Wednesday, 30.5.2018: One Day in Osaka

Warning, lots of Osaka photos incoming: today was my first day of sightseeing in Japan! It was also the first day of rain, lots of it. So much that even I couldn’t do any sightseeing on the morning. At least the hotel room view was good:



As soon as the rain stopped (at around 11AM) I took a cab to the Tenjinbashi-Suji Shopping Street – which is said to be the longest shopping arcade in Japan (conveniently covered with a roof as well, lol).





I had some food in my mind that I absolutely wanted to try in Japan, and I started out early. In that shopping street was a food stall serving Takoyaki, small balls with octopus in the middle and different toppings. They’re being turned over and over with chopsticks in a metal form until they’re brown from all sides:





The Takoyaki were incredible and the best of the whole trip – but you should definitely wait a bit as they are incredibly hot when you get them. Definitely a ‘must’ though when you’re in the region.

Afterwards the rain luckily stopped, and I headed over to the Nankai train line. The train took me to Sumiyoshi Taisha Shrine in the South, located directly at a train stop. Due to the bad weather the whole area was pretty empty, which is always perfect for photos. I crossed the big bridge at the entrance…





...and went inside:





The shrine is not as impressive as others on the trip, but has a lot of super nice details to photograph:







Next on my list for the day was Osaka’s landmark, the famous Osaka Castle! It took me 45 minutes to get to Morinomiya Station and went up the Castle hill by foot (another 10-15 minutes). I didn’t want to go inside the castle, but rather take photos from all angles:





I walked through the whole park until I got out on the other side again.



It was already afternoon and I wanted to rest for a bit, so I walked back to the Imperial Hotel for an hour or two. As no photographer wants to miss sunset though, I got up and headed to the Umeda Sky Building (easy to reach with the free Hotel Shuttle).

Umeda Sky Building is famous for the floating escalators at the top of the building. I took the elevator and the escalators to the observation deck at the top:





The escalators looked even more insane from above:



The highlight was the sunset though, with a 360° view of beautiful Osaka:















Once I got back inside I had to try another Japanese pastime: Gachapon! These are the little vending machines that can be seen everywhere across Japan. For just 300 Yen you get a small plastic ball with a surprise toy inside:



Apparently I was lucky as I got a golden miniature of the Umeda Sky Building – at least some Japanese teenagers told me that this is the rarest one

Afterwards I went down the elevator again, it was already dark outside...





...and took the train to Dotonbori, Osaka’s infamous entertainment district.





I wanted to try another specialty of Osaka: Okonomiyaki! It means something like “as you like” in English and is a grilled pancake with lots of different ingredients and topping, depending on the region. The Osaka version is special in Japan as well, and very different from e.g. the Hiroshima one.

I went into one of the restaurants with good Yelp reviews and ordered a beer first…



...and the Okonomiyaki was prepared for me at the table right after. More experienced guests grill it themselves, but the staff is happy to help if you’re a tourist like me:





The Okonomiyaki was incredible, and a perfect way to end a day of sightseeing in beautiful Osaka