Hi there
And welcome back to my Japlanning series
Of tips & advice
To help you plan your trip to Japan
Today we're talking about Osaka
Before I went,
I really didn't know that much about it
All I really knew was the famous view of the canal
Which is called Dotonbori
With that famous Glico running man sign
Which I can't believe
When I was actually there
I couldn't find it!
Then it turned out to be right behind me
Then when I did some research about Osaka
All I could really find
Were articles about how amazing the food is
And that there aren't many tourist attractions
But it turns out there's actually loads of things to do
So I thought I'd share my experiences with you
Along with some practical information
About where to stay
And how to get around the city
So you can decide
If it's somewhere you might want to go
There's videos about lots of the places I'm going to mention
On my channel
They're all together in a playlist
I'll put the link in the description
If you want to subscribe
There's new Japan videos every Thursday
I'm just about to start my new series of Japan vlogs
There's going to be new places in Tokyo
Then I'll be going north to Hokkaido
And the Sapporo Snow Festival
It was so cold
But it was beautiful
And I can't wait to show you
To start with, here's my impressions of what I liked about Osaka
Now before I went to Osaka
I didn't really expect to like it that much
For some reason, I don't know why
I got this impression
That it was going to be a bit shabby
And I wouldn't really like it that much
But it took me completely by surprise
I was blown away
It's got a really fun atmosphere
It's a really buzzing city
There's just so much going on
To me it felt like Tokyo the Sequel
Because it is another big city
I'm not sure I would have appreciated it as much
If it had been my first trip to Japan
Because I've been to Tokyo quite a few times
And I'm quite familiar with all the main areas
So to go to Osaka
Which is another big city
With areas that I'd never been to
Brought back that same excitement
Of when I first went to Tokyo
So for that reason
I'd say it'd be a good place to visit
On maybe your 2nd or your 3rd trip to Japan
Next: how to get there
It take about 2.75 hours
From Tokyo to Osaka
On the bullet train
That's covered by your Japan Rail Pass
When I was there, the trains were really frequent
There was one every 10 minutes
There's also an airport
Kansai International Airport
Or KIX
They do have international flights
So you might be able to fly from your country
Into Osaka
Or fly home from Osaka
At the end of your trip
Which might save you time
Osaka & Kyoto
Now what I didn't realise at first
Is that Osaka & Kyoto are actually really close together
If you have a JR Pass
You can travel between them on the bullet train
In only 15 minutes
It's only half an hour on the regular train
So what that means is
You can stay in one of them
And you can really easily go on day trips to the other one
So you don't have to move hotels
Or stay in both of them
Unless you want to
One of the most popular itineraries
For people who want to travel around Japan a bit
Is to start in Tokyo
Then go to Hakone
And see Mount Fuji
Then go to Osaka
And Kyoto
That's known as The Golden Route
Now I don't want to tell you to do the same thing that everybody does
But that's a really popular route
For people who want to travel around
And see a bit more of Japan
Outside Tokyo
As a really quick, beginners guide
Kyoto is a historic city
It's got a lot of temples and shrines
And gardens
If you think of beautiful, elegant, traditional Japan
That's Kyoto
Osaka on the other hand
Is a big, busy, modern city
Compared to Tokyo
It's known as being more fun
More friendly
And having amazing food
Although Tokyo's food is excellent too
So because they're so close together
If you stay in Osaka or Kyoto
You can really easily visit them both
And see historic & modern cities in Japan
Before I carry on
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Next I'm going to take you through my itinerary
To give you an idea of how long you might want to stay there
I was in Osaka for 3 nights
So I had the evening when we arrived
Then 2 full days
If you want to know more about any of these places
There's videos on my channel
On the first night we went to see the cherry blossoms
At the Osaka Mint
Now this was really lucky
Because it's only open for 1 week in the year
In mid April
Wherever you're staying in Japan
It's always worth looking up
And seeing if there's any festivals
Or matsuri on when you're there
Next we went to the Umeda Sky Building
Which is a tower with really unusual architecture
The view from the top was amazing
I don't know what it was about it
But it was just really stunning
And it's definitely one of the best city views I've seen
On the first full day
We went to Amemura
Or Amerika Mura
Which is American Village
It's a little area
With lots of thrift stores
Selling american clothing
It's got a kind of alternative feel
There's also a lot of music & guitar shops there
And I found a lot of stores that you also find in Harajuku
We also found an amazing pinball arcade
Which was so much fun
They had the most obscure pinball machines
We even found one for Domino's Pizza
Then we went to DenDen Town
Which is Osaka's version of Akihabara
With anime merch shops
Figures, games arcades
And maid cafes
It's not quite as full-on as Akihabara
It's a bit more laid-back
And not quite as overwhelming
Then in the evening we went to Dotonbori
Which is the area around the canal
That really comes alive at night
There were so many people there
And the atmosphere was amazing
We went on the ferris wheel on Don Quijote
Which is unusual because it's an elliptical shape
There's also another ferris wheel on Hep Five shopping centre
Because they're both on top of buildings
They both have great views
I think there's another ferris wheel in Osaka as well
So if you like ferris wheels,
Osaka has you covered
The second day was a bit more chilled
We went to Minoh Park
Which is quite an easy walk
In a countryside park
You can see a big waterfall
Their local speciality is a tempura maple leaf
I must say,
It's not every day you get to eat a fried leaf
Then after that we went to Osaka Castle
But it was too late to go in by that time
Then it started raining
So I didn't make a video about that one
Next: Other things to do
There's lots of other things to do in Osaka
That I didn't do
First is the Shinsekai / Tennoji area
Which is in the south of the centre
And I don't know what happened
When I was there, I just completely forgot about it
It's a bit of a retro, less shiny area
Around the Tsutenkaku Tower
You might have seen the pictures with the blowfish sign
It looks really colourful & interesting
I really wanted to go on a boat trip
But we just ran out of time
You can go on a short trip up & down Dotonbori
But the one I wanted to do
Was around the river by the castle
There's also a Gudetama theme cafe
In Hep Five Shopping Centre
Ididn't have time to go to that
One of the most popular places to visit
Is Universal Studios Japan
Which is quite similar to the US version
It's got the Wizarding World of Harry Potter
There's some things I don't think they have in the US
Like Hello Kitty
Sometimes they have temporary anime-themed attractions
There's the world's largest aquarium
Apparently that's really good
There's the Asahi Beer Factory
You do get free samples
It's not completely in the city centre
It's only a little bit north
But you do need to make a little trip out to get to that
Tehre's Spa World
Which is a hot spring theme park
It looks nothing like a traditional Japanese onsen
It's got different rooms
With themed baths for you to go in
And there's loads of shopping malls
One I did want to go to
Was Namba Parks
Because they have a roof garden
It's on loads of different levels
And it's got waterfalls and things
I don't know if it looks as good when you're on it
As it does from the aerial photos
But I would have liked to visit that one
Something that might save you money
Is the Osaka Amazing Pass
You can get it for 1 or 2 days
It includes all your transport on the trains and buses
You can go for free to over 40 attractions
Including some museums
Some boat trips
Some of those ferris wheels
The Umeda Sky Building
And the castle
IT's 2700 yen for one day
Or 3600 yen for 2 days
Day trips
Osaka would be a good place to stay as a base
For exploring the rest of the area
There's quite a lot of day trips you can go on
So as well as Kyoto
There's Nara
Where a lot of people like to go see all the deer
There's Hiroshima & Miyajima
Which is one of the most beautiful places I've been in Japan
With that tori in the water
I really loved it there
There's also Lake Biwa
Which is Japan's largest inland lake
And that's also got a tori in the water
Mount Koya
Is a mountain you can go up
With all woodland
And mysterious temples in the woods
And there's Kobe
Which you probably know for Kobe beef
But it looks like there's loads of other interesting things there too
And if I went back to Osaka
I would probably go there
Next: what about the food?
Osaka's slogan is: Eat till you go broke
That does seem to be pretty much true
There's so much good food
And so many places to eat
I even saw someone eating takoyaki
While they were in the queue for a restaurant
The regional specialities
Seem to be a bit less healthy than your typical Japanese food
There's a lot of deep-fried, but delicious, things
There's takoyaki
Which is batter with little pieces of octopus inside
Kushikatsu
Which is meat & vegetables on sticks
In breadcrumbs
Also deep-fried
With dipping sauce
And okonomiyaki
One of my favourites
It's like pancake batter
With shredded cabbage
And toppings
And really delicious sauce
Where to stay
When I was booking my trip
I heard the best places to stay
Are Umeda or Namba
Umeda is in the north of the centre
It's the high-rise businessy area
It feels a lot like Tokyo
And Namba is around Dotonbori
So you're right in the middle of everything
I stayed in Namba
In Shinsaibashi
I was quite near Amemura
I could also walk to Dotonbori
DenDen Town
And the Nipponbashi area
I'd recommend staying somewhere near Dotonbori
Either north or south
Both would be a really convenient place to stay
How to get around
There's subway lines & regular trains
If you have a Suica or Pasmo card
From the trains in Tokyo
You can also use that in Osaka too
There's more about that in my Getting Around Tokyo video
There are some JR trainlines
The main line is a ring around Osaka
Which for me i found was a bit too far out to be really useful
So I didn't make that much use of my JR Pass
While I was staying in Osaka
But I think it'd depend on what you do
If you're arriving on the shinkansen
The bullet train
You'll arrive at Shin Osaka Station
Which is a little bit north of the city
But it's really easy to get in on the subway
Just like in Tokyo
All the signs are in English
Finally, some tips for you
There's a lot of bikes
Osaka's quite flat
So a lot of people tend to cycle around
And I don't know if they're allowed to
But they cycle on the pavement
So a lot of the time we had to walk single file
So we didn't get run over
There's quite a lot of queues for restaurants
Some people say, if you see a queue
You know a place is good
I don't know about that
But just be prepared
And don't leave it till you're starving hungry
Because you might have to wait in line for a bit
Or you could always get some takoyaki for the queue
Like that guy I saw
Finally, in Osaka
They speak Kansai dialect
Which is the regional accent
They have some of their own words
That are different from the rest of Japan
Now as a tourist
And at my basic level of Japanese
I didn't really notice it too much
But one thing you can learn
IS you can say "ookini"
To say thank you
Ookini
So there you go
That was my guide to Osaka
Some things you can do
Some day trips
Some practical tips
So you can decide
If it's somewhere you want to go
On your trip to Japan
Next I can't wait to show you
My new series of Japan videos
So I'll see you next week
On Thursday