Where are John and Kara?: Osaka, Kansa, Japan

A traditional breakfast - fermented soy bean,
raw egg, rice and miso

In a nation orientated by food perfection, Osaka is world famous in Japan for two things: the takoyaki (octopus balls) and the okomomiyaki (Japanese pancake). Both which can be found in classy up market eateries and in little food stands on the side of the road! In fact, a large part of Japanese culture revolves around food. Food is appreciated and revered, and it is considered highly rude to eat while walking, or in public for that matter. It took us a good week to realize something felt different- we never saw people eating!

During World War Two the entire city of Osaka was literally destroyed by bombing. So it looks and feels quite the opposite to old school Kyoto (which is less than 30minutes away).

Attraction one : Japan's largest Ferris wheel ride!

After the war it grew quickly alongside neighboring Kobe (home of the beef) to become one of Japan's most thriving commerce capitals. Although these days Tokyo takes the lead, Osaka still has a thriving shopping district. In fact several established commerce traditions remain- for example, rather than welcoming you when stepping into a shop, staff enquire with 'are you making a profit?'.

Attraction two: sailing on the Santa Maria

As proficient bargain hunters we stumbled upon the Osaka unlimited pass. This amazing deal provides free entry and free use of the city buses and trains all for $20 per day to explore an impossible amount of Osaka attractions (saving the user over $100+ in entry fees).

Well challenge accepted! We decided to undertake as many of the attractions we could on our second day in Osaka. From the top of the page this time scape blog highlights one busy day navigating the trains in Osaka!

All aboard mateys!

Takoyaki snack stop!!

From voyaging the harbor port on a pirate ship to visiting a science museum and climbing to the top of the Osaka castle, we went! Although we gave it our best shot we didn't get a third of the attractions on offer completed. We did however mange to hold down the raw eggs at breakfast, accumulate over 35,000 steps each, tried out 80% of Osaka's subway lines and spent a good hour trying to get out of the Namba underground train station. Yes- it's fantastic that there's a three story underground city beneath Osaka but you have absolutely no sense of direction down there!. Although we only had a few days in Osaka we plan to be back very soon!

Tot siens
John and Kara