I had to do it. There is no way I could say I truly lived in Japan without visiting Osaka and it's neighbor cities, Kobe and Himeji. Even though this is my last full week in Japan I still had to do it. It really shouldn't have taken me this long, but the earthquake did throw my schedule off a bit. As Japan's third largest city Osaka has a lot to do and see. Whether it's Osaka castle, the Tempozan Ferris Wheel, or Kaiyukan - one of the worlds largest aquariums - Osaka has a lot to offer.
Osaka is a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshuu, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe. Osaka is also the third largest city by population after Tokyo and Yokohama and one of the largest metropolitan areas highly ranked in the world, with nearly 18 million people
Getting to Osaka from Tokyo is fairly simple, just hop on the Shinkansen. From Shibuya station I traveled to Shinagawa via the JR Yamanote line then from Shinagawa I hopped the Shinkansen to Shin-Osaka station. Once in Osaka getting around is made convenient by the JR Loop line. Beware, however, that a single train doesn't necessarily go around the entire loop and you'll have to switch trains and tracks. Other than that it's a breeze.We only had half a day in Osaka to see and do everything we could so we kept moving as much as possible. First is was off to Osaka castle which is by far the top attraction of the city. From there we made our way to Kaiyukan to check out the whale sharks and other giant fishes. Then finally we took a ride on the giant Tempozan Ferris where we were able to take some great shots of the city at night. If you make it to Kaiyukan there is a ferry that leaves from a port next to the aquarium which will take you directly to Universal Studios Japan, it's worth it and very convenient.
Osaka has a different feel than Tokyo. It's still very metropolitan and has its share of tall buildings, but it seems slower and a little more reserved than it's larger sister city. The people in Osaka were extremely friendly even by Japanese standards. We had a few people come up to us and start conversations, mainly to practice their English. There were also the few Chinese tourists who asked to take a picture with me. I'm used to it from my time in China. They really seem to love the idea of having a picture with a black person. I have chronicled each attraction in it's own post so as to not create one extremely long blog entry. Take a look to get more information about Osaka. As always, here are some pics for you to enjoy Labels: Japan, Osaka
