Exploring Kansai As Japan’s second largest city Osaka is an excellent place to base yourself and explore the surrounding area. Although Kansai is dominated by Kyoto there is still plenty to see and do around Osaka most notably Nara and Himeji. The big highlight being Nara. One of Japan’s ancient the city is most famous for is gorgeous temples and hordes of friendly, but very hungry deer. Below we have guides for Osaka, Nara and Himeji, covering transport, eating and sleeping as well as few awesome things to see and do. Nara and Himeji make excellent day trips from Osaka, and in truth a day is enough for each location. You can obviously stay longer and explore some of the more hidden gems, but most people don’t have that much time. We have a detailed guide on budgeting and saving money in Japan. This includes a section on JR passes…