Osaka(Japan): 1N/1D

May 2018

We were to arrive at Osaka’s Kansai Airport(KIX) at 8:30 PM, and we decided to spend the night at a hotel nearby rather than trying to go into the city late at night. Going just 2 stops on the train(Nankai Line) from the airport, we arrived at Izumisano Station and chekced into a small hotel right by the station. The next morning, we had a decent breakfast that was included in the hotel fee.

The train to Osaka Station took about 40 minutes. As expected, it was a huge station, and we had no idea how best to get out of there to get to our Airbnb studio. After stopping and asking around multiple times, we finally found our studio. In front of the apartment building, Yusuke, Pat’s roommate from graduate school days, was waiting for us. He’s a retired math professor at Osaka University, but he lived way outside of the city limit. He confessed that he didn’t really know the city really well, but he would do his best to show us around.

He first wanted to show us some interesting buildings in the area. The 3rd most populated city in Japan(2.7 million in city proper vs. 8.9 million in Tokyo and 3.6 million in Yokohama), Osaka sits in the middle of a metropolitan area where 19 million people live, and it is well known for modern architectures. Many of these were in the vicinity of Osaka Station. One building had elevators big enough to carry a car each. Another had escalators continuing one way up or down so people do not need to make turns to move to the next floor. We had lunch in one of the buildings we visited. We did get to Umeda Sky Building, one of the most famous buildings in the world, but we never tried the world’s highest escalator in that building. After all, there’s only so much pleasure one can get out of riding elevators and escalators!

Negotiating through underground pathways filled with shops and restaurants was another tricky skill we had to develop quickly. It was hard to tell which direction we were going, and Yusuke was not much better than us. But he, at least, could ask for help in Japanese. After all these adventures below and above the ground, we got tired and thirsty. We had to take a break at a cafe near the Sky building.

We took the subway to embark on another whirlwind walking tour of the city. This time it was about eating and shopping: well, watching other people shop and eat would be actually more accurate.

We got off at Namba station and immediately noticed throngs of people everywhere. Yusuke led us first to Ebisubashi Bridge where famous Glico running man billboard has been residing for over 80 years. Glico is a candy company based in Osaka, and somehow their company symbol has become a cultural icon. By this time, some of the neon signs started coming on, and the whole area of Ebisubashisuji Shopping District became very colorful. There was no shortage of shops and restaurants in this and neighboring Dotonbori area.

South of this area had more traditional markets, and there Yasuke found a restaurant that he liked that sold all the signature dishes of Osaka, such as takoyaki, okonomiyaki, kushitaksu and so on. Washing it all down with a mug of cold beer was the nice to way to end a long day.

A friend of mine went to Osaka a few months later, and she tried a bike tour of the city, and she really liked it. Maybe next time we will stay a bit longer and try that. Osaka seemed much more manageable and relaxed than Tokyo. We liked it.

The next morning we went to Shin(New) Osaka Station to catch a bullet train to Yokohama. Thinking of the nice breakfast we had at the hotel previous morning, I thought we should get to the station early and find a nice Japanese breakfast there. Well, the only breakfast offered at the huge station was at McDonald’s. We should have eaten at Osaka Station. Now we know.