Here’s the first post about our one-month itinerary in Japan! We started in Osaka, landing at KIX (Kansai International) since it made more sense with our itinerary. While planning the trip, we thought of not staying in Osaka at all, but in the end we spent three nights in the city.
Osaka was a great choice to start our very first trip to Japan and get used to the country. It’s a big city, but it’s smaller and way less crowded compared to Tokyo or Kyoto. For example, it allowed us to get to know the Japanese public transportation system. Information was also easily available in English.
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General feelings about Osaka
Osaka felt calm and not crowded at all because everything you can see or visit is quite “far” from each other. It’s the only city we visited that had three separated train stations in very different places, about 15 minutes walking from one to another (one for the JR network, one for Shinkansen and one for other trains).
For visiting, you’ve got to walk quite a lot (or make several train transfers). You can keep on walking for a while until you see something of interest. Still, Osaka is a foodie city, and it’s worth keeping your eyes open while strolling and looking for local restaurants and shops, which will be calmer and probably cheaper than the ones in touristy areas like Dotonbori.
I didn’t think Osaka was a great city to include in a train-trip through Japan, however, if I had to live in a big city in Japan, I would definitely choose Osaka over Tokyo or Kyoto. The city center is pretty calm in the evening, as well as during the day after the peak hour.
Note that we visited after the Golden Week and stayed in Namba.
Day 1
ラーメン! Ramen!
Our day in Osaka actually started around noon (we landed at 8.45 AM, went through immigration and customs, got our pocket WiFi and JR Pass at the airport, took the train to the JR station, then walked to the hotel with our luggage). We picked the first ramen shop we encountered, one of those with a ticket machine at the entrance (that’s were we learned that you’ve got to put you money first because pressing buttons with some of those machines). Our randomly picked ramen was delicious and cost us 800 yens (about €5*).
🔖Konshin-ya Osaka Namba (ramen)
Namba Yasaka Shrine
After lunch, we visited Namba Yasaka Shrine, a one of a kind shrine in the shape of a Chinese lion. After spending a month in Japan, some temples and shrines start to look like déjà-vu, but we haven’t seen anything like this one during our trip.
We hang on the shrine ground a bit, starting to get jetlagged. It was peaceful and didn’t felt like being in the center of such a big city (if you close you eyes on the big buildings in background).
Takopa (Takoyaki park)
After a break at the hotel, we headed to Takopa in the evening. The Takoyaki park is situated right next to Universal Studio (it doesn’t require an entry to the studio), in a big shopping complex. Takopa has 5 takoyaki restaurants, the local specialty of Osaka.
You can try Takoyaki prepared in different ways, from the most classic one to fusion cuisine (with cheese for example). We intended to try all five restaurants, but this snack is so stuffing that we quit after only two of them. To give an idea, the very first shop was selling classic Takoyaki priced at 480 yens for 8 pieces (€3*), the next one was selling special ones that were also much bigger for 1080 yens the dozen (€6,85*).
Day 2
Isshin-Ji
After having breakfast at the hotel, we visited the Buddhist temple Isshin-Ji (the “normal people” temple). Each year, the ashes of 20.000 deceased believers are brought to the temple. After 10 years, the ashes of the 200.000 members are used to create a full size statue of Amida Buddha (Okotsubutsu). Those statues can be seen inside the temple, but not photographed.
It was a simple temple, calm and not crowded, with some interesting statues.
Tenmangu Shrine
We then headed to Tenmangu with the subway. The temple was quite simple (I realize I didn’t even take photographs) and I would not go it there’s nothing else I’d like to see nearby.
Osaka castle
It’s not the biggest or the most beautiful of the Japanese castles, but if you’re in Osaka, it would be a shame not to go see it. (Well, that’s my opinion because I love castles in Japan.)
カレー! Curry!
For our second diner, we chose a mabo tofu curry restaurant, a Japanese style curry inspired by Chinese cuisine: it’s spicy, there’s tofu, a raw egg, and if you fancy, some breaded chicken. We loved it! This restaurant offers you to choose your level of spiciness, level one was way spicy enough.
On our way back to the hotel, we enjoyed our first gashapon shop. Osaka has its fair share of otaku places, with figures shops and gashapon halls.
Day 3
Nara
Nara can be visited from Kyoto or Osaka, depending on your planning. It took us about 45 minutes reaching Nara station. The city is famous for its wild deer wandering in the city, but also holds a lot of beautiful temples.
On your way from the station to the park, there an amazing Melon pan shop (those are sweet breads shaped as a watermelon, sometimes flavored or even stuffed, but not made of watermelon) and a shop of mochi yomogi. Both were really yummy! Melon pan were about €1.60* and nice hot, straight from the oven. We picked a choco-banana and a matcha one.
Big fluffy mochi
We strolled around the temples and the pagoda, greeted sleepy deer, enjoyed the lush green. However, Nara is super crowded, both on weekends and weekdays (it gets visited by local schools as well). I especially recommended visiting the Golden hall and its attached museum.
We then headed to the famous park where all the deer are to be seen and bought some biscuits made for them. Deer can become a bit agressive so be careful!
We realized that we had to go back, as we made a reservation for the evening, but it’d be worth spending the whole day just to visit the main, touristy area. And there’s more to see if you go off-the-beaten-track!
Pokemon Café Osaka
We made a reservation in advance for 4 PM at the Pokémon Café in Osaka. It’s possible to book 31 days in advance at Pokémon Cafés, and it’s rarely possible to get a seat if you just show up. The booking website was in Japanese but pretty easy to navigate (worst case: use the translate function of your browser).
Most themed restaurants work the same way: there’s a time to choose, and once you enter you can’t stay for as long as you want (it’s usually 90 minutes).
Orders are made via a tablet. We wanted to try it for fun but it was kind of special. Service was erratic, our meals got served at different times, our dessert didn’t come until we requested it, and so on… but I was still happy to do it. We got the chance to see the Pikachu mascot, and since it was lunar new year, there were a lot of Chinese themed items. However, my food was pretty mid, especially compared to the awesome quality of food in Japan. I’d recommend going there for a snack and drink, and not especially going for a full meal.
If you plan on going, the Café is situated in the high end “Daimaru Shinsaibashi” mall, 9th floor (we had a hard time finding our way).
We chose the Osaka one because it was easier to book.
When you leave the Café, you can visit several shops, like JUMP (same floor), and others at the Pop culture floor (Capcom, Ghibli, Godzilla, Lego, Mofusand…).
Dotonbori
Probably the most iconic area of Osaka, more crowded than the rest of the city. This is were you find restaurants with their huge signs, and nightlife. Not far away, you can see the pretty little temple of Hozenji and its lights.
Again, I don’t think this is the best area to eat as it’s on the touristy side, except if you like nightlife and crowds.
Osaka, our impressions after three days
We chose Osaka as our first Japanese destination and it was great to get accustomed to the country and its culture, since it’s more chill than other big cities. It allowed us to recover from jetlag while still visiting. Since there’s less to see in Osaka, you can make a slow and light schedule while staying there.
That’s also a great city for food strolling, or just strolling in fact. It feels relaxed and not overwhelming. It’s also a nice place to stay for day-tripping.
(*)Prices in € are based on the exchange rate at the time of our trip, in May 2023