Christmas and New Years, Japan

Fun few days before Christmas including:

• takoyaki party (Osaka famous octopus balls)
• wagyu steaks

Christmas eve & day: We had KFC for lunch on xmas eve as is the Japanese tradition but food was so disapointing! Worst meal in Japan by far 😂 - followed by lots of guinness and izakaya for dinner!

Nina's family got a turkey shipped from Europe so we could have a proper Christmas dinner!

Short 2 day trip between Christmas and New Year!

Koyasan: These were my favourite temples we visited in Japan, they have these huge old graves sites for ancient samurai amongst modern company graves, Nissan and Yakult graves featured in the photos. The atmosphere was like something from a Ghibli film, very cool.

Wakayama: Chilled and ate lots! Watched someone chop up a whole Tuna and ate some very fresh seafood 🍣 Had some fluffy pancakes 🥞

Again lots of food, drinks and walks (including one to Kongosan, the nearest mountain).

New years eve: We went to an italian restaurant in Osaka - it was their last night of service so they had a band and stayed open late, was good fun!

At midnight we went to Sensoji temple with hundreds of others to do Hatsumode, "first prayer", where you pray for thanks for the last year and luck for the new year at either a Buddhist temple or Shinto shrine.

New years: we went to do Hatsumode again with Nina's family, this time properly with the bell ringing too!

Then we had osechi which is traditional (very aesthetic) food eaten at Japanese New Year served in nice boxes 🍱. I'd been warned the food was a little tough for a foreigner but was actually (mostly) so good! With lots of sake 🍶

Felt very special to be able to celebrate Japanese New Year with Nina's family in Japan ☺️