Vignettes of the World
There are endless things to do in Guangzhou, which is known to the Chinese as the City of Rams. In a recent family trip, I took my family first to Panyu, as part of Guangzhou, then we headed on to Guilin in Guangxi Province to …
It’s springtime and the major events of the year are underway. I visited the Art Basel 2025 last night at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai. Here’s a quick snapshot of my experience. The Art Basel brings together an enormous number …
I had just about a little more than a half day in Osaka and so I decided to visit Shinsekai.
Time stopped at Shinsekai after the reconstruction period post WWII. Meaning “New World,” Shinsekai was once a beacon of hope for Osaka. The area developed following the success of the 1903 National Industrial Expo, which drew 5 million people to this neighborhood. Shinsekai was meant to be where businesses and industry would flourish.
After WWII, the area lies, perhaps not in ruins, but certainly in a constant state of stagnation. Its retro vibes retained their original character of the early-to-mid 20th century to this day, nostalgic in its grand display of the Ganbatte spirit.
The most significant landmark that stands testament to its history is the Tsutenkaku Tower, the construction of which began in 1912. The construction stopped during WWII and began again in 1956. Modeled after the Eiffel Tower of Paris, the Tsutenkaku Tower offers an observation deck, where tourists can see the sprawling cityscape of Osaka. This part of Shinsekai was meant to be a mini version of Paris in the north and Coney Island in New York in the south.
Besides the Tsutenkaku Tower, the stores of Shinsekai feature all kinds of unlikely characters. Needless to say, most of the establishments are restaurants. And then there are the mix and match of arcade types of gaming store with arrow shooting and shuriken throwing.
The day was bright with the generous sunshine of the morning illuminating the caricature signs that populate this area of Osaka. It was not too crowded in the morning, so I strolled leisurely. At every point that I raised my head, I saw enormous signs featuring all sorts of commercial artwork. They seem to typify a certain Japanese sentiment, where enlarged wordings and exaggerated images speak loud and right in your face.
This part of Osaka presents a fish eye’s view of an aged neighborhood. The loud signages and an occasional tattered homeless man create a somewhat bloated vision of Japan that tourists don’t usually see. Shinsekai is on the edge of the largest slum in Osaka. Tourists are advised to be particularly mindful of their safety if they happen upon this area in night time. An estimated 4,000 homeless men congregate in this small area of just a few city blocks. Not far away lies Japan’s largest red light district as well.
Finally, watch out for the Billikens. They are all over in Shinsekai, and if you rub their feet, it will bring you good luck. The Billiken is a creature of American teacher and illustrator Florence Pretz of Kansas City. The Billiken came to Japan around 1910. It is believed that they represent “things as they should be.”
The Kushikatsu is a type of cheap workmen’s food in Osaka. They are basically skewers deep fried in breaded batter, consisting of meats and vegetables. I thought I should have some, since I was at the home of kushikatsu in Shinsekai. Every restaurant in Shinsekai serves this kind of food.
It is said that the Daruma Restaurant is the first restaurant that prepared the Kushikatsu cuisine in 1929. But I randomly walked in Oyajino Kushiya Honten, which is a restaurant that comes with plenty of retro vibes. A classic Volkswagen van sits inside the restaurant and the atmosphere was hip. Besides the kushikatsu, I also had some sushi and an udon. While I would not say that I liked the food very much, it was a special experience.
I took one last look at this microcosm of a make-belief world in Osaka, satisfied that I had traveled through a forgotten time in a bygone community. And there goes a perfect conclusion to my first trip in Japan.
Insides Osaka on Shinsekai: A Guide to Osaka’s “New World” District.
Japan Travel on Tsutenkaku Tower.
Intrepid Scout on What to Do in Shinsekai Osaka.
Japanguide.com on Shisekai — Nostalgia Evoking District Around Tsutekaku.
Visitors of Nara must not miss the Nakatanidou mochi as it is certainly a precious intangible heritage of Nara. In my Japanese food entry, the Nakatanidou mochi is the only food that I thought was an absolute must-try in this Japan trip. I passed by …
The Toadai-ji Temple is a significant temple within the grounds of the Nara Park. I simply took a look of its outside, and did not bother to queue a long line to see the big Buddha statue inside. Suffice to say, the imposing Nandaimon Gate …
I had concluded my journey in Kyoto after five full days touring numerous temples for Momiji. It came time for Nara, and I headed out on the slow Nara train in the morning. I arrived into a Nara that was slightly overcast and notably colder than Kyoto. Soon enough, I found my way from the train station to the Japanese homestay called Guesthouse Tamura.
Nara is a good day trip if you plan on spending a bit of time in Kyoto or in the general Kansai region. The foremost significance of Nara is its being the capital of Japan before Emperor Kanmu moved the imperial seat of government to Kyoto in 794 A.D. With this move marked the beginning of the Heian period.
Before Nara, the capital of Japan was in Fujiwara-kyo. Between 710 A.D. and 794 A.D., Nara was the capital of Japan, as such this time was known as the Nara period. The capital was named Heijo at the time.
The main reason why Emperor Kanmu moved the capital away from Nara was that the Nara Buddhists were becoming too powerful. They engaged in power struggles with the aristocrats in Nara. The Emperor wanted to detach from the influence of both the Nara Buddhists and the Fujiwara clan in Nara. He moved the capital to Kyoto, and began the Heian period there. He had hopes that the new capital will be a place where he can introduce reforms in the government.
As a capital of the country, Nara was built with features that modeled after Chang’an (now Xi’an) of China, the capital of the Tang dynasty, primarily, in the way that the city streets were laid out in an extensive grid. The seat of the Emperor stands in the northern part of the city. The main axis divides the rest of the capital into the left and the right. Unlike the Tang dynasty capital, however, there were no city walls in Nara.
Nara thrived in its decades of being the capital of Japan. There was a strong merchant presence, from all over Asia, to do trade in the city. This had brought forth an international and culturally vibrant character of the city.
Nara is important historically as the former capital of Japan, but tourists are actually more drawn to the free roaming deer at Nara Park.
The Nara deer, although wild, do greet tourists, especially those who would feed them. There are stalls selling deer crackers to tourists. Please only feed the deer with those kinds of food.
I chose to stay at Guesthouse Tamura because it is at a location that is walkable to the Nara Park. I went by some really nice waterfront sceneries. Particularly worthy of mention is the Ukimido Pavilion. That was where I encountered the first Nara deer.
The Nara Park is one of the oldest parks in Japan, dating back to 1880. Its ground prides a large area of 660 hectares. The key attraction of the Nara Park are the free roaming deer that greet visitors all over the park area.
In Japanese, deer is called sika. For a very long time the Japanese people revered the deer of Nara as sacred. Legend has it that Takemikazuchi, one of the four gods of Kasuga Grand Shrine, rode a white deer and appeared on Mount Mikasa. The sika deer was so sacred that killing them was a capital offense until 1637.
Although the status of the sika deer has ceased being divine since WWII, they are still protected. Please respect nature and do not taunt the deer when you feed them. The deer could be aggressive if you tease them.
Surely, there are other wild animals that inhabit this large, 660-hectare reserved park area, including wild boars, raccoon dogs, Japanese giant flying squirrel, squirrels and others.
I had only one evening in Nara and I chose a Japanese homestay as my accommodation. I had never slept on a tatami before, and it was certainly a novelty that I welcomed. As it turned out, I slept the best in this homey environment as well, out of my week-long stay in Japan.
The homestay is well known for its traditional Nara breakfast, but I would be rushing back to Osaka for my flight the next day. I thus declined the landlady’s kind offer to cook me breakfast.
The Wikipedia on Heijo-kyo.
The Wikipedia on Nara Park.
In this journey I spent five full days in Kyoto and visited countless breathtaking sites for momiji foliage viewing. I found all of the sites that I visited to be worthwhile. Based on this experience, I have come up with the following suggested five-day itinerary …
I was just strolling in Sai Ying Pun and stumbled upon a hidden gem amidst its crisscrossing uphill grids. No. 9 and No. 10 Yu Lok Lane are classified as the shophouse type of tenement houses. A lot of the traditional Hong Kong tenements are …
The wetlands of Long Valley in Sheung Shui have finally opened to the public as a site of ecological tourism since November 2024. Wedged between the Sheung Yue River and Shek Sheung River in Sheung Shui, Long Valley had long been the freshwater marsh that gives home to water crops and many species of birds.
Photo: A little egret on Sheung Yue River, located right next to the Long Valley Nature Park
In focus during the lobby to conserve Long Valley was the Greater Painted-Snipe.
On a weekday morning I walked over to Long Valley Nature Park from home. It took only about 15 minutes or so, and I arrived in Yin Kong Village. There is a large façade indicating welcome.
By itself, the Long Valley Nature Park may not impress visitors more than what it appears to be — a small area of farmland and freshwater marshland that is marked as an ecological park in a government initiative. But in the history of environmental conservation in Hong Kong, many think of the Long Valley conservation to be a near miracle, to say the least.
In 1998 the Executive Council asked the MTR to submit the development plan for the Lok Ma Chau Spur Line, which will, in due course, connect the newly developed area of Kwu Tung North to the Lok Ma Chau boundary crossing. In this original plan, the habitat of the Greater Painted-Snipe would be divided into two. After the second phase of the rail development, Long Valley would be further divided into three sections. This disruption to the habitat would have caused irreparable damage to the unique avifauna that habitate in Northern District.
Very soon in 1999, the Hong Kong Government published in the Gazette the plan for the Lok Ma Chau Spur Line without waiting for the environmental impact assessment from the MTR. The Hong Kong Bird Watching Society (HKBWS) sensed the urgency and acted immediately. In tandem with The Conservancy Association and other environmental groups, HKBWS raised public awareness on this issue, thus beginning the fight to conserve the Long Valley wetlands. The movement to conserve Long Valley would take 22 months.
Eventually, the environmental impact assessment by the MTR would be rejected, and again after the MTR appealed the decision. The Lok Ma Chau Spur Line was then built differently than originally envisioned. Instead of building structures above ground with high bridges, the spur line went underground.
In focus during the lobby to conserve Long Valley was the Greater Painted-Snipe. The Greater Painted-Snipes are nocturnal birds. They take as their habitat freshwater marshes and swampland. In Hong Kong, they congregate in the Long Valley and Kam Tin areas. They like wet agricultural lands, particularly rice paddies. During the winter, a lot more of them migrate to Hong Kong from the north. Other species of birds that frequent this area include the little egret, black-winged stilt, yellow-breasted bunting, oriental pratincole, common greenshank, white-throated kingfisher, scaly-breasted munia, barn swallow and more.
Although the fight to conserve the natural habitats of Hong Kong is very often pitted against the Hong Kong Government’s plans to aggrandize land supply for urban development, the actual situation is more complex.
There are a whole lot of farmlands in the New Territories. The problem is that farming is very much an obsolescence in Hong Kong (save for maybe a small number of culturally-oriented, environmentally-aware people that develop novel farming practices and businesses). Some of these farmlands, being in private hands, are simply left to the elements without any work of maintenance by their owners.
The Hong Kong government is not always to be blamed, although it is the main culprit in most cases. In view of the issue of private farmlands, the NGO’s of Hong Kong then stepped in to make management agreements with the landowners to maintain the farmland. They want these land to serve the very purpose of their being – farming. The farmers that I came across in Long Valley likely had such agreements with the government and the environmental NGO’s.
Due to its character as a wetland, Long Valley features quite a number of wet crops. Water chestnuts, arrowhead, rice, lotus, water lilies —all kinds of crops are grown in the soaked fields at Long Valley. The clumps of reeds add a touch of wholesomeness.
There are also dry fields for regular crops, particularly green vegetables. I saw peanuts, Indian spinach, Indian lettuce, eggplants and more, including flowers.
Finally, the fishponds are the “fields of choice” for the birds, as they seek food and rest there.
You may purchase some of the locally grown produce on site as well. The farmers have their coop and the organic produce are available for purchase at the stall.
A leisurely stroll in the Long Valley Nature Park will take a little less than an hour. Although the Long Valley fields are as large as 37 hectares, only about 5 hectares of land are designated for visit by tourists.
In the visitor zone there are boardwalks throughout the fields. You will come across many sections of produce there, a lot of which are wet crops, including a rice paddy.
The water-soaked fields glimmered under the morning sun. Tai Shek Mo, a hill afar, overlooks this area of Sheung Shui.
I saw quite a few farmers there, riding bicycles amidst the crisscrossing mud paths between the fields. They told me that they were not necessarily the villagers in the neighboring villages.
Steeped with the vibrant presence of avifauna, the Long Valley had plenty of rustic vibes in a location relatively close to human habitation. Yes, I saw birds resting amongst the water-soaked fields, and hunting for food. From what I could observe, the most seen species in the morning hours was the black-winged stilt and the little egret.
In my opinion, the Long Valley Nature Centre, which lies across the Long Valley Nature Park, over Sheung Yue River in Ho Sheung Heung Village, is not worth a visit. The exhibition is simply too small to be anything instructive. The public toilets are there, however, so that might be the only worthwhile reason to look there. There is a short video on site introducing the Long Valley Nature Park.
Since you made it out here, perhaps you would like to pay a short visit to Ho Sheung Heung, since you would be at the edge of Ho Sheung Heung Village. There is village heritage there and famous tofu dessert.
Although the signs on site suggest that there is an opening hour for the Long Valley Nature Park, the park area itself, namely the freshwater marsh fields, are actually open all day. Those visitor hours indicate the opening and closing hours for the Long Valley Nature Centre, or perhaps the parking facility as well.
Transportation there is quite easy, as you have the options of taking Bus Route 76K and a number of green and red top minibuses, therefore there is no need to drive there. If you take Bus Route 76K, the closest stop is Kam Tsin. If you take the green top minibuses (Routes 51K, 51B) and red top minibus (Route 17 between Sheung Shui and Yuen Long), ask to get off at Yin Kong Village.
On Yin Kong Road, you will see the village entrance, you won’t miss it.
I am not certain if the parking lot there is intended for hourly parking by visitors. Please do take care to minimize disturbance to the villagers of Yin Kong Village.
Most of the historic discussions in this entry about the conservation of Long Valley was taken from the Hong Kong Bird Watching Society website.
Development Bureau, Blog Articles From Former Secretary for Development, Mr. Michael Wong, Long Valley Nature Park.
inmediahk.net, The 20th Anniversary of the Long Valley Conservation Movement (4) (Chin).
inmediahk.net, The 20th Anniversary of the Long Valley Conservation Movement (8) (Chin).
The Grand Palace was the only sightseeing that I did in this trip in Bangkok. Its beautiful Thai architecture is a lavish expression of the aura of the Thai kingdom. The Buddhist faith is front and center in the Grand Palace, as it has always …