Japan – Osaka

Know a little about Osaka’s past to know its present.

Osaka is the third biggest city in Japan (after Tokyo and Yokohama) with just under 3 million inhabitants. However, in reality the greater urban area that adjoins the city limits is huge at around 19 million – no small place to visit!

Osaka is regarded as the site of the first inhabitants of Japan, who arrived from the Korean peninsular over 9,000 years ago. Its inlet sea and bay were a perfect place to settle.

It’s been a big conurbation for a long time. From 300AD it was considered an important city and area with a well-established and most important port in the whole of Japan. It was even the national capital in the 7th and 8^th Centuries. The oldest Buddhist Temple in Japan dating from 893 AD is here – I visited it and is included later on in this post. The city’s old name was Naniwa.

From the 1600 it was regarded as a major cultural and political hub and exerted great influence over the region and even the country. Its trade in rice was so huge that those companies even formed loan institutions, had massive storehouses and invented the world’s first futures market – selling rice that was not yet harvested.

By the 1880s it was virtually the prima donna industrial, financial, economic and political centre of Japan.

Over the centuries legend has it that its inhabitants gained a reputation for being thrifty, individualistic and vulgar. Many Japanese outsiders still regard the inhabitants as such – I personally never found this so.

Like Tokyo, Osaka being such an important industrial are it was heavily bombed during WW2. Three particularly heavy bombing raids, just before Japan surrendered, manged to destroy over half of the city – over 30 square miles of buildings. Hence now why it is such a modern looking city.

Today its 3 million population live in one of the most built-up urban areas in the world.  It is listed as the fifth most expensive city in the world to live in and has the tallest building in all of Japan.

Where I stayed in Osaka

As usual I did my thorough research for a place to stay. I knew hotels in Japan are expensive so was ready to accept a lower class of hotel than I was used to in order to stay within my budget. to get a decent price.

Luckily, I found that hotels were cheaper here than in Tokyo but a bit more than what I paid for in Hiroshima. I knew that I was going to spend the vast majority of the time out of the hotel on my packed itinerary, returning late each eve just to sleep.

The usual big-name hotels were here in Osaka but I found several hotels that were within my price range and they were all 3 star (I usually try for 4 stars or above). One in particular caught my eye. It was 4 star with some agencies but 3 with others. It had a lot of reviews and most were glowing in their recommendations. The price was cheap for Japan so I had my reservations about the quality. The pics were great and it was in a fabulous location. I crossed my fingers and booked it

Via Inn Abeno Tennoji Osaka

It was an excellent choice.

Click here for hotel website 

Its location was literally on the same street as the tallest building in Japan (and that was definitely on my list of places to visit!). It was next to a major transport hub for buses, Metro and trains and had a big shopping/eatery Mall next door. My concern was that it was next to a busy road but the double glazing actually meant I heard nothing of the traffic despite my room facing it on the 15^th floor. I am a light sleeper so road traffic etc is always a concern, but here it was silent.

The hotel is extremely modern and looks like it was built in the last couple of years – a little quirky on the outside too. At street level I found the entrance to be more like a wide entrance to a high storey block of flats which at first threw me as to the eventual quality. The entrance however is modern and inviting and is just the ground floor element as you enter straight into lifts and the actual hotel lobby is on the eigth floor.

I stepped out into a wonderfully modern, stylish, airy, glass-paned, huge atrium, overlooking the park behind the hotel. Floor to ceiling windows let light flood in and it at first looked like a good 5 star lobby hotel – had I arrived at the wrong one?

The reception staff saw me exit the lift and immediately bowed, even though they were some way from me – very inviting! They spoke excellent English and the check -in was a breeze. They explained the breakfast arrangements over in the next-door huge, open=plan seating eating area with the fabulous views and pointed out the amenities desk

This is something that I have only ever seen in Japan and my other Japanese hotels had them too. Here are all the in-room things you need and you can take what you need and refill whenever you need more. The room has a first supply and you top up each day by taking anything you need back to your room. Shower caps, soaps, slippers, combs, toothbrushes etc etc.

Such an efficient way to avoid waste and an easy way to refill anything extra you need each day.

The room was modern. clean although a little on the small side for me. All Japanese rooms are quite compact and that is the norm. I was getting used to this and my third hotel of my Japanese leg of the long trip reconfirmed that theory.

It was however very efficient in its layout. The sofa was a long high-backed chaise long that was adjacent to the window. You could lay and look out through the windows but also watch tv from there. The desk had numerous sockets – great for all my recharging needs and the bed very comfy. The bathroom was compact again but totally functional and very modern and clean.

For the cheap price I was paying this was excellent. The reality was that if you found the room a bit small you simple went to the massive glass walled lobby/lounge area that had lots of tables and chairs to relax in. I did this several times and used my laptop there in comfort and ease.

The breakfast is served in this area too and it was superb. Plenty of variety and they were expert at keeping everything topped up so nothing ever ran out, even at the end of service.

There was a log table against the floor to ceiling windows with stools if you wanted to eat breakfast and look out over the city to the distance. A wonderful way to start the day. The view is also of Tennoji Park opposite and it gave a totally green and open feel to the view. The City’s Fine Arts Museum and Zoo is located inside it too which you can see from above. I loved this hotel’s massive public areas.

Once in the room I just had to look out of my window. I had a cityscape view of the skyscrapers opposite and along the road. I’m a city boy and so am used to this type of view and it just reinforced further that I was in a metropolis of tall buildings.

In fact …… I looked to my left and could see the tallest building in Japan just 200 meters away on my street. It was so tall that I could not see the top as the overhang of the above balcony just nipped off the summit but I was impressed with the view anyhow. That was clearly going to be my first stop today.

I noticed a laminated notice placed strategically on my bed so that I could not miss it. Realising it must be important by the way it was placed there, I picked it up to read it. The first line read “in case of earthquake”. What!!?

I had totally forgotten that I was in an earthquake zone and this leaflet was explaining what to do if one happened. I’ve never experienced an earthquake before (although later on in my trip that would change), so was at first shocked – could it actually happen, but then I felt relieved. I knew Japan’s building standards were the highest in the world to counter an earthquake. As this was a modern building it would supposedly withstand the shock.

Later that night, just before I went to sleep, I reread the leaflet as to what to do, just to be on the safe side!

Abeno/Tennoji transport hub

The Osaka train Loop line runs through it so it effectively connects you to most of the city. It’s a circle line that circumvents the central area but goes through Osaka central station (not the Shinkansen bullet train station though).

Here also is Tennoji train station which is a main line station where intercity and local trains stop.

There is also Abenobashi train station next door for local trains, and to top it all there is Tennoji Metro station where two lines of the underground system interchange.

It is thus a major transport hub and I used it daily to get to anywhere I wanted to get to. I even got trains direct from here to Kyoto when I did my commute to that city for visits.

If you want a hotel area that is well connected to the transport systems (and actually quite near several important sites), then this is the area to stay.

Abeno Harukas building

Abeno Harukas is a 300 metre high skyscraper above Osaka Abenobashi Station. It is 60 storeys tall with its observation deck taking up floors 58-60 and opened in 2014.

I was headed to the observation deck but the set-up is somewhat confusing if you aren’t aware of it.

On the ground and lower floors is one of Japan’s biggest dept stores. A high-end store full of every commercial item you can think of, exquisitely merchandised.

So, you go in and take the lifts to the 16^th floor, as between the store and the 16^th floor are offices. Once on the 16^th floor you will find the ticket booths for the ride up to the Harukas 300 observation deck. The lines can be long, even on quiet days but I found them very fast moving and didn’t really notice the waiting time.

On the 16^th floor there is also a large open-to-the-elements garden with seating, trees, hedges and views over the city. The gardens are free to enter and if you don’t want to pay the 1500 yen (about £10) for an observation ticket, or don’t have a head for height, you may find this is enough for you.

There is also an art museum here for that culture hit before you ascend to the tower’s top.

Go to the large ticket booth area, buy your ticket and you will be marshalled in groups into waiting lifts to the 58^th floor. Between the 16^th and 58^th floor is a huge Marriott Hotel and yet more offices.

Once at the top you get out and are greeted with the huge picture windows with the colossal views over the city and beyond to the mountains.

Click here for ticket, hours etc info on the Abeno Harukas 300 Observation Deck.

On my visit the air was a bit hazy so I didn’t get the best views possible but it was still impressive. The main elevated roads were clear to see and if I looked down, I could also see my hotel nearby.

The views were unexpectedly of quite low-rise buildings in many areas. Osaka has some skyscrapers but they are restricted to certain areas. The urban sprawl just seemed to go on forever to the horizon and I realised I was looking at the houses of most of the 19 million people in the greater Osaka area.

One section of the Observatory has glass walls with walkways that look down into a central internal patio area of seating. It was interesting to walk round this area seeing a drop on either side.

I went into the toilets and was not expecting floor to ceiling windows in the men’s urinals section – a bit different! It was also near Xmas time and there was a snowman and Xmas tree decorating one area of the public seating section, something I wasn’t expecting to see.

There is a café here and even a restaurant on another level.

There are other levels and you can take the stairs between them to see views from another level, However, my thought was, what could be so different from another storey when I am already 59 storeys high in the air.

From one side I could see two places that I was to visit the next day. They looked so close but the reality is the furthest was about 2 kilometres away.

The afternoon was getting on and as I descended, I decided to walk around the shopping and commercial area below and around the major road junction here. Lots of restaurants, cafes, shops, electrical stores and even supermarkets.

I browsed the inside of many and in one store bought a few snacks for later in my room while I relaxed and watched tv after a shower.

First day was done and I was tired after my journey from Hiroshima to get here in the afternoon. I was also acutely aware that tomorrow was my penultimate day in this fascinating and amazing country called Japan and I was genuinely already wishing I could stay longer.

The people here are so courteous and polite, everywhere is clean and pristine and I loved the totally organised/efficient way of life they have but still with the quirky fun of “Hello Kitty” and bento boxes of food.

Shitennoji Buddhist Temple

There are a few interesting facts surrounding the Temple, so let’s explore that first.

It is regarded as the first Buddhist Temple in the country and also the oldest surviving Temple of any religion in Japan. It was constructed in 593 AD on orders from Prince Shotoku, who was attempting to establish Buddhism in the country. That makes it some 1,428 years old – quite a feat!

Ok, most of it is not actually original, as it met with several catastrophes over the centuries but each time it was reconstructed in the exact same style and shape as before, the most recent being in 1963.

Another interesting fact – it was not originally constructed by Japanese builders. The Prince contracted three carpenters from what is now South Korea to build it. Buddhism was not a popular religion at the time and thus people from strong Buddhist countries were needed to create the style needed.

Want another interesting fact! Well, one of those carpenters went on to create his own building company called Kongo Gumi. That same company was contracted to build Osaka Castle in the 16^th Century – it had survived for over 1,000 years,

There’s more – that company still exists today, although as a subsidiary of another major construction company since 2004. It is regarded as the world’s oldest surviving, independent company …. It’s a record breaker!

The Temple’s name means “Four Heavenly Kings” – taken from Buddhist mythology and is famed for its symmetrical design, enclosed by four high rectangular walls.

Three gates lead through to the central enclosure, but as you enter look out for the scary Guardians. There are two brightly coloured sentries with evil faces intended to ward off wrongdoers.

Once inside you are presented with a fabulous five storey pagoda building holding sacred relics and statues.

For a fee you can climb the steep narrow steps to the top of the pagoda for a view over the complex.

There is also a large square pavilion that you can enter and see the highly painted interior (although quite dark inside).

There is also a huge lecture Hall along the wall of one side with religious iconography installed too.

There is not a lot to see externally, although the colour and design of the buildings certainly are impressive. Most of the main attractions are inside the dimly lit buildings. Worshippers are around you as you enter and leave and there is a request not to take photos, hence my lack of interior ones.

As you leave by the left-hand gate, you realise how huge the gate is, after you go through and look back at its very ornate exterior facade.

In this small square sits further buildings (one a café) and there is a large statue of a wandering Shinran saintly monk with a huge domed hat.

The setting of this ancient Temple is quite surprising. Around it are modern buildings, some around 19 storeys high that actually overlook the Temple grounds. It’s almost as if the Temple has been lifted entirely from somewhere else and placed in a vacant square piece of land between these edifices.

My next visit was some distance away and a walk would be long and tiresome and I didn’t have a lot of time today with my packed itinerary. I retraced my steps back 10 mins to Tennoji and caught the JR train (using my JR Rail Pass), to a stop just outside the entrance to what I wanted to see.

Osaka Castle

This is probably the most famous castle in Japan and its tower is one of the most photogenic buildings in the city.

It was completed in 1597 by a local warlord on the site of a conquered clan’s temple. It encompasses a square kilometre and at the time was the biggest castle in Japan. It was later conquered by another warlord, who expanded and extended the complex.

This reconstruction from 1620 still stands today, mainly the massive interlocking granite boulders of the defensive moat walls. The tower burned down after a lightning strike in 1665 and after further, destructive civil rebellions and fires the castle fell into disrepair.

In 1868, the castle was taken over again and turned into an armoury and arsenal for the Japanese army. It was thus a major target still in WW2 due to its armaments production and American bombing destroyed most of the site.

Since then, the site has been fully reconstructed and in 1997 a copy tower of the castle was finished and opened. It is beautiful from the outside and you’d never know that the interior has a concrete frame and lifts operate to each floor.

The entrance I took in (there are several to the grounds), lead me along what would have been the winding pathway through the defensive walls. I was well aware that anyone walking this route in the day would be susceptible from fire from high above the canyon-like walls.

Then having to negotiate defensive bridges means this would not have and easy place to assail.

The walkway ends in an open plain with majestic views up to the tower in front of you.

You can go inside the castle tower but having done so in two previous castles, I declined. I felt a bit “view from castle tower” fatigued by now No doubt the views would have been great of the skyscrapers just across the way from the site but I could see these at ground level, so didn’t really see the point.

To one side of the square is a strange, for Japan, styled building. It’s almost Gotham city/gothic like. Topped by battlements it used to be a city Museum and I even read at one point was an army HQ when the castle was a armoury factory, employing several thousand workers.

Now it is a wedding venue. It does have a rooftop bar/restaurant and inside is another café, a grocery store, shops, offices and a souvenir shop.

I just had to get a pic of the “Hello Kitty” manikin advertising the sale of these unique Japanese gifts.

Further along was a Temple with a Tori and statues and a couple of other buildings in traditional style. Not important buildings as such but I loved their designs and arrangements.

That was basically the castle done!

The rest was just wandering the grounds to see the moat, lookout posts on the walls, the thickness of the massive walls and the general ambience. I wandered for about an hour through various other gates and small pretty tree-lined avenues and gateways.

Here the site is really a massive outdoor visual experience rather than a museum/display/interior one. It was impressive in its scale and restoration (mostly recent though).

I did feel somewhat that I had seen it all before. The Tokyo, Hiroshima and Kyoto castle were all very similar to this one so the ability for this one to impress me more was, I admit, limited.

My next stop was a little bit further away than I would normally walk and with my JR Rail Pass at the ready, I was able to catch the train again.

J R trains run in cities almost like a Metro underground system. Nearby was a JR station which meant I travel one stop, get off, catch another train in another direction for two stops and I am at my next site to visit – easy.

Osaka Shinto Shrine

The name seems rather plain in English but that it how it referred to everywhere.

In Japanese, locals call it the Osaka Tenmangu Shrine or Tenjisan for short. It is dedicated to Sugawara Michizane, one of the greatest scholars, poets and politicians of Japan’s Heian Period (794 to 1185 AD).

It was originally constructed in 949 AD and whilst what you see here is mainly from 1845 after several destruction, it is uniquely atmospheric.

It is surrounded by residential buildings and when you start to look for it, after passing small shopping malls and housing blocks, you do begin to wonder if you are in the right place. Suddenly you turn a corner and there is this ancient-looking wooden decorative gateway with religious icons and items adorning its surroundings.

Pass through the high gate and you are into a huge inner court that is eerily quiet. In fact, at several points I was the only person looking around.

You can wander anywhere and there are so many small Tori structures and more miniature shrines and buildings. The main temple building looks as if semi-ready to hold big events and this is because in July every year the Tenjin Matsuri Festival is held here.

It is Osaka’s biggest religious festival and one of the top three in all of Japan. It is a huge boat festival and the city comes alive to its music, processions and performances. Nothing like that today, as I had missed that all by several months but I could see now why the courtyard would need to be so big to hold that number of amassed celebrants.

I loved the plethora of small and big buildings, inscriptions and displays written all in Japanese so I had no idea what they were proclaiming

The quantity of small tombs, adornments, huge paper lanterns and granite stick blocks with inscriptions certainly told me that this place was important and I loved its serenity.

I got all the photos I wanted and still only managed to see around 5 other people here the whole 40 mins I wandered around. A nice little gem of a place that actually was worth the detour.

To get to my next destination it was only a 10 mins walk down the road and over one of the many bridges that traverse the rivers of Osaka.

Nakanoshima Rose Garden

This is something quite unique in any major city and probably even more so in a Japanese high-rise metropolis.

The island is akin the Ile-de-la-cite in Paris ie a long sliver of land in the middle of a fast flowing river, right in the centre of the city.

It is a 500 metre long area that contains 4,000 rose bushes in 89 varieties. It is laid out formally with grassy verges and concrete walkways throughout and has sweeping views of the mega-structures that line the river banks.

Nearby is a statue – I believe it commemorates Japanese victories in the Olympics, judging by the design but as it was all in Japanese, I could not be sure

Standing here is somewhat surreal as you are clearly in a flat low-lying island covered in greenery with a feeling that the shadows of the adjacent buildings are drowning you out. Shout and you feel there should be an echo.

In Summer the bushes are a riot of thousands of colourful blooms and office workers spend their lunchtimes here in peace (despite the crowds). Today however, on a foggy November day it was almost deserted, a little cold and devoid of the mass of blooms – but I have a good imagination!

What I did notice, and again somewhat unique to Japan, was a large noticeboard. On it was the layout and designation of the island as a refuge point in the event of an earthquake.

Further along the island are a set of administration and public buildings – the Central Library, City Hall, Bank of Japan and a red bricked Public Convention Hall. They are set around small embankments for pedestrians to wander the waterside and take in the views.

Taking a look at the nearby buildings it was fairly certain that if these building came down in a disaster, they would probably not reach the central island. How you got off the island if the bridges collapsed, I don’t know.

Osaka Sreetscene

I have talked about Osaka being a skyscraper city, remember that it actually has the tallest building in Japan here. Well, just to give you an impression of what I mean here are a few random pics of buildings as I traversed the city.

They tend to be rather hefty fingers of concrete and glass, although every now and again a more imaginative design leaps out.

One building did catch my eye. It had somehow managed to get a sculpture of three dogs in a basket attached high up on the wall. The dogs were looking down on everyone as if wandering what was happening. Quite a way to break up the monotony of the edifices …. Or were they advertising that the building was a dog sanctuary … who knows!

Japanese food anyone?

Something that I again found unique to Japan was displays of the menu outside restaurants.

There was always a menu to see the list of items and prices but in the larger café, shopping Mall types of eateries there would often be examples of the dishes.

Now these were clearly dummy models (and not actual food) but the models were so realistic. They would be arranged with all the items you get on a set menu or just a plethora of examples of single plates with the price on them.

For me this was an excellent way of seeing what I would be getting. Often, even with an English translation I had no idea what the food would actually be like and presented.

Here I could see exactly the items and style and they even came with a number attached so you could go in and order e.g. number 107 without the problem of not speaking Japanese – easy and so efficient. Japanese order at its best.

Leaving Japan

On my last day I had a morning flight from Kansai Osaka airport.

Yet again, with my hotel being a few mins walk from Tennoji train station I had an easy trip there. A train goes quite regularly from the station, direct to Kansai airport. Yet again with my JR Rail Pass I could use that line for free – this Pass has been a lifesaver in costs and I was so glad of buying it.

I caught my train, which in true Japanese style left and arrived exactly on time and the trip itself was great.

A modern train that sped over the huge sea causeway out to the man-made island on which the airport is built.

Once on board my flight to Taipei in Taiwan I could look out and catch a glimpse of the airport island as we ascended into the sky.

Goodbye Japan, it has been a blast. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of my stay in this amazing country. I was more than impressed with the impeccable courtesy and natural politeness of the people, the efficiency of everything and the real difference of culture I experienced. I’ve seen enough pagodas, temples and castle towers to last me a lifetime and am very glad for it!

This is one country I would dearly love to revisit some day and explore so much more of the country.

Nov 2017

Below are some related posts on nearby places to visit. Click on the pic to view.