Lockdown and Quarantined? Here's my Japanese Drama List for you to Kill Time!

Hi everyone! Today's blog is a little more touching on my "weeaboo" side of the coin.

I've been a Japanese drama (jdrama) junkie for as long as I can remember during its heyday. (Let's just get it all out here and let me just say it, I love Kimura Takuya! There. I said it.) I just love how most dramas in Japan are shorter in length (about 12 episodes; unless we're getting into asadora and taiga drama), but you can still resonate with the main characters enough to really enjoy and engage with the drama.

Nowadays, I've watched much less due to just lack in quality of storyline, but I still want to take the time to share with you some of my favourite all-time jdramas for all of you with tons of time to kill! (I promise I won't just recommend KimuTaku dramas lol)

Let's get to it!

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For those of you who love more melodramatic/serious dramas:

5. Hanzawa Naoki

This is based off a very famous Japanese novel about the finance world in Japan. I believe the author himself was working in the sector himself, and pulled inspiration from real life experiences to write his story. The drama stars the now very famous Sakai Masato as the main lead, and Ueto Aya, who plays as his wife. In the drama, you watch as the main lead struggles to stay afloat in the banking world, while trying to keep his personal life together.

When Hanzawa Naoki the drama came out, I was just phasing out of jmedia and jdramas. I heard off the grapevine that this drama has gained lots of traction, and Sakai Masato, a pretty well-known B-list actor at the time, was really gaining a lot of attention he deserves. So I decided to check it out. It really is a great story if you're really into this kind of drama.

4. LIFE

LIFE stars a young Kitano Kii as the main lead, and it's a very heavy drama about her character trying to survive a bunch of bullies bullying her on a day-to-day basis. I personally really enjoyed this drama because it's not over-dramatic. A lot of the things that happen in the story sounds very realistic, and can happen to someone in a very critical bullying situation. The drama really focuses a lot on the emotional aspects of being bullied, depression and being taken advantage on by people who don't have your best interests in mind.

I think this drama can trigger some people, but I will cautiously recommend this to you if you think this is a type of drama you can watch.

3. Karei-naru Ichizoku

The first Kimura Takuya drama on this list. Haha.

I cannot say this is a very atypical family drama. I think as far as family dramas go, a lot of the themes are very similar. Lots of yelling, hate, revenge, etc. But what's interesting to me is that the story takes place during Japan's economic boom (metal-related industry), which I personally don't know much about, but it was interesting to see a representation of that time.

Also, there's a lot of good twists in the story. But it is very slow-paced and quite grueling at times. As far as KimuTaku dramas go, it's definitely not one of the best, but if you can manage to finish it, it is a very rewarding piece.

2. IRYU

IRYU is one of my all-time favourite dramas, and probably one of my favourite doctor-themed dramas in the jdrama-verse. I can't talk about its realism (not a doctor lol), but they are VERY convincingly real. Even if it isn't real, I love how they are able to convince you that everything about it seems real and professional. The casting is amazing, the characters have depth and the episodic stories just make you want to keep watching more! The overarching story is a bit lacking, but I really don't think they need to worry about it as the quality in each episode is there. Give this one a shot!

1. Strawberry Night

I will have to say that I have a major bias on this drama, for a few reasons. I love mystery. I love Takeuchi Yuko (the main lead). And I absolutely adored the novels (so much so that I read all of them in Chinese, which is not a language I'm comfortable reading in, but I did it anyway).

The story was really amazing for me. It had a good level of suspense, while keeping you engaged in the moment with whatever murder case they're trying to solve. The characters were also really great in terms of depth, but also how they bounced off one another. They made a great team.

Again, I just want to warn you that there are some trigger themes here. So just tread carefully if stuff like abuse triggers you.

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Now, under the Romance and/or Comedy category...

6. TRICK

This drama is good if you really need to relax with, enjoy a good bad joke (unless you get offended easily) and have a few inserts of mystery and supernatural elements to it. This is one of the few older jdramas, but I fully enjoyed it just for the sheer fact of it being kind of silly, and serious but not all that serious at all. The good pair-up of Nakama Yukie and Abe Hiroshi when they were still younger (and less popular) makes it just even more amazing.

5. HERO

(warning: another KimuTaku drama lol) The reason I absolutely love this is for the characters and their relationship with one another. I really enjoy dramas where it looks like the cast just get along with each other, and the character chemistry just... works. This drama absolutely ticks all of that. On top of that, I personally really loved all the cases (this is a law-related drama). It's super lighthearted for the most part, with some good episodic stories to go along with it.

4. Odoru Daisousasen

For those of you who live in Tokyo, have you ever gotten off and on at Tokyo Teleport station and wondered where that station chime came from? It's the famous theme from this particular drama. I don't think there's a Japanese person out there who don't know of this drama (unless they just don't watch or is living under a rock). It's a pretty well-known police drama with some crude humour; again, not for people who are easily offended. But I personally like the comedy element to the police drama, which I thought it pulled off well. Not over the top, and actually pretty funny. Another one I personally think highly of (even though I'm not a big fan of Oda Yuji).

3. PRIDE

Oh look, another KimuTaku drama! No but seriously, this guy makes some good dramas. I can go on about why, but that's another post for another time... anyway, if we've got some Canucks in the room who love hockey, this one is for you! I thought the pair up of Takeuchi Yuko and Kimura was fantastic, and they really brought out the chemistry of their characters really well. I know you're probably tired of my Kimura recs, but if nothing else, you HAVE to try this romance drama!

2. Great Teacher Onizuka (1997)

I don't have much to say. It's really just a classic. And you have to watch it. If you liked dramas like Gokusen and any kind of "inspiring teacher" type dramas, you'll like this one. This is pretty much the OG of all "super teacher" dramas out there, I don't care what people say.

1. Nodame Cantabile

There's not many live-action jdramas I think highly of. I mean, I liked Hana Yori Dango, but it wasn't perfect (some of you will absolutely disagree, I know). But I thought Nodame was and still is one of the best live-action dramas out there. Some people may think it's over-acted, but I think they're just trying to copy the little nuances from the anime/manga. It's those little things, especially if you are a fan of the manga itself that really make or break a live-action. The story is amazing (which is took from the manga, completely unchanged), the romance and chemistry between the actors was not awkward at all, and you can really tell that there is a lot of effort and love put into this drama. Highly, highly recommend!

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Honorable Mentions - No Categories:

Haken no Hinkaku

I honestly don't even know what category this belongs in, and to be fair, I think it doesn't belong anywhere because it's just too powerful of a jdrama. This drama is about a woman who works as a part-timer at many different jobs, and because of that, she has become like the MVP of all part-timer workers. Asides from the unrealistic portrayal of someone like that, I think we can all kind of relate to the difficulties of work life and I think this is why this drama resonates with me, and clearly many others as this was a very popular jdrama. I think during difficult times like this, we can all inspire and stay positive like the main lead in this jdrama.

Also highly recommend this one!

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That's it! Happy watching! And if you work in Japan, you might end up impressing one of your coworkers with your new watchlist under your belt. ;)

Exploring the Countryside of Japan - Takeda Castle Ruins (Hyogo)

This month, since the Coronavirus scare is upon us, I was granted some days off. So of course with the crowds thinning, there’s no reason to stay at home since I'm asymptomatic (please don't be that guy with a fever and traveling though - I hate you already!). Where to this time? Hyogo prefecture! For someone who works in Hyogo prefecture, I know very little about it. (thankfully it doesn’t seem like the locals know all that much either, so I don’t feel half as bad) But I know there’s always been one place I wanted to venture to - the famed Machu Picchu of Japan, The Castle in the Sky - Takeda Castle ruins.

And off I went to the town where the beautiful castle that once was.

Machu Picchu of Japan

Takeda is located in Hyogo Prefecture countryside, close to the Sea of Japan side. It is slightly more remote, but not impossible to do by public transport. To avoid multiple transfers, you can take the Hamakaze from Osaka station (which also stops in Kobe and Himeji along the way). But please note that there are only 3 or 4 Hamakaze trains that run every day. If you miss them, you will have to take local routes or a combo of other trains.

I took the 9:38am Limited Express Hamakaze, which would take me to Takeda station in 2 hours. But if you already know (and you follow my twitter), traveling is never smooth sailing for me.

I ended up getting stuck in the middle of the Bantan line, just one limited express stop away from my destination. The line was experiencing some trouble and no trains were getting through. After waiting for some time, the train conductors announced that the line will resume in an hour and a half. Basically, just way too long.

Anyway, long story short, I got to Takeda station 2 hours later than I expected. But for some reasons, the timing still worked out no problem. I had plenty of time to drop into my awesome hotel for the night to drop my things off (which I'll cover in another blog post!), and caught the bus up to the easy path up to Takeda ruins.

Going up Takeda Castle Ruins

The Tenku bus runs hourly from Takeda station to Takeda castle ruins stopping at two major parking areas along the way. One parking area is at the bottom the of the hill, while the other parking area (Yamajiro no Sato bus stop) is more a of a rest stop between the bottom and top. So if you are driving and you want to save yourself the hike, you can also still hitch a ride from the bus since cars are only allowed up a certain point.

However, the bus only comes every 30 minutes or so (depending on time of day). So make sure you check the bus schedule at the tourist information center by Takeda JR station, or several other information centers nearby. From the bus, it is still a good 10 minute walk uphill, but the path is well paved, easy to follow and is more of a gentle incline. I definitely can’t say it’s easy, but I would say this hike wasn’t difficult at all.

It's all uphill from here!

At the end of the paved path is the entrance into the Takeda Castle ruins. Pay, and you will have access to the top to explore however you like. The entrance and exit are in separate locations, so it's best to follow to the path they created to reach the end, but that's of course up to you.

A few more stone steps up, and you'll be rewarded with tons of amazing views of the town below and different parts of the castle ruins on a nice, sunny day.

The castle ruins is huge complex. Plan at least one hour to view, take pictures and walk through the entire castle. It would also be a nice spot to rest, have a light picnic on one of many benches scattered around the ruins and enjoy the view.

Especially if you can catch sakura season in time. As you can see in the picture below, there are buds forming on the sakura trees at the tops of the ruins. The sakura usually blossom around late March and early April, but a few locals I spoke to seem to think it will blossom earlier this year (2020). There are also a lot of great sakura spots at the foot on the mountain in town (you can check out where those are in the map I posted above).

After a good 50 minutes, I headed back down these stairs back to the paved path and rushed for my bus back down to the station, where I will be staying the night in hopes for some luck that the weather will give me some form of the Sea of Clouds.

Weather plays a huge part of what you will be able (or not be able) to see. To catch the Sea of Clouds like the first picture I posted (well, first of all, that's on a different mountain range, but I will get to that later!), it's usually right before sunrise between the months of September and April. You have a higher chance between September and November, but even then, the weather is important.

Whilst researching, I came across other blogs that mentioned the previous day must be sunny and the night before the sunrise, it must rain in order to catch the Sea of Clouds.

I got the sunny part down, but the forecast said it will rain from night all up until the next day. Since the rain isn't stopping, I don't have high hopes - but I've decided to attempt the hike up Ritsuunkyo the next morning.

Mt. Ritsuunkyo Hike

Ritsuunkyo is a mountain range on the opposite side of the rail tracks, just next to the Takeda Castle Ruins. It stands at just over 700 ft above sea level, making it taller than the Takeda Castle Ruins at just above 300 ft - giving you a great view of the ruins from above if you decide to go all the way up.

I hired a taxi through the hotel I stayed at, to get me to the Ritsuunkyo Parking Lot at 6AM. It costed about 2000 yen for the round trip. It would have saved me 40 minutes of walking up some inclined switchbacks, and I had read that the road up was not paved. That got me worried as I would be hiking in the dark, and in the rain. So I opted for the taxi.

By the way, the road up to the parking lot is paved now. It looks really new though, so I believe this must be recent.

There are three observation decks at Ritsuunkyo.

The 1st observation point is the furthest to hike, but also the highest of the three. It takes about 30 minutes to reach it from the Ritsuunkyo Parking Lot. I was advised by my taxi driver not to make this trip up, as the path past the 2nd observation point is much more narrow and rugged - not good in the pouring rain and pre-sunrise. So I didn't.

However, I did make the 2nd observation point.

But I couldn't get any nice pictures with an umbrella and a walking stick in hand, but there were taken in between 2nd and 3rd where there was a covered rest area.

The 2nd observation point is at the level of the Takeda Castle Ruins, which still gives you a good view of the Sea of Clouds. This takes about 10 minutes from the parking lot, but I found myself making it in 5 minutes. It's not all that far.

The 3rd observation is the closest to the parking lot, and only mere minutes away.

Do note that the entire path are stone steps, so they can be a bit uneven at parts. But it was not overly difficult or rough, even in the pouring rain. There are walking sticks you can borrow at the start of the trail, which really helps.

So as you can see, I wasn't able to capture the Sea of Clouds completely, but there were some short spurts where I was able to still see the Takeda Castle Ruins somewhat from a distance. It was an amazing sight even in bad weather, so I recommend this trip to both hikers and non-hikers.

I highly recommend those who are heading to Kinosaki Onsen to stop here for a few hours before making your way up there. However, if you want to stay overnight, stick around for my next blog post!

Stay Overnight with the Rabbits

Last time, I talked about getting to Okunoshima and doing it as a day trip. Today, I want to give you some tips and talk about how to stay on Okunoshima at Kyukamura Okunoshima.

There is only one accommodation on Okunoshima, and that is the Kyukamura resort chain. The resort has a chain of hotels in different parts of the country, each having its unique theme. And this one is of course, the rabbits.

To book accommodations on the island, I highly recommend doing it on the English website itself which is actually done via Rakuten. To be honest, they don't have many styles of rooms and the hotel itself is rather basic. So wherever you book, you won't get much variety. It really just comes down to the prices.

I highly suggest booking 3-6 months in advance if you are traveling during the warmer seasons like late spring and summer. Those times are usually quite popular, especially during the holiday when locals have more time to island hop in the Setouchi area. During my first stay, I was planning a trip end of April and I booked about 6 months in advance because I knew many school children will have holidays. When I checked again 2 months before my trips, all the rooms were already booked solid. So make sure you do some research on Japanese holidays and plan ahead!

The "resort" is nothing fancy and quite bare bones.

Rooms are your standard Japanese traditional style with tatami and a sitting area. Nothing fancy, none of that in-room private bath thing, but most rooms have toilets. All rooms look out to the island.

There are two public baths for each gender - a big and a small bath. I believe some of the bigger rooms have a shower and bath in the room, but mine above does not. You will have to shower and bathe in the public one.

I think it's great if you have yet to have a traditional Japanese room experience, and want to attempt sleeping on a futon and tatami for a night without breaking your bank.

Prices are between $90 to $120 per person, with boarding.

Breakfast and dinner are both included in the price, which is great since options for eating is pretty non-existent on the island. All meals for buffet style.

What's at the buffet will vary depending on season. The first time during my stay, it was pretty standard - pasta, rice, an assortment of Japanese dishes like fish and stew, steamed vegetables, some local seafood and some sashimi, and of course soft drink bar plus dessert.

This second time, they put a lot of emphasis on oyster, grilled seafood and steak. There was a station of just grilled fish and grilled shellfish, plus different assortments of oyster dishes (fried, steamed, etc). The food is obviously nothing that will blow your mind, but if you want to try a good variety of foods and get some veggies into your daily intake, I think the buffet is great.

Breakfast is along the same lines. There are some western options, but most will be very Japanese like your typical rice, fish, soup and other little side dishes.

What's Different in a Stay vs Day Trip?

The main difference is that you will get to see the rabbits out and about during the night time as well, in a more quiet setting. If the weather is warm enough, there will be SO MANY rabbits just lounging outside of the hotel in complete darkness. You will be able to see them from your room. You can also of course, feed them too when there are less people around on the island.

More one-on-one time with the rabbits is always good right?

The resort also has some walking tours they offer guests early in the morning to see the sunrise on a good day. They're just 30 minute quick tours, free for staying guests, just before breakfast time.

You really get to have a good feel of the island once a lot of the day tripper leave in the late afternoon and early morning. There so much history on the island, where with no one around, gives you this eerie feeling when you're walking through a trail or next to one of the abandoned buildings.

You can also see both the sun set and rise on the island, since it's relatively unobstructed by tall buildings and such. On a good clear day, you can even see some stars in the sky.

Other Tips on the Island

If you are staying on the island, make sure to pack a lot of rabbit feed with you. Go to the family mart I talked about in my previous post, and stock up. I would get at least one bag of pellets and two bags of lettuce and carrots for each person. If you aren't able to stock up, get what you can.

Always feed sparingly during the day, and save your feed for the night and early mornings. In warm weather, there will be a lot of rabbits out by the hotel during that time, and they will all get pretty greedy then.

Of course if you need human snacks too, stock up at family mart too!

If this is your very first time on the island, and you want to see the island, plan ahead with the train and boat schedules so you can do everything and still be able to chill in the hotel room, bathe, feed rabbits multiple times and feed yourself at the buffet. Remember your meals will be buffet style, so you could easily be spending 1-2 hours just chilling and eating.

There are boars on the island. I've only seen them once out of the 5 or so odd times I have been on the island, but they could be dangerous. Especially since the island is not lit after dark, it's probably best if you don't venture out too far and don't plan hikes after dark.

There are entertainment activities like a pool, and tennis courts... but I have never seen them being used, so don't bet on them being available.

In the summer, there is a camping area on the island. I don't have much to say about this issue, but according to this blogger, it seems to be owned by the hotel resort and you need to register with them. A quick scan of the google maps reviews tells me that there seems to be all the necessary facilities available to campers, and their Japanese website gives a good run down on things you can rent there.

If you have any questions about this post, message my on my twitter account or instagram! Happy to talk with you guys about my travels, as always! Thanks for reading!