---
title: "Sakura Revisited: Cherry Blossoms of Nagoya, Osaka & Kyoto (Part 1)"
site: "The Quiet Vacationer"
site_url: https://quietvacationer.com/
url: https://quietvacationer.com/2026/07/24/sakura-revisited-cherry-blossoms-of-nagoya-osaka-kyoto-part-1/
date_published: 2026-07-24
date_modified: 2026-07-27
author: "The Quiet Vacationer"
categories:
  - "Reviews"
---

# Sakura Revisited: Cherry Blossoms of Nagoya, Osaka & Kyoto (Part 1)

After Osaka and Kyoto in 2025, we said that our next cherry blossom trip might take us somewhere different. A year later, we were back in Japan, although we changed the route this time. We flew with Asiana Airlines from Singapore to Incheon, connected onwards to Nagoya, and then continued by train to Osaka and Kyoto.

Nagoya was new to us, while Osaka and Kyoto were places we’ve been to and liked very much. We were curious to see how different they would feel a year later, especially when so much depends on exactly when the cherry blossoms open and how long they stay.

The timing worked out better than we could reasonably have planned. The blossoms arrived early in 2026, and Nagoya was already at full bloom when we landed at the end of March. They held on through Osaka and into the first few days of April. After spending months watching the forecasts move around, we arrived a few days after full bloom.

By then, Asiana Airlines had moved its Incheon operation to Terminal 2 as its integration with Korean Air continued. The arrangement was a little unusual: we were flying with a Star Alliance airline, but our Star Alliance Gold status gave us access to Korean Air’s Prestige Lounges.

I have already written about our [Asiana Airlines A350-900 flight from Singapore to Incheon](https://quietvacationer.com/2026/04/20/review-asiana-airlines-a350-900-economy-class-sin-icn/) and the [Asiana Airlines A330-300 flight from Incheon to Nagoya](https://quietvacationer.com/2026/04/29/review-asiana-airlines-a330-300-economy-class-icn-ngo/). We also visited both sides of the newly renovated lounge, the [Korean Air Prestige Lounge East (Right)](https://quietvacationer.com/2026/04/22/review-korean-air-prestige-lounge-east-right-icn/) and the [Korean Air Prestige Lounge East (Left)](https://quietvacationer.com/2026/04/25/review-korean-air-prestige-lounge-east-left-icn/).

This trip report starts after we landed in Japan. Part 1 covers Nagoya and Osaka, together with side trips to Kobe, Arima Onsen and Minoh. Kyoto will follow in Part 2.

### One night in Nagoya

We did not have much time in Nagoya. Our train to Osaka was booked for the next morning, which left us with one afternoon, one evening and no room for an overambitious itinerary. It was enough for two very good meals and several hours around Nagoya Castle, although we arrived knowing almost nothing about the city and left wishing we had given it another night.

#### Hitsumabushi before anything else

After landing at Chubu Centrair International Airport, we went straight into the city. By the time we reached Nagoya Station, lunch was more urgent than sightseeing.

Nagoya is known for **hitsumabushi**, and we had already decided where to try it. Hitsumabushi Inou has a branch inside ESCA, the underground shopping complex beside Nagoya Station, so we could go there before doing anything else.

The meal arrives as grilled unagi over rice in a wooden tub. You divide it into smaller portions and eat each one differently. The first is taken as it comes, with just the eel and rice. Wasabi, nori and the other condiments go into the second. For the last portion, hot dashi is poured over the remaining rice to make **ochazuke**.

Written down, it sounds like a lot of instructions for one bowl of rice and eel. Once we started eating, the order made sense. The first portion was all about the sweet glaze and the charred edges of the unagi. The wasabi and nori made the second taste sharper. By the end, the dashi had softened the sauce and loosened the rice into something warmer and lighter.

Our two sets worked out to around ¥3,870 per person after some anniversary discount. It was not cheap compared to the usual lunch we had, but the eel was crisp around the edges and tender in the middle. I especially liked the final portion with dashi, although I would happily have eaten the unagi in any of the three ways.

![Inou Hitsumabushi ESCA Branch unagi hitsumabushi](https://cdn.quietvacationer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/sakura-revisited-p1-1.jpg)
*Inou Hitsumabushi ESCA Branch unagi hitsumabushi*

![Inou Hitsumabushi ESCA Branch hitsumabushi set](https://cdn.quietvacationer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/sakura-revisited-p1-2.jpg)
*Inou Hitsumabushi ESCA Branch hitsumabushi set*

#### Nagoya Castle in full bloom

From Nagoya Station, we took the subway to Nagoya Castle, where the cherry trees were already at full bloom. Pale pink branches followed the castle walls and spread across the grounds, with the white keep, dark stone and green roof behind them. We had come to Japan hoping to catch exactly this, yet it was still a surprise to find so much blossom on our first afternoon.

![Nagoya Castle cherry blossoms](https://cdn.quietvacationer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/sakura-revisited-p1-3.jpg)
*Nagoya Castle cherry blossoms*

The main tower was closed during our visit because of concerns over its age and earthquake resistance. We could not climb the keep, but the reconstructed Honmaru Palace was open, and there was plenty to see across the wider grounds.

We moved slowly between the palace, the walls and the blossom-lined paths. Although we only had one afternoon in Nagoya, there was no reason to hurry through it, and we ended up spending most of our time at the castle.

By early evening, we had made our way around to the outer walls. Small groups were gathering beside the moat to watch the sunset, and we joined them. The sky turned orange behind the castle while the blossom faded into the evening light.

After taking more photographs than we needed, we eventually put our phones away and watched the light change.

![Nagoya Castle cherry blossoms](https://cdn.quietvacationer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/sakura-revisited-p1-4-1.jpg)
*Nagoya Castle cherry blossoms*

#### Omakase dinner at Nukesaku

Dinner was at Nukesaku, where we had reserved two seats at the sushi counter.

The omakase was ¥7,000 per person. I went in expecting a good, relatively affordable neighbourhood sushi meal, but it was more considered than the price had led me to expect.

The chef added the wasabi and brushed on the soy himself before passing each course over, changing the amount from one nigiri to the next. Sitting right at the counter, we could watch him do it.

![Nukesaku omakase sushi chef](https://cdn.quietvacationer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/sakura-revisited-p1-5.jpg)
*Nukesaku omakase sushi chef*

The atmosphere was relaxed, and we ended up having a good chat with the chef about his experiences working in China as the meal went on. It was not a long or overly formal omakase, just a very good dinner served at a pace that let us enjoy it.

It worked very well for our only night in Nagoya, and I would book Nukesaku again before returning to the city.

### Nagoya to Osaka on the Hinotori

The following morning, we left Nagoya on the Kintetsu Hinotori limited express to Osaka-Namba.

Our standard-car tickets were ¥4,990 per person, before a rather random ¥200 anniversary discount that appeared when we booked. A highway bus would have been cheaper and the Shinkansen faster, but the Hinotori suited this trip. It was comfortable, travelled directly to Namba, and avoided the extra transfer from Shin-Osaka.

![On board the Hinotori limited express](https://cdn.quietvacationer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/sakura-revisited-p1-7.jpg)
*On board the Hinotori limited express*

The journey did not feel like dead time between two cities. Outside the window, towns gave way to low hills, with cherry trees appearing beside the tracks along the way. Some were gone before we could even get our phones out, so after a while we stopped trying to photograph every one and just looked out of the window.

![On board the Hinotori with cherry blossoms along the way](https://cdn.quietvacationer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/sakura-revisited-p1-8.jpg)
*On board the Hinotori with cherry blossoms along the way*

I covered the train in more detail in our [Swissotel Nankai Osaka review](https://quietvacationer.com/2026/05/05/review-swissotel-nankai-osaka/). Its biggest practical advantage became obvious when we arrived. We stepped off at Osaka-Namba Station and were almost immediately beneath the Swissotel, which sits directly above the station.

### Osaka in bloom, again

We had been in Osaka during cherry blossom season the year before, so there was no novelty in returning to the same castle and some of the same streets. The blossoms made the city feel different anyway. A tree that is barely opening one year may already be shedding its petals the next, and this time Osaka Castle was still close to peak while the cooler hills around Minoh had a few late blossoms of their own.

#### Back to Osaka Castle

One of our first stops was Osaka Castle, where the Somei Yoshino trees around the grounds were at, or perhaps just beyond, their best. Some were still packed with pale pink flowers, while others had begun to thin, with petals starting to gather below them. There was still enough blossom to frame the castle tower from almost every direction.

![Osaka Castle cherry blossoms](https://cdn.quietvacationer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/sakura-revisited-p1-10.jpg)
*Osaka Castle cherry blossoms*

The present castle tower is a reconstruction with a modern museum inside. It is worth going up once for the view across the city, but we had returned mainly for the grounds. During sakura season, I enjoy the walk around the walls and moats more than the interior of the tower.

![Osaka Castle grounds](https://cdn.quietvacationer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/sakura-revisited-p1-9.jpg)
*Osaka Castle grounds*

#### A quieter afternoon at Shitennoji

After the crowds around Osaka Castle, Shitennoji felt much calmer. Founded in 593, it is one of Japan’s oldest Buddhist temples. The buildings standing today have been rebuilt over the centuries, but the grounds still have a clear, orderly layout, with the five-storey pagoda, temple halls and garden set apart from the surrounding city.

The cherry blossoms were still out when we visited. There were fewer people, which meant we could walk around the pond and temple buildings without constantly stepping around someone else’s photograph.

Shitennoji was not the most spectacular sakura stop of the trip, but we liked it partly because it was quieter and did not feel as though we had come only to take the same photograph as everyone else.

![Shitennoji temple cherry blossoms](https://cdn.quietvacationer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/sakura-revisited-p1-11.jpg)
*Shitennoji temple cherry blossoms*

#### Kobe beef, then a night in Arima Onsen

From Osaka, we headed to Kobe for lunch. That was the main purpose of the detour, and I think lunch is a perfectly reasonable basis for a day trip.

We chose Steakland Kobe, one of the more accessible teppanyaki restaurants in central Kobe. The format is straightforward: take a seat at the counter, choose a lunch set, and watch the chef cook the beef on the hot plate in front of you.

![Steakland Kobe teppanyaki](https://cdn.quietvacationer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/sakura-revisited-p1-12.jpg)
*Steakland Kobe teppanyaki*

It is busy and not especially quiet, so this is not where I would go for a long, polished teppanyaki meal. It did, however, give us a good Kobe beef lunch without the price or formality of a more elaborate restaurant. The beef had the richness we were looking for, and watching it being cooked remains half the fun.

![Steakland Kobe’s Kobe beef lunch set](https://cdn.quietvacationer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/sakura-revisited-p1-13.jpg)
*Steakland Kobe’s Kobe beef lunch set*

After lunch, we continued to Arima Onsen and checked into Hotel Hanakoyado, a small ryokan we had stayed at before.

Arima is easy to like even without cherry blossoms. Its narrow streets, older buildings and hot spring baths make it feel removed from Osaka, despite being close enough for a short stay. This time, the trees around town were also in bloom.

I have covered the ryokan, its private onsens and the access guests receive to its sister property in our full [Hotel Hanakoyado review](https://quietvacationer.com/2026/05/01/review-hotel-hanakoyado/), so I will not repeat the stay here.

![Arima Onsen cherry blossoms](https://cdn.quietvacationer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/sakura-revisited-p1-14.jpg)
*Arima Onsen cherry blossoms*

![Arima Onsen cherry blossoms](https://cdn.quietvacationer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/sakura-revisited-p1-15.jpg)
*Arima Onsen cherry blossoms*

#### Back to Osaka, and a hotel with a new name

After Arima Onsen, we returned to Osaka and checked into Hotel Dans Le Coeur Osaka Umeda.

That was its name when we stayed. It was later reflagged as HOTEL GEOMETIQ Osaka Umeda, part of the Ascend Collection under Choice Hotels, with the new identity launching in July 2026.

For us, it was a comfortable base in Umeda for the remaining Osaka days, particularly for the transport we needed to Minoh and Kadoma. I will cover the hotel separately rather than turn this trip report into another review.

#### Katsuoji and the stamp card we took too seriously

One of my favourite days in Osaka took place well outside the city centre.

Katsuoji sits in the hills above Minoh and is known for the daruma dolls placed throughout its grounds. They are on ledges, steps and walls, sometimes arranged in tidy rows and sometimes left in whatever small corner a previous visitor found for them. Once we started looking, they seemed to be everywhere.

![Katsuoji Temple Daruma dolls](https://cdn.quietvacationer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/sakura-revisited-p1-16.jpg)
*Katsuoji Temple Daruma dolls*

We had not known about the stamp card before arriving. Admission included a card with six empty sections, and stamping points were placed around the temple grounds. Each stamp added another part of the picture.

It sounded a little gimmicky when we first saw it, but by the second stop we had become surprisingly invested and were already looking for the next stamp.

The card gave us a loose route through the temple without making the visit feel prescribed. We followed the hillside paths, moved through different parts of the complex and paid more attention to corners we might otherwise have passed. Completing the picture was satisfying in a very simple way.

![Katsuoji Temple  stamp card](https://cdn.quietvacationer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/sakura-revisited-p1-17.jpg)
*Katsuoji Temple  stamp card*

#### Walking from Katsuoji to Minoh Falls

From Katsuoji, we took an Uber in the direction of Minoh Falls. The wooded slopes were cooler than central Osaka, and a few cherry trees at the higher elevation were still holding on. We joined the valley trail and continued towards the waterfall.

![Minoh Falls](https://cdn.quietvacationer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/sakura-revisited-p1-18.jpg)
*Minoh Falls*

After reaching the falls, we took a taxi back through town. The driver followed a canal through the residential streets towards Minoh-Kayano. It was not a sightseeing route in any formal sense, but I liked watching the scenery change from forest to suburb through the car window, and by then we had done enough walking for the day to be quite happy staying in the taxi.

#### Costco Kadoma

That evening, we made one more detour, this time to Costco Kadoma. Costco in Japan has somehow become part of our Osaka routine. The warehouse format is completely familiar, but the products are not, and we end up wandering through the aisles looking at Japanese packaging, local items and regional versions of things we recognise from Costco elsewhere.

![Costco Kadoma membership desk](https://cdn.quietvacationer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/sakura-revisited-p1-20.jpg)
*Costco Kadoma membership desk*

There is nothing traditionally Japanese about pushing an oversized Costco trolley around a warehouse after a day of temples and waterfalls. It is still what we did, and I would rather a trip report include the odd stops than pretend every day ended with a beautifully timed sunset.

Costco in Japan deserves a separate article, so I will save the membership and shopping details for that.

### Nagoya was supposed to be the stopover

Nagoya had originally been a convenient place to enter Japan before continuing to Osaka. We only gave it one night and expected it to be the shortest chapter of the trip, yet I still think about the hitsumabushi, the sunset outside Nagoya Castle and the ¥7,000 omakase. We barely scratched the surface of the city, but what we managed to fit into that one day was reason enough to return.

Osaka was familiar, yet it did not feel like a repeat of 2025. The blossoms were at a different stage, and we spent much of our time outside the places we knew best. By the time we had visited Kobe, Arima Onsen, Katsuoji, Minoh Falls and even Costco Kadoma, we had done enough differently that it no longer felt as though we were retracing the previous year’s trip. From Osaka, we continued to Kyoto, which I will cover in Part 2.

---

*Originally published on [The Quiet Vacationer](https://quietvacationer.com/2026/07/24/sakura-revisited-cherry-blossoms-of-nagoya-osaka-kyoto-part-1/)*