Osaka was chosen as the first destination during our trip in Japan almost incidentally. We decided to visit it mainly because the cost of a plane ticket to Japan was cheaper when we combined a flight landing in Osaka and departing back from Tokyo, and I'm not sure we would’ve chosen this city under other circumstances. After all, there are so many things to see and do in Kyoto and Tokyo, and in Japan in general, and opinions about Osaka are very split.
There are those who love Osaka and others say it’s simply a less favorable version of Tokyo, and that if you plan on going to Tokyo then you can skip visiting Osaka. If you've already read the first posts in the series about Japan, you already know that Tokyo was the number one reason for this whole trip, and I really didn’t think that Osaka was a must. At least not during our first trip to Japan.
Since fate {or, more precisely, our wallets} decided that that’s where we would start our trip to Japan, we decided to spend two and a half days in the city. True, we could’ve also taken a train to Kyoto straight from the airport and just skip Osaka {and that's probably what we would’ve done if our trip was short}, but since we went for 21 days and landed in Osaka, we decided to take advantage of the opportunity to get a taste of the city!
So, what did I think about the controversial city? The truth is that it didn’t start amazing… The day before the flight the weather forecast announced that a typhoon was supposed to reach the Osaka area. It made me stressed about a natural disaster and in fear that we would spend the first days of the trip in malls. And as if that wasn’t enough, I got jet lag from the flight for the first time in my life. In short, Osaka didn’t get the best starting point.
After we recovered a bit from the jet lag, the weather improved and so did our view of the city. Although the circumstances made it impossible for us to keep up with the attractions we planned for the city, we really enjoyed everything we had time to do there.
I think that only at the end of the trip, after we experienced both Osaka and Tokyo, I realized that the comparison between the cities is completely unnecessary. True, these are two large urban cities, but each has a completely different charm and it doesn’t have to be one or the other. However, if your trip to Japan is jam-packed, you can get a taste of the city even if you skip sleeping in the city and spend only one day there while you’re in Kyoto {which is less than an hour away…}.
48 HOURS IN OSAKA
DAY 1 –
Morning: Visit at the Osaka Palace Park
Our first day in Osaka began with a visit to Osaka Castle, which is considered the most famous site in Osaka and one of the most identified buildings with Japan. At the entrance to the palace park there are stands selling street food and interesting flavors of ice cream, so we decided to eat vanilla-macha ice cream as a late breakfast 😉 . Then we walked on the bridge and entered through the large gates to the park area surrounded by an ancient wall. The park itself looks like a fairy tale story – at its center stands a particularly impressive palace decorated in mint and gold and surrounded by a beautiful Zen garden.
Originally built in the 16th century, the original palace was burned down in a lightning storm in 1665 and was restored at the beginning of the 20th century, so it’s not an ancient structure, but it has historical importance. We planned to enter the castle, but only when we arrived we discovered that it wasn’t open to visitors due to the fear of the typhoon. Luckily for us the park itself and the front of the palace were so beautiful that they alone were worth the trip.
After we went back to our AIRBNB apartment, I read about the interior of the palace online and found out that we hadn’t missed anything. The palace is actually a very modern history museum and is usually very busy with visitors, so it’s not a very authentic experience.
By the way, the entrance to the park was free and payment for the entry to the palace is charged separately.
Afternoon: Shopping on Orange Street
In the afternoon we reached Orange Street. The street, which was once almost completely identified with antique furniture stores, has slowly become one that is identified with a cool fashion scene and today it’s known as Osaka's hipster street. The second we entered the street we noticed that there was a completely different population there. This is where the cool young Japanese come to shop and have fun. We walked around the small boutiques, many of them selling high-quality, special second-hand items and local designers' items. We passed cool cafés and stopped for a delicious dessert that combines cornflakes, ice cream and fresh little donuts. Unfortunately, I don’t remember the name of the stand that sold it, but if you encounter it by chance don’t skip a taste 🙂
Oh! And I almost forgot – Orange Street has a special concept store devoted entirely to Alice in Wonderland – Alice On Wednesday! We didn’t notice that the time was flying by and we got to the store exactly as they closed it, but fortunately I discovered that there was another branch of the chain in Tokyo. The store in Tokyo was CRAZY and the prices were surprisingly not overly exaggerated. Very, very highly recommended!
If you’re a fashion lover and you want to buy special items that you can’t find elsewhere – you’ll love Orange Street! But prepare your wallet, because prices are definitely not cheap.
Evening: Wandering around Dōtonbori street
Osaka's most popular tourist destination is the colorful Dōtonbori area in the Namba district. There are places where the word “touristy” may bother me, but that’s not the situation in this case. The beauty and charm of the Dōtonbori region stems precisely from the fact that it’s bustling and vibrant. Dōtonbori is the center of the city, and as such you can find everything you can expect from a big city – crazy billboards {with huge figures of crabs, dragons and sushi}, huge screens, dazzling neon lights, lots of shops and dozens of restaurants selling local delicacies alongside popular Western chain stores.
And talking about food, Osaka is considered the food capital of Japan and Dōtonbori is famous for its excellent cheap street food, making it the perfect place to experience a variety of traditional dishes like ‘takoyaki' – local dough balls cooked with vegetables and octopus, Ramen, sushi and gyoza. I discovered that in Osaka, apart from sushi, Japanese street food isn’t really my cup of tea, but it’s certainly a different and interesting experience.
On the other hand, the food that really spoke to me in Dōtombori was actually he special Japanese snacks. You can find a crazy variety of all the familiar Japanese snacks, like Pocky, as well as snacks that are especially connected to Osaka. I found all sorts of flavors that I’d never seen anywhere else in the world {not even when I arrived in Tokyo!}. So, of course, as a Pocky addict I couldn’t resist buying exaggerated amounts that were enough for almost the whole trip… and believe me, if I could’ve I would have imported a container of this snack to Israel for my own use 🙂
In Dōtombori there’s also one of the city's most famous symbols, the illuminated and gigantic Glico Man sign. The sign, showing a man running triumphantly on the finish line, glints over the Dōtombori area since 1935 and is considered one of the city's oldest signs.
DAY 2 –
Morning: Universal Studios Japan
The main reason we decided to stay in Osaka for another day was to go to Universal Studios Japan. I know that this isn’t a very authentic Japanese experience, but I have a weakness for American theme parks and giant characters 🙂 The excitement grew even more when I discovered that in the pre-Japanese Halloween period, the Japanese come to the park in amazing costumes!
Universal Studio in Osaka is now considered the most popular park in Japan {even more than Disneyland Tokyo!}, mainly because of the “Harry Potter Wizard World” there, so we got there prepared for relatively long waiting times for some of the rides. The plan was to arrive early Monday morning to try to do as much as possible before the park was full and then leave… As we passed the park's entrance towards the ticket office, we were confronted by crazy lines which made us think twice about entering the park. But because I was determined to enter, and I already read on the Internet that we had to prepare ourselves to stand in long lines, we decided not to give up and enter the park. We also considered buying the expensive Express Pass card in advance, but it was sold out as soon as we got closer to the ticket office.
After more than an hour of standing in line for the long-awaited ticket we finally entered the park!
The first thing we did was turn toward the “Harry Potter Wizard World”. The magical world really didn’t disappoint us and made us feel right in Dagon Lane and at the famous Hogwarts School. Everything was precise to the smallest details – the buildings, the accessories and even the food! We drank frozen butterbeer, a drink that every Harry Potter fan fantasized about sometime in his life, which was super sweet and tasty; We ate at the Three Broomsticks restaurant from the movie; And of course, we also went on the most famous roller coaster in the park, which we waited in line for two and a half hours (!!). I really enjoyed the ride, but the fact that everything was dubbed into Japanese reduced the intensity of the experience.
From there we continued to the rest of the “worlds” of the park: Hollywood, New York, San Francisco, Jurassic Park, Water World, Jaws and Universal Wonderland. As time passed, we noticed that the park was filling up more and more, to the point where people simply sat on the pavements and made it difficult to walk around the park. Only later did we discover that on that day there was a Japanese holiday called “Respect of the Aged Day” and that the madness in the park wasn’t normal, but a result of a national holiday. After walking around the park's shops, and when we saw that the lines for the rides were simply crazy by any standard, we decided there was no reason to stay and that it would be better to go back to the city center.
There’s no doubt that this wasn’t the ideal experience in the park, but I'm glad we were able to enjoy the world of Harry Potter in the morning before the park was full of people and that we got to see the park filled with a lot of Japanese in costumes 😉 The cost of entrance to the park is relatively reasonable, so we weren’t too upset about the expense.
If you're planning on going to the park, learn from my mistake and check that there are no holidays or special days in Japan on the same date. And of course, avoid weekends, this definitely isn’t an ideal time for a fun day in the park.
Afternoon: A little window shopping and a western dinner at Shinsaibashi
We returned to the center of Osaka super tired, because of the jet lag {yes, still!!} and because of the tiring half-day we spent in Universal Studios. We wandered around the famous shopping street called Shinsaibashi and did some window-shopping {and not real shopping because: A. I didn’t have the strength to try anything on, because of my jet lag… B. The trip just started and I knew I should keep the big bucks for Tokyo, because I didn’t want to carry a full suitcase with me from the beginning of the trip and I knew that Harajuku was waiting for me…}
When it was time for dinner, we decided that we hadn’t had enough of the Westerns we had planned for that day and we looked for a place that serves delicious hamburgers. We found a branch of the “Glorious Chain Café” on Shinsaibashi street, a cool American diner owned by the Diesel chain {the clothing! What a cool concept!}. We ordered an excellent hamburger and fries and a salad, which turns out to be a rare commodity in Japan, and we enjoyed every bite 🙂 The desserts there also looked especially amazing, but considering all the sweets we ate that day – even we have limits… 😉
We returned to the apartment relatively early to arrange our suitcases and get ready for a sweet night's sleep in preparation for the rest of our vacation in Kyoto…
If you have time for a few more activities on your trip to Osaka, check out the following attractions: Umeda Sky Building, Amerika-mura, Spa World, Shitennoji Temple, the Aquarium of Osaka and the huge Ferris Wheel right next to it. Let me know me how it was 😉
Booking an apartment through AIRBNB for the first time? You’re welcome to use my link and get a coupon code of $43 off for your next trip.
Which of the things you read on this post make you want to visit Osaka the most?
If you've already been to Osaka – what things shouldn’t I miss on my next visit to the city? Tell me in comments! 🙂
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4 Responses
Very useful on Osaka thanks
GLAD YOU ENJOYED THIS POST 🙂
Hi, do you mind share on which month you went osaka?
September 🙂