Visiting Osaka: Occasional Dots and Days

“How swift a place with an iota of familiarity becomes home. How wonderful.” – Old Sean

Out and Back Again

To be clear from the start, I have been lodging in Osaka for about a week now.  But that being said, I have not stayed in Osaka for the majority of those days. 

Indeed, using my rail pass, I usually spent every other day outside of Osaka exploring other cities.  However, when considering my “off-days”, Osaka is where I’ve spent the majority of my time.

I flew into Osaka from a questionable flight from Manila, where I did a lot of waiting and an equal amount of griping.  There had been a distant volcanic erruption which delayed a number of services substantially. Finally, once I arrived in Osaka, I made my way to my hostel (or hotel), known as Yolo Hotel Museum.

It’s a nice little place.  My accommodations aren’t too shabby and the water pressure in the showers is divine (my last residence in Bali was essentially a warm faucet where I took bucket baths).  The food downstairs is pretty overpriced though, so almost every day I left the hotel early to do walks and random meal hunts.

Establishing a Travel Base

My first night I went to Namba to exchange money, which is a hectic series of tourist streets and shops.  I ate some takoyaki, some crab legs, downed a bowl of ramen and did some shopping for drinks and razors at a Don Quixote shopping outlet (which is blessedly tax free and already cheap).

The following day was my first real day exploring the city, and I didn’t have my JR pass yet.  So to save money on the admittedly expensive Osaka transport system, I walked.  Everywhere.

I passed the Hozenji Temple (with the Fudo Myo-o statue blanketed in several layers of moss).  Additionally, I made a point of wandering around Dotonbori for snacks and eventually visited Mitsu Mini Park.  I ducked into a pachinko and slot parlor and promptly lost money by not knowing what the hell was going on.

I stopped at several small shrines on my way, including Ikasuri and Namba.  Eventually, I walked all the way to the Osaka station, where I went upstairs to the Pokemon Center for a nostalgic visit and finally picked up my JR Pass.

A Tourist’s Finest Friend

Ah, the JR Pass.

Thus far, the JR Pass has been a godsend of transportation, working in a wide range of cities.  This little trinket didn’t come cheap and I bought the 21 day version.  But I tallied up how much I would have had to pay out of pocket in Japan without this thing, and within the first week I would have already paid a little over $800 USD traveling back and forth from cities.

Instead, I just flash my JR pass like an agent showing off a badge on the inside of my jacket pocket and continue walking, real smooth-like.

Back at Base

After a little more time out of Osaka, I returned to check out some other portions of the city. 

I’m lodging very close to a food and novelty-item location called Tsutenkaku, a famous little niche with lots of treats and a fantastic sushi place open nearby.  It’s impossible to miss at night if you’re in the area, since the Hatachi tower blazes above anything else in that area.  Rokusen makes a mean meal of sushi right around there and there are plenty of great dessert options to follow up.

Striding on, I made it to Isshinji Temple, just north of Tennoji Park.  I should mention, this temple, while overlooking the city is also filled with numerous and gorgeous tombstones and carefully carved statues.  It’s a good place to see and tread lightly.

Heading further out, and far to the north, I visited Osaka Castle.  It’s an absolutely gorgeous building, but I came at the wrong time of the year.  The grounds were barren and often brown.  According to most of the pictures, spring brings a slash of bright cherry blossoms on every corner, while summer leaves the castle grounds a vivid emerald green and the autumn splashes everything in unyielding colors.

I should mention the castle is always worth a visit.  The interior has numerous artifacts and interesting lessons on Japanese history

Walking the castle grounds alone is a good hour or two affair.  Just be careful when reading some of the local maps, as they are oriented south on top and north on the bottom for whatever reason. 

Another Round of Osaka

I left for another day, only to return swiftly and a bit early.

I next tried to visit the Pokemon Café and a Maid Café, but I learned that you need to book these kinds of things well in advance.  I’ll be sure to try visiting both next time I’m in Osaka (since this is my point of departure back to Hohhot, China).

Finally, on a slower morning, I made a point of visiting Shitennoji, which is a lovely and impressive structure of religious significance and valid culture. Bright pagodas and temple structures with curved awnings appear to wing themselves solidly into the heavens.

However, after this (and visiting the numerous temples of Kyoto) I find myself on the usual verge of religious-icon burnout.  It’s hard to keep visiting temples, churches, mosques and giant Buddha statues after a certain amount of time in a country.  They’re always beautiful and seeped in history, but there comes a point of diminishing returns when visiting the same style and structure over and over again.

However, that about sums it up.  There were a couple nights out at some jazz clubs and a truly lovely evening involving lots of food and convenience store snacks on the way home, but I was finally winded and wiped out.

It’s time for me to get to sleep.  I’m heading to Tokyo early tomorrow to raise mischief, but I wanted to record everything Osaka before I went.

Until then,

Best regards and excellent trails,

Old Sean

Written January 24th 2020

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