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If you’ve at all times dreamed of visiting Japan, then it may be time to overlook these Tokyo Nights and plan a visit to a youthful, hipper metropolis as an alternative.
I’m talking about Osaka. Osaka is the threerd largest metropolis in Japan however it’s nonetheless known as Japan’s Second City.
Osaka has a very different look and feel to Tokyo.
In Tokyo everyone seems to be busy and dashing to get someplace whereas folks in Osaka feels extra informal and relaxed.
Osaka looks like Tokyo’s little sister: youthful, extra thrilling, and extra carefree. And that’s why this unimaginable metropolis is successful over vacationers proper now.
A Funky Party Playground
Japan is my favourite nation on the planet, and Osaka is its celebration playground.
Osaka is grittier and dirtier than Tokyo. All these guidelines that you just’ll examine in your Japan Guidebook, like not consuming on the road or watching the amount of your voice, will go proper out of the window right here!
Japanese folks journey to Osaka to gamble, celebration, and customarily let their hair down.
This is why you’ll discover an enormous focus of bars, karaoke mega golf equipment, and gaming facilities within the coronary heart of the town.
If you actually wish to celebration, then Pure Osaka is the place to be.
It’s a nightclub within the coronary heart of downtown Osaka and is fashionable with Japanese celebrities, influencers, and anybody else who needs to be in the correct place on the proper time.
My favourite strategy to celebration in Osaka is karaoke! Hire a personal room and sing the night time away. It’s a lot enjoyable and extremely reasonably priced, too.
The value can be decided by the dimensions of the room you rent and the way lengthy you keep, however we paid lower than $15 for our household of 4.
Japan’s Kitchen
Osaka is known as the kitchen of Japan, and there’s no higher place to be for foodies.
The streets alongside both facet of the Dotonbori Canal, between the Dōtonboribashi Bridge and Nipponbashi Bridge are identified merely as Dotonbori and that is the place to be if you wish to eat in Osaka.
This can be the spot the place you’ll be able to take a photograph with Osaka’s notorious mascot, The Running Man.
People journey from throughout Japan and the world to eat on this district (so after all I needed to be a part of them!)
I like to recommend attempting the okonomiyaki, which is a savory pancake crammed with cabbage and onions and smothered in a spicy mayonnaise-style sauce.
Perhaps probably the most iconic factor to eat in Dotonbori is takoyaki. You’ll have in all probability seen these earlier than: little wealthy, eggy dough balls crammed with octopus served piping scorching.
My husband liked these, however I undoubtedly didn’t!
Osaka With Kids
As a lot as I might like to share private tales about wild nights in Osaka nightclubs, I visited with two boys underneath the age of 10.
So my expertise was a little bit bit completely different!
But I’ll say that Osaka is a good place for household journey. It won’t appear to be an apparent household vacation spot, like Tokyo, however we liked each minute.
We challenged one another to eat uncommon meals in Dotonbori, wandered by means of the Team Labs botanical gardens, and rode the HEP FIVE Ferris Wheel for unimaginable views of the town. Each carriage has Bluetooth, so you’ll be able to pump out your individual tunes as you journey, too!
If you’re touring with youngsters (or in case you’re a theme park or adrenaline junkie) then Osaka can be house to Universal Studios Japan.
This was the primary Universal Studios to open a Super Nintendo World, and it’s additionally the most important.
This is a contemporary and interactive park the place you should buy wristbands and use them to work together with the sights in a means that may make you’re feeling such as you’re in a Mario online game (I attempted it and regressed! I felt 15 once more!)
You’ll additionally discover Harry Potter World and the same old Universal choices like Jurassic Park and Jaws right here.
Osaka is also a great place to place your self if you wish to take day journeys to different fashionable vacationer locations like Kyoto and Nara too. On the quickest practice you will get to Kyoto from Osaka in round 20 minutes.
Culture In Osaka
Osaka has an undeserved fame for being devoid of tradition. We undoubtedly didn’t discover that to be the case!
Osaka Castle was as soon as the most important fortress in Japan, and it’s not solely stunning but additionally enormous! It actually dominates the encircling skyline, and the gardens are a gorgeous place to stroll.
We additionally visited Ohatsu Tenjin, which is within the coronary heart of the town, hidden behind a neon-lit restaurant district. This is the shrine to like. It can be the one place in Japan the place I noticed pink Tori gates!
There are literally two shrines right here. The first is devoted to the tragic story of two star-crossed lovers who met a horrible finish, and the opposite is a shrine to youngsters.
Volunteers wait on the entrance to the Shrine and can present you round and inform you the story of the star-crossed lovers (not these star-crossed lovers) intimately, and though it’s not an attraction within the guidebooks, it was an actual spotlight for us.
Getting To Osaka
When I final visited Osaka, I traveled from Tokyo Station to Shin Osaka Station by way of the bullet practice.
This is an extremely simple journey that solely took 2.5 hours door to door.
I selected to buy a JR Pass: This is a practice ticket legitimate for a sure time frame that you should use on any JR practice throughout Japan.
This labored out as the perfect worth choice for me as a result of I used to be additionally visiting close by Nara and Kyoto as a part of my journey.
The JR Pass prices 50,000 YEN ($316.00) for 7 days or 80,000 YEN ($506.00) for 14 days.
Alternatively a return ticket from Tokyo Station to Shin Osaka Station is $290 (based mostly on costs for a one week keep touring in August 2024)
Osaka and Tokyo are extremely effectively related for a 2 middle journey like this with a practice leaving Tokyo station each 10 minutes.
If you don’t wish to go to Tokyo, you’ll be able to fly instantly into Osaka as an alternative. If you are touring from the U.S., you’ll be able to fly nonstop into Kansai International Airport from San Francisco and Los Angeles.
United Airlines operates the path to San Francisco, whereas Japan Airlines operates the path to Los Angeles.
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This article initially appeared on TravelOffPath.com
Opinions expressed listed below are the creator’s alone, not these of any financial institution, bank card issuer, resort, airline, or different entity. This content material has not been reviewed, authorized or in any other case endorsed by any of the entities included throughout the submit.
