LittleSandyBeach

After checking into our accommodation in Osaka we went out for dinner at a new ramen chain called Kamukura. It’s known for its highly original, secret ramen broth and very generous helpings of Chinese cabbage.

On our first full day we looked around Osaka Castle and its gardens. It was built in the 16th century and sits in a 106 hectare park that could take you all day to explore.

The main tower that stands in the centre of the grounds was rebuilt in 1931 but was bombed during World War II. A major restoration happened in 1997 to turn the whole site into the museum.

Afterwards we went to look around the Japan Mint Museum which holds a collection of over 4,000 items across three floors in the old western styled power plant. It has coins dating back to the 7th century right up to the present years.

One of the highlights for us was Tokyo’s 2020 Olympic and Paralympic medals as well as the medals from Tokyo 1964 Summer Olympics, Sapporo 1972 Winter Olympics and Nagano 1998 Winter Olympics.

We also really enjoyed getting to touch real gold and silver bars. The silver bar weighed 33.4kg and is worth £64,000. The gold bar weighed 14.6kg and at today’s rates is worth £1.6m!

In the grounds of the museum there is a walkway called Cherry Blossom Passage which has over 300 late blooming, double flowered cherry trees. For one week a year the museum is closed and the grounds are open to the public to see them in full bloom.

For lunch we went and tried another popular ramen chain, this one being called Ippudo. It’s made with a creamy pork bone broth, mushrooms, spring onion and an egg can be added. WOW. The best ramen so far, we love it. They have quite a few different flavours so we will be back to try more!

In the afternoon we checked out a couple of the huge entertainment complexes that Japan is famous for. These can spread across more than 10 floors and house hundreds of gaming and arcade machines.

The most popular type of game by far are claw machines and they are literally everywhere. There are hundreds of dedicated stores with claw machines in and even in the supermarkets they normally have a couple.

Afterwards we went to check out Tenjinbashi-suji Shopping Street which is the longest shopping arcade in Japan with over 600 stores. It features traditional tea shops, restaurants and cafes to name a few. We only explored part of it as it takes approximately 40 minutes to walk the whole length and thought we would definitely be shopped out!

On Saturday we went to the Osaka Science Museum. It has over 200 hands on displays and is by far one of the most interactive science museums we’ve ever been to.

There was also a 1/32 scale model of the NASA Space Launch System used for the recent Artemis 2 mission. It was donated by the US government to inspire future generations on space travel.

Another display that interested us was the wheel axle for the Shinkansen (bullet train). The one on display is an original from the first ever bullet train built in 1964 and helped revolutionise high-speed train travel.

We then headed over to the area called American Village that has over 2,000 stores selling imported fashion goods. For over 40 years it has been known as the centre of Japanese youth culture.

Nearby was a large shopping mall called Big Step. We really liked the outdoor design with all the trees and fairy lights.

Inside we discovered The Silver Ball Planet arcade store which had over 100 retro pinball machines. We spent a good hour here playing many of the different themed machines. Some even dating back to 1978.

Tasha’s favourite game was of course a horror themed machine based on the Halloween film. Each game only cost 100 JPY (47p) for three rounds!

We then went onto explore the very touristy area of Dontonbori. It runs along the Dontonbori Canal and is famous for its dazzling neon lights. It is a hub for tourists, nightlife and street food.

We particularly wanted to see the famous Osaka Running Man sign which has become an iconic 20m tall LED billboard since 1935. It was initially installed as advertisement for the Glico confectionary company.

Yesterday, we started off the day by going to Keitakuen Garden. It is a traditional Japanese style strolling garden originally built by a wealthy merchant family and was given to Osaka City as a gift in 1926.

After a nice stroll we then went to the nearby area of Shinsekai, a vibrant retro district developed in 1912 as a ‘New World’ inspired by Paris and New York. The main feature is Tsutenkaku Tower which was built in 1956 to resemble a mix of the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe.

After some lunch, we went to look down Sennichimae Doguyasuji Shopping Street. It is a 150m long arcade packed with professional kitchenware and knives. Many tourists come to pick up some of the world’s best crafted kitchen knives to take home.

This morning we got up bright and early to take the metro one hour outside of the city to go to Nara Park! It is located in Nara city which was Japan’s first permanent capital established in 710. It is now famous for its 1,400+ free roaming sacred deer.

You could purchase ‘deer crackers’ for only 200 JPY (93p) to feed the Sika deer. We got two packs and quickly hid them in our bag as we heard the deer near the entrance can be slightly aggressive.

We then found some friends to give a cracker to and we were very impressed with how polite they are! They even bow their heads to request their treat!

We also hiked up Mount Wakakusa which is a 342m high grass covered mountain behind the park. It offers panoramic views of Nara City and surprisingly even some deer had ventured up too!

We found it very funny watching some of the tourists get swarmed by big groups of hungry deer. Most of them ended up throwing the food to them and ran away screaming.

Tomorrow we leave Osaka and will get a short 30min train to Kyoto. It is renowned for its incredible history as it was Japan’s imperial capital for over 1,000 years from 794 – 1868.