generations, though locals officially call the island Itsukushima. Miyajima translates to shrine island, a nickname rooted in ancient reverence. Early worshippers considered every foot of soil sacred. They built Itsukushima Shrine on wooden stilts over the tidal flat so pilgrims could dock and enter without stepping on holy ground.

Itsukushima Shrine & the Great Torii
Warlord Taira no Kiyomori gave the shrine its iconic layout in 1168. High tide lifts the entire complex off the mud, turning its long red hallways into a floating wooden village. Low tide pulls the water back to expose tidal pools, tiny crabs, and wet sand. You can walk right out to the Great Torii gate during these dry hours.

The current gate was built in 1875 from heavy camphor wood. It reaches nearly 17 meters tall and rests on the seabed under its own massive weight without underground pillars. UNESCO listed the complex as a World Heritage site in 1996. Checking daily tide charts before you arrive lets you see both dramatic states in a single visit.

Mount Misen
Mount Misen climbs 535 meters behind the buildings. Dense primaeval forest covers the slopes, winding past mossy boulders and mountain streams. Hikers can tackle the two-hour climb or take the ropeway most of the way up. Near the peak, the fire inside Reikado Hall has burned continuously since the monk Kobo Daishi lit it in 806. In 1964 a light from this fire was carried to Hiroshima to kindle the Peace Flame. The summit offers open views across the Seto Inland Sea, where passenger ferries cut white wakes through dark blue water.

Temples & Deer
Daishoin Temple sits near the base of the mountain. Hundreds of small stone statues dressed in hand-knit caps line the grounds, and metal prayer wheels line the stair railings for visitors to spin. Nearby stands Senjokaku, a massive unpainted wooden hall ordered by Toyotomi Hideyoshi in 1587. Construction stopped when he died, leaving an airy, open-sided structure next to a vibrant five-story pagoda built in 1407.

Wild sika deer roam the town streets freely. They are tame enough to walk right up to tourists, though they will gladly chew up paper maps or train tickets left in easy reach.

Tastes of the Island
The best food waits along Omotesando Street. Hiroshima Bay produces world-class oysters, which vendors grill fresh over hot coals right on the sidewalk. You will also find momiji manju, leaf-shaped cakes stuffed with sweet red bean paste, alongside anago meshi, a dish of grilled conger eel served over seasoned rice. Red maples cover Momijidani Park in brilliant colour every autumn.

Notes
Ferries run continuously from Miyajimaguchi, taking about ten minutes. The JR ferry is covered by the Japan Rail Pass and also accepts IC cards like ICOCA, while direct boats connect the island to Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. Local authorities collect a small 100 yen visitor fee with your ferry ticket. Staying overnight in a local ryokan reveals the island's quiet side. Once the final day boat departs, the daytime crowds vanish, lanterns light up the dark shoreline, and the lit gate glows against the night water.

Magelline’s Perspective
Most visitors give Miyajima a few hours and leave with a photo of the gate. The island deserves more. Arrive at high tide, wait for the sea to pull back, climb Misen while the light is soft, and stay for the evening when the deer settle, and the lanterns come on. Few places in Japan let you feel this close to the old idea of a sacred island, and fewer still let you sleep there.

The first sound you notice is the brass. It drifts over the Theresienwiese long before the tents come into view, mixing with the smell of roasted almonds and woodsmoke. Then the crowd thickens, the dirndls and leather breeches multiply, and Munich reveals the festival it has been preparing for all year.

Oktoberfest is the largest folk festival on earth, and every autumn it draws millions of people to a single meadow on the edge of the old city. Locals simply call it the Wiesn. Spend a few hours there and you start calling it that too.

A Royal Wedding That Never Ended
The story begins in October 1810, when Crown Prince Ludwig of Bavaria married Princess Therese. The people of Munich were invited to celebrate on the fields outside the city gates, and the day ended with a horse race. The fields were named after the bride, and the party was repeated the following year. And the year after that.

Over two centuries, the horses disappeared, the beer arrived, and the festival moved into September to catch warmer evenings. Today it lasts about two and a half weeks. It opens on a Saturday in the second half of September and closes on the first Sunday of October, or on 3 October if that day comes later.

Dressed for the Wiesn
Most visitors come in Tracht, the traditional Bavarian costume. Men wear Lederhosen, short leather trousers with embroidered braces, together with a checked shirt, thick wool socks and sturdy shoes. Some add a felt hat decorated with a tuft of chamois hair. Women wear the dirndl, a fitted bodice over a white blouse with a full skirt and an apron. The bow of the apron carries a small secret: tied on the left means single, on the right means taken, at the back means widowed. Plenty of Munich families keep their best Tracht for years and pass it down.

Inside the Tents
Only Munich breweries are allowed to pour at the Wiesn. Augustiner, Paulaner, Spaten, Löwenbräu and Hofbräu all bring a special festival brew, stronger and more golden than their everyday beer. It is served in the Maß, a heavy glass mug holding a full litre, and carrying four of them at once is a skill the waitresses take seriously.

At noon on opening day, the mayor of Munich strikes a tap into the first barrel and calls out "O'zapft is!", meaning it is tapped. Twelve cannon shots follow, and only then can the beer flow.

Songs 
Every big tent has its own band, usually sitting on a raised stage in the middle. During the day they play Bavarian brass music, marches and polkas. Every twenty minutes or so comes the short toast song "Ein Prosit der Gemütlichkeit", and the whole tent rises, lifts its mugs and drinks together. By evening the program turns into a giant sing along. The "Fliegerlied" gets everyone flapping their arms like birds, German party hits fill the gaps, and international favourites like "Country Roads" or "Sweet Caroline" have thousands of strangers singing on the benches.

What to Eat Between Rounds
Half a roast chicken with crisp, salty skin is the classic order. Giant pretzels hang from wooden stands, Weißwurst arrives in the morning with sweet mustard, and grilled fish on long sticks turns slowly over glowing coals. For something sweet, look for gingerbread hearts on ribbons, decorated with icing words of love. People buy them for each other and wear them around their necks all day.

Beyond the Beer
The Wiesn is also an enormous fairground, with roller coasters, a giant Ferris wheel looking toward the Alps on clear days, and old wooden rides that have been spinning for generations. On the first Sunday, thousands march through the city centre in the costume parade, with brewery wagons pulled by horses and bands from all over Bavaria. In the southern corner, the Oide Wiesn keeps the spirit of a century ago with historic rides and folk dancing.

Tipps
Weekday mornings are the easiest time to find a seat without a reservation, while weekends fill up fast after lunch. Cash is handy, prices climb every year, and Munich hotels get booked many months ahead.

Magelline’s Perspective
Oktoberfest could easily be dismissed as one long party, but there is something touching under the noise. Strangers share benches and songs, families keep traditions alive across generations, and a whole city takes two weeks to celebrate simply being together. Come for the beer if you like. You will probably remember the people at your table much longer.

Osaka grew rich as a merchant city, and people here still talk to strangers more easily than in most of Japan. An old local greeting, "Mokarimakka?", asks whether business is going well. The city even has its own word for its favourite habit. Kuidaore means eating until you can't eat anymore, and most visitors end up doing exactly that.

Dotonbori
The canal in the Namba district is lined with huge neon signs, and above one restaurant door a giant mechanical crab slowly moves its legs. The Glico running man sign by Ebisu Bridge has stood here in different versions since 1935. People queue to take a photo in front of it at almost any hour.

The street is best in the evening, when the signs are lit, and the food stalls are busy. Try takoyaki, small balls of batter with octopus inside, cooked in iron pans right in front of you. Okonomiyaki, a savoury pancake with cabbage and pork, is made on a hot plate at your table. If you don't know how to eat something, the cook will usually show you. Weekend crowds are heavy, so a weekday evening is more comfortable.

Osaka Castle
Toyotomi Hideyoshi began the castle in 1583, and it was burned and rebuilt several times over the following centuries. The tower standing today, white with green roofs, was built in 1931. Some of the stones in its walls weigh more than a hundred tonnes, and it is hard to imagine how they were moved without machines.

The tower holds a museum about the warlords who fought for control of Japan. Many people enjoy the park around the moat even more, especially in spring when the cherry trees bloom and in autumn when the ginkgo leaves turn yellow. The tower opens at nine, and if you arrive then you can see the top floor quietly before the tour buses come.

Kuromon Ichiba Market
This covered market has supplied the city since the early nineteenth century, and locals still call it Osaka's Kitchen. About 150 shops stand along a street of roughly 600 metres. You can buy grilled scallops, fresh tuna, sea urchin and very large Japanese strawberries, and most stalls let you eat on the spot.

Mornings are the best time to come, because the seafood is freshest and the lanes are less crowded. Many Osaka families have shopped at the same stalls for generations.

Shinsekai & Tsutenkaku Tower
Shinsekai was built in 1912, and its planners took ideas from Paris and from Coney Island in New York. The name means New World. A century later, the district has a nostalgic look, with retro game arcades, painted signs and small bars where you eat at a counter.

Tsutenkaku Tower stands in the centre of the district. Inside is a statue of Billiken, a god of good luck, and visitors rub the soles of his feet for fortune. The local speciality is kushikatsu, meat and vegetables on skewers fried in breadcrumbs. Every table has a shared pot of sauce, and dipping a skewer a second time after you have bitten it is not allowed.

Umeda Sky Building
The Umeda Sky Building has two towers connected at the top by a round observation deck. To reach it, you ride glass escalators that cross the open space between the towers. The Floating Garden Observatory sits 173 metres above the ground and has an open walkway around the roof.

Sunset is a good time to go. You can watch the city lights come on across the districts below, and on clear days the view reaches Osaka Bay.

Sumiyoshi Taisha
Sumiyoshi Taisha is one of the oldest shrines in Japan. According to tradition, it was founded in the third century. The main halls are built in an early Japanese style with straight roofs and red-painted wood, from a period before Buddhist architecture spread through the country.

Visitors enter across the Sorihashi, a steeply arched red bridge. Crossing it is believed to purify you. Sailors and merchants have prayed here for safe journeys and good business for centuries. The old Hankai tram stops right outside, and the slow ride through local neighbourhoods is a pleasant way to arrive.

Magelline’s Perspective
After a few days in Kyoto, Osaka can come as a surprise. People are louder, the food is cheaper and the evenings last longer. It suits travellers who like to eat well and talk to locals, and one night here is usually enough to make you want another.