Japan 2023 - Osaka

Osaka

Shinkansen for the win :) It is a great mode of transportation indeed. About 3 hours after leaving Tokyo, I arrived at Shin-Osaka station, and from there it's just a few stops by a local line to get to the center.

 

First impressions: 

• Osaka clearly has a different "vibe" than Tokyo. I can't pinpoint and put it into words though.
• less tourists (outside Dotonbori etc, that is :)
• cars are fancier on average, but a bit older as well

 

Points which I may or may not describe in more details later:

• Dotonbori crazyness
• food 
• port / bay
• construction

Osaka castle

Even though I only saw it from outside, it's impressive, as it's surroundings / fortifications. And as with many places in Japan, it's the contrast between new and old that adds to the vibe. Like skyscrapers not-so-far away, or airplanes on approach, in the sky above the castle.

 

Underground stations 

Underground stations (Umeda especially) are like cities, with many "streets" and insane amount of exits. Took me a few days to discover (and memorize) the exit nearest to my hotel 😀 And also, speaking of hotels... when you're navigating back to your hotel from an unknown direction, check the name you're putting into the navigation, and resulting location (on a map). There may be multiple similarly named ones, and if your rely on auto-complete too much, you may end up slightly off-course. Don't ask me how I know 😀 

 

Umeda Sky Building

It's a distinct cool-looking building and worth the visit. In addition to "normal" (inside) observation deck, there is also an open-air observation deck at the top.

 

Sun vs trees

My impression was that Osaka has way less places (trees / parks etc) to hide from burning sun than say, Tokyo...

 

To be continued…