Japan trip recap: Osaka

Osaka: Day 4-6

Sophia and I took the shinkansen (bullet train) from Tokyo Station to Osaka on Monday after spending the weekend in Tokyo. The bullet train was pretty awesome and our ekibens made it a lot better. There was a sumo wrestler in our car which made things interesting.

I had been to Tokyo before, but never made it to Osaka the last time I was in Japan so I was excited to be able to explore somewhere new with Sophia. Osaka has been dubbed the anti-Tokyo. I wasn’t quite sure how I’d feel considering I love Tokyo, but I was also quite excited to eat everything in Osaka given that it’s been called Japan’s kitchen.

We got to our hotel right outside of Dotonbori and first thing I noticed about Osaka is that it’s a whole lot less crowded than Tokyo. People dress more casually and the subway trains were not packed to the brim of salary people. It was a bit refreshing. I heard someone call Osaka the California of Japan, and while I can see what they mean, I wouldn’t go that far.

We started out our first evening in Osaka by having a few drinks right on the river in Dotonbori. I immediately fell in love with Dotonbori. It was just simply unique. The area seemed like one giant arcade or amusement park. There was a ferris wheel towering over the area and food stalls everywhere. There were games and arcades like carnival in between those food stalls. I started off my food journey with getting some takoyaki from one of the more popular stalls.

Sophia and I ate at a local yakitori place for dinner and it was fantastic. We also decided to check out this run-down complex of bars that was very unique. My one big regret from this trip was that I booked Osaka during from Monday - Wednesday. I could tell immediately from the first night that we would’ve preferred to be here over the weekend to truly experience the nightlife here.

The next morning we went to check out the local market called Duromon. Given that markets are one of my favorite things, I was incredibly excited. Unfortunately, I left a bit disappointed. There were a lot of redundant stalls catering to tourists and I didn’t find much appealing. As someone experienced in markets, I could tell a lot of their items were packaged… hell the King Crabs were from Alaska.

I did find an amazing unagi restaurant on the side run by a mom and pop. It might have been the best bowl of unagi I’ve ever had. Interestingly, I was sitting at the counter next to a Japanese business man at 9:30am who was absolutely crushing beers and highballs. It was a bit of an odd sight and he was clearly drunk arguing with the waitress. I wish I could understand Japanese at that moment.

We spent the afternoon exploring Osaka Castle and that was a cool experience. Unfortunately the castle was rebuilt in the 1950s so it lost a lot of it’s luster, but it was cool learning about Japan nevertheless. At night, we went to an area called Shinsekai to explore and eat dinner. It’s a neighborhood known for being a bit seedier. We didn’t see it, but there’s Japan’s only true red light district just south of the main drag. The main area of Shinsekai was pretty fun. It felt like an extension of Dotonbori and a smaller carnival.

We ate dinner at a local Osaka kushikatsu chain. It was my first time having a proper kushikatsu which are fried skewers and it was good as expected. We played in the arcades for a bit and I tried my luck at the famed Japanese claw games. I love arcades and understand that there’s a gamification behind everything, but I was surprised to see that these Japanese claw games are set-up much more like a casino than a child’s game.

Everything is made to draw you into the arcade. Once you’re in, everything is there to get you to play the games. Almost all the games require multiple plays and you will win eventually, after spending a good amount of money. The dealers (attendants) will even come and try to help you. Our attendant purposely tried to make things easier and easier for us and gave us hints. But I quickly learned that this was a game of brute force. You had to keep paying to push the doll through the hole. I left disgruntled after getting the doll about 80% through the hole.

We were absolutely exhausted by the next day. Five full days of exploring Japan really took it out of us. We slept in a bit and decided to have an easy and relaxing day. We went back to Kuromon market for brunch and got a few seafood dishes including geoduck and fugu (pufferfish) that I wanted to try before I left. The geoduck was good and the fugu was uneventful.

We spent the early afternoon in the “American district”. I’m not sure how it got it’s name, but it’s a higher end area with a lot of shops specifically vintage stores that sell used American clothing. I went shopping for vintage University of Washington, 49ers and Giants gear. I found some cool stuff, but nothing that fit me or really caught my eye unfortunately. After some shopping, we ate at a delicious ramen joint in Dotonbori and then took a nap.

I wanted to try to limit our meals to one nice (expensive) dinner per city we were in. For Osaka, I knew I wanted to try the amazing beef and I booked a reservation at Yakiniku M. This is a popular place known for having real matsusaka beef which is like kobe beef but much less commercialized and better. The beef lived up to it’s expectations and it was some of the best meat I have ever tasted. Almost all the cuts absolutely just melted in your mouth. I wouldn’t want to be a cow, but if I had to be reincarnated into one, I would definitely try to be a cow in the Matsusaka region of Japan.

After dinner, we went to the TeamLabs exhibit. After our great experience in the TeamLabs Tokyo, we were hoping for the same thing in Osaka. Unfortunately, it was a botanical garden with lights and we were really disappointed. We spent the rest of the night hitting the town in Dotonbori. We stopped for drinks at a local bar run by a mom and pop. The 75 year old man running the bar was wonderful and we had an amazing conversation via our phones. We spoke about skiing, his kids, and life. When talking about his age, he said a phrase in Japanese that was translated perfectly to “time flies when you’re having fun”. I couldn’t agree more.

The rest of the night was largely uneventful. We went back to the bar complex but most places were closed given it was still Wednesday. Next time I come to Osaka, I’m for sure coming over the weekend to really experience the night life.

Next up is a Kyoto.