We went to Japan for only a week, and a few people told me with such limited time don’t waste your time going to Osaka. But from the pictures I had seen Osaka looked crazy, so we paired it with a 3-day hiatus from Tokyo while we were on our way to Kyoto. We took the Shinkansen from Tokyo to Osaka then on our way back to Tokyo stayed two nights in Kyoto. Well, let me tell you this, I am glad we went to Osaka and we definitely could have used another night or two there. In my opinion, Osaka was just as cool as Tokyo and it is one of my favorite cities in the world.
We got to Osaka and checked into our hotel, the Sotetsu Grand Fresa in Dotonbori. The hotel was right across from Dotonbori Street which is a busy and fun area to hang out in and explore. Dotonbori has bright lights and billboards like Tokyo but it is concentrated in a smaller area. In fact, Osaka is even more bold and out there than Tokyo; there are even more buildings with 3D signs and objects lighting up the night skyline like crabs, buddhas, ships, dragons, etc. Dotonbori is also on a canal. We decided to take the canal boat cruise. It was 1 200 Yen per person (about $10) and lasts 20 minutes. You cruise through the canal and get a look at the buildings and billboards, including the famous “Glico Running Man.” It was a fun experience but don’t expect to learn anything unless you are fluent in Nihongo. The tour isn’t in English but the guide was lively, cheerful and seemed funny based on her mannerisms. Aside from the tour and just enjoying walking around the street, we ate a lot of street food in Dotonbori. There were then 10 Yen filled waffles, sugar coated strawberries, Takoyaki and the best of all Wagyu Steak and Kobe Beef skewers. The Wagyu Beef skewers and Kobe Beef respectively cost 450 and 900 yen. Both were amazing and among the best street food I had in my life. I couldn’t help myself and continued to go back for more. Despite being reasonably priced, I spent a lot just based on the sheer number of skewers I purchased. You can also pair these with a beer. Nothing beats walking around Dotonbori, canal on one side, lights billboards on the other, and some of the best steak in your life.
In addition to eating street food, we went for dinner in Dotonbori. We loved the ramen in Tokyo so had to compare the Osaka style ramen. After looking around and browsing online, the top place was way too packed so we tried out Kinryu Ramen Dotonbori, which had pretty good ratings and also had a significant lineup. After waiting about 20 minutes we ordered our ramen on the machine (as you do in most ramen places in Japan) and were seated. Seating is open air but under a roof where you can see the cooks madly working away brewing up the Osaka style ramen. The ramen was okay but didn’t compare to that of Tokyo. Osaka style ramen uses a soy-based broth instead of pork based. There weren’t a lot of options on the menu, just how you could customize your bowl of hot soup. But there was spicy kimchi, chili paste and green onions that you could continue to add to your ramen to your hearts’ desire. It was a cool experience but nothing to die for.
Dotonbori was a lot of fun and one of my favorite neighborhoods in the world and the Shinsekai neighborhood was almost as cool. After checking out Dotonbori in the day and waiting for our night cruise we took a cab down to Shinsekai so we could check out the lit up Tsutenkaku Tower. Like Dotonbori, the neighborhood was busy and full of bright lights and out of this world billboards and signs. The views of the tower with the 3D signs and lights were amazing. We also played some carnival style shooting games where I won a candy prize, snapped a few photos then headed back to Dotonbori. There wasn’t a ton to do in Shinsekai, but it would have been nice to spend a bit more time there or another night to have dinner.
It was an action-packed day after taking the bullet train from Tokyo, exploring Dotonbori, Shinsekai and doing the river cruise. But before we were off to Kyoto, which is only a short 20-minute train ride on the Shinkansen, we took a cab to check out the Osaka Castle. We didn’t have a lot of time, so we walked around the castle grounds, took a few photos and took off. There wasn’t enough time to go inside, but we heard it wasn’t worth it anyways. The castle is cool to check out and I can imagine it would be even better during Cherry Blossom season.
After that we got in a cab, went back to the Sotetsu Grand Fresa to grab our things and then were off to catch the bullet train for our final stop in Japan, Kyoto. Our stay in Osaka was short, only one night, or about a day and a half, but it was an amazing time. If we had more time, we’d have stayed another night or two and spent more time in Shinsekai. Osaka is also home to Universal Studios and a few cool temples. Although it would have been nice to check some more things out, the street food, Dotonbori and the Tsutenkaku Tower in Osaka are the best things to do. Our time exploring temples was reserved for Kyoto and we can do Universal Studios in the USA. But Osaka was amazing and one of my favorite cities of all time and if you want to see more, check out my video here.
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