The seaside city of Osaka is the 3rd largest city (Tokyo, Yokohama, Osaka) in Japan, with a population of 2.7 million people. It is lt thought that the area was populated as far back as 7000 BCE. Osaka is considered to be the financial and economic hub of Japan. It is the headquarters of Panasonic and Sharp. I just found out that Osaka is the site for the World Expo 2025, slated to begin the day we leave (4/13/25) so we will miss it.
Our excursions today include a visit to the ultra modern Umeda Sky building, the 16th century Osaka Castle and the shopping/street food district of Dotonbori.
Today’s itinerary.
Salad bar at breakfast buffet. It is popular with the Japanese.
This was really cool! An ice cream machine as part of the breakfast buffet area. Needless to say I had ice cream as part of my breakfast!
Multiple traffic lanes in each direction in Osaka. No one uses their horn; they are patient drivers. Also the cars are clean; I never saw a dirty car (or even trucks).
Japanese love to decorate their buildings with cartoon images.
Is this the future look for SUVs- squared off back? It is a Toyota.
Dad and sons. Looks like the little guy asleep – or playing on his phone!
Unique mail box.
The twin towers of the 40 story Umeda Sky building was completed in 1993 and has become a big tourist attraction because of the great territorial views from the outdoor observation deck at the top.
The Umeda Sky building, built in 1993, now a popular tourist attraction. It is 173 meters (567ft) high with outdoor observation decks.
Fountain near the building.
A very large “living wall”.
Using a living wall to hide an otherwise ugly structure
The lady traffic director who oversees the parking or the tour buses. She also controls the flow of people to keep them safe!
Someone with a sense of humor named this location.
Outdoor garden next to the Umeda Sky building .
Riding the escalator to the top. It was surprisingly steep.
I made it, she says, posing with the traditional Japanese stance.
The outdoor observation deck.
View of the surrounding area.
The Yodo River.
Chuck, Yvonne, Sue and Gerry enjoying the view.
Going down.
You can rent traditional clothing for pictures.
Our second stop was at the Osaka Castle complex that was initially built in 1585 by Toyotomi Hidetoshi. It was destroyed and rebuilt several times since then but remnants of the original walls are still present. Unfortunately, there is a lot to see there but our limited 1.5 hour visit was simply too short to really enjoy to what the complex offers. Several of us told our tour director that it would have been better to spend less time at the Umeda building and more time at the Osaka Castle because of its relevance to the cities history.
Local cherry blossoms.
Approaching the reconstructed Osaka castle complex.
A guard station near the castle walls.
Schematic of the Osaka castle.
Noriko explaining how stone was cut to create a flat surface.
The largest one piece stone in the wall. It weighed 108 tons! It must have been quite a task bringing it here.
We were here.
View from the top of the castle.
Territorial views from the top of the castle.
The original castle burned down. The castle is shown in relation to the original one.
How the castle walls were constructed.
One of castle cannons.
Explanation of how the palace walls were constructed
Excavation of part of the reconstructed castle wall showing use of original stone.
Osaka castle and cherry blossoms.
A short video about the Osaka castle.
Our last stop was at the famed street food lovers area of Dotonbori where small restaurants and street vendors offer all the food options Osaka people love. After a brief walking introduction Noriko bought some takoyaki (octopus stuffed dough balls) for us to try (we passed as we had tried them yesterday and were not that enamored with their consistency and taste). We were then free to seek out luncheon dining and/or shopping options on our own. We were quite surprised at how busy the area was on a weekday afternoon yet Noriko said it was not that busy in her opinion. I would hate to see what it would be like when really busy! We reconvened as a group at 3:45 and returned to the hotel to rest and get ready to leave early in the morning for Hiroshima and Kyoto.
The famous Dotonbori area of Osaka and the canal that runs through it.
Typical young lady attire in Japan.
A bit outlandish but I am sure it is fashionable!
Rows of opportunities to spend money on trinkets.
I have to admit they do catch your eye and attention.
Our luncheon place. Needed a place to sit down and they offered it.
No waitresses- you need to order on line. This issue was could we do it in Japanese?
At least there were pictures to show what you would be getting.
And you can edit your order before placing it.
Soon, it was delivered to your table.
That is Yvonne, Sue and me on live TV. Gerry is off on the left in the black vest. Real time images are projected onto the large LED screen of people who are walking along the street.
Watching her make a new batch of takoyaki.
Beautiful strawberries!
These are almost two inches long. Not cheap-$17!
Returned to the hotel to hear a violin. Afternoon tea.
The “mascot” for the upcoming Expo. It looks like a mochi donut to me.
Steps for the day: 11,452!
April 2, 2025: Experiencing Osaka for the First Time.
We arrived in Osaka last night, but not without a bit of drama! Turns out our flight from Seattle to Seoul left 40 minutes late. It should not have been an issue except that we also encountered head winds which increased the flight time an additional 30 minutes. As a result we landed in Seoul at 7:08PM local time and our connecting flight was scheduled to leave at 7:20! I was already figuring we would have to spend the night in Seoul. Thank goodness Asiana handled the problem nicely. As we exited the Seattle flight there were several Asiana people holding hand written large signs with passenger names for several connecting flights that were being impacted. They gathered us (about 12 headed to Osaka) and escorted us through the mandatory secondary security check (which I never understood as we have not left the secure area) and over to our waiting flight which had waited for us. Kudos to Asiana! Somehow I feel no US airline would have been so accommodating. We left 40 minutes later than the scheduled departure. And the best part was our luggage made the transfer and was waiting for us once we cleared immigration in Osaka, Japan. Our personal driver (one of the perks of the tour) was waiting to take us to our hotel in his BMW 7 series sedan, so we felt special! I sighed a big sigh of relief even though we were ultimately about an hour late from the original schedule. It was midnight (local time ) by the time we were in our room, ready for a good night’s sleep.
We are flying on Asiana Airlines, owned by South Korea, and a partner of United airlines.
The flight path from Seattle to Incheon, South Korea.
The length of the trip.
Choice of “lunch” was either western or Japanese menu. We both chose the western menu.
The Japanese menu. Although we both like bibambap we were leary of what this dish might entail.
The smoked salmon appetizer.
My tenderloin was surprisingly large and tasty.
The fruit served on board was excellent.
Part of the “snack” served prior to landing.
We had to dodge this floor cleaning robot at the Osaka immigration.
I was impressed with the “mood” lighting in our BMW series 7 limo.
Our room at the Imperial Hotel Osaka.
Could not resist using the kimono provided to the hotel guests! I may have to buy one before I leave Japan.
The view from our room. The cherry blossoms across the river were not as pink as I had expected. I later learned people favor these lighter colored varieties.
I was impressed with room amenities- heated Toto toilet, a door bell and delivered paper each morning.
The hotel goes out of its way to accommodate people in wheelchairs chairs including locating the floor buttons on another more accessible panel.
The Imperial Hotel-Osaka where we will be starting the tour from.
Looking down at one of several resturants in the hotel.
Yes, this orchid is real!
Each of the elevators had these ornate ceilings.
Fresh roses were in each elevator.
The main bouquet in the lobby is composed of real cherry blossoms, currently in bloom in the country.
Some of the sweets offered at breakfast. These donuts were excellent, as was the entire buffet.
Once settled in a new country we go to our trusted sources (Viator, Tours by Locals, TripAdvisor, Get a Guide) to find local tours to introduce us to the history and culture of places we are visiting. As I mentioned we often choose walking food tours. Another popular tour is the hop-on, hop-off bus tour, as the narrated overview of a city is one we enjoy. Because the food of Japan is fairly unique we selected to take the food walking tour here in Osaka :
We took a cab to meet our tour guide as we did not want to risk trying to figure out how to use the extensive subway system that exists in Osaka. Supposedly cabs are expensive but we found it was only around $20 to take the 15 minute ride to the location where the food tour began. Once we found our tour guide we quickly learned that we were the only 4 on the tour today, so we had a private, personalized tour.
We are embarking on a food tasting tour in Osaka.
Cartoon characters are everywhere.
This is one of many crazy flavored snacks that are extremely popular with the kids. I tried a more realistic flavor (cheese) which tasted like cheetos and Yvonne tried the corn soup which did surprisingly taste very corn like.
Visiting another snack food store. They are huge and very popular.
This gentlemen is credited with starting the famous “cup of noodles”.
Another snack store filled with product extensions (clothes, toys, etc) from their basic product line of a snack food.
Kushikatsu are deep fried food products.
Our food tour guide, Michi, modeling with a kushikatsu.
Various kushikatsu offerings.
Tuna and squash Kushikatsu.
Deep fried ice cream.
They taste better with beer!
A good luck Buddha. Rubbing his toes supposedly brings good luck.
Yvonne rubbing Buddha’s toes for good luck!
Pictures of before and after WWII bombing in Osaka.
This tower was supposed to mimic the Eiffel tower, but as you can see it did not hit the mark!
Sake is the drink of choice in Japan. They drink it warm in the winter.
These looked good!
Even with computers people still go to these arcades. 100 yen buys you about 5 minutes of play time-expensive!
This restaurant serves pufferfish which can kill you if not prepared properly. We passed….
One of the original stone streets of Osaka.
Our sample of takoyaki. We were not overly fond of them as they were gummy and had a fishy taste.
Salads of every conceivable combination.
Prepackaged bento boxes.
Freshly packaged sushi boxes for sale.
A sushi variety pack. 1100 yen is $7.49.
Covered pedestrian street malls are very common. It is a great idea in my opinion. We wish we had them in USA.
Perhaps the most popular street food is takoyaki, a fried dough filled with a small piece of octopus.
In the basement of a large department store are dozens of booths selling freshly made food products of every conceivable type. There are no places to sit and eat ; it is strictly take out. The place was impressive!
It is strawberry season and they are delicious, not like those we get in USA. Here we tried a fresh strawberry wrapped in bean paste and mochi. I could have eaten several more!
Supposedly everyone does this. This is the marketing symbol for a snack company.
Sandwiches ready to go.
We are now wandering around the Dotonbori neighborhood of Osaka. It is their famous nightlife area with restaurants and bars everywhere!
Knives of every different size and shape for sale in this knife store.
The different offerings of takoyaki.
Our first experience riding on a Japanese subway! Once we saw how to do it, it seemed pretty straightforward.
The process of making a knife blade. It often takes a month to convert a hunk of steel to the finished product.
We met our fellow travelers and tour leader later that evening for a traditional Japanese dinner at the hotel. There are 24 people on the tour- mostly Americans but 5 people from Australia, a lady from the UK, and a Canadian gentleman. One of the ladies was a former tennis pro who once beat Billie Jean King. Our tour “concierge (i.e. leader)” is Noriko Mizusawa, a lady who was born in Tokyo.
Old school (dark wood, low lighting) bar in the hotel. The manhattans were pricey but good.
The menu for group dinner at hotel.
The drink menu offered with the meal.
I ordered the cold saki. Locals told me they drink warm saki in the winter.
Tempura shrimp and vegetables.
Salad with a good dressing.
Excellent tender beef. We only wished there was more of it!
I am not a sushi fan so I skipped most of this dish.
Tomorrow we have will have tour of the Osaka city highlights.
