Osaka: A Love Letter

Osaka doesn't get enough love. When my mother and aunt came to visit me in Japan, my aunt told me, "Osaka is the ONE city you can skip in Japan." I'm here to tell you that is so, so false. Let's break down a few reasons why Osaka is so great.

5. The Airport

This may seem minor, but the Kansai International Airport is the best airport I've flown into in Japan. Customs in Tokyo involves long lines and take around an hour. Customs in KIX takes 15 minutes, tops. Once you get out of customs you cross a skywalk and are at the Japan Rail Office where you can get your Japan Rail Pass. From getting off your plane you can be on a train to your destination in about 30 minutes. The Hotel Nikko (a little pricey, but nice) is located right across a walkway from the airport, so if you are done in after you arrive there is a place to crash nearby.

4. The Food

Osaka coined the phrase "kuidaore" which literally means "eat 'til you collapse" (or "eat 'til you ruin your life"). The city is famous (or INfamous) for the dish takoyaki, fired balls of dough with pieces of octopus in the middle, and you can find these treats from many vendors across all of Japan. But Osaka is full of all kinds of deep-fried, goes-great-with-beer cuisine, including kushikatsu (anything and everything on a stick, dipped in batter and deep-fried) and okonomiyaki (sometimes compared to pizza, a mix of dough, cabbage and whatever you'd liked, fried together in a massive pile on a grill).

Tonkatsu in the underground mall

3. Bunraku

I don't have a picture for this because I haven't been to a bunraku production since college, but it is Amazing! Bunraku is traditional puppet theater. Three puppeteers control each puppet, and the plays performed are historical, much like kabuki. The puppeteers study for years to learn their craft, and it really looks like the puppets are alive. If you closely you can almost see them breathing! If you get a chance to attend, jump on it!

2. Hep 5

Hep 5 is a department store right across the street from the Hankyu Umeda Station in northern Osaka. When you walk into the store, there is a large atrium reaching up seven stories. Hanging in that atrium is A GIANT RED WHALE.

Most of the building is full of small fashion boutiques, but on the 7th floor you can buy a ticket to ride the huge ferris wheel that is built into the building itself. Last time I was there it cost 1000 yen to ride. You sit in an enclosed "pod" that even has a heated seat in the winter! It takes about 15 minutes to go all the way around, and there are great views of Osaka. The windows have map outlines drawn on so can tell what you are looking at (written in Japanese). After you get off the wheel, cruise over to the restaurants and enjoy some Italian food or a waffle cone ice cream sundae. There is also a large 2-story arcade taking up the top two floors of the building. Hep 5 used to have an ad campaign composed of posters of people covered in ketchup and the words, "You need Hep 5". INDEED.

View of a ferris wheel "pod".

Giant TETRIS

Hep 5 is located in Umeda, the northern entertainment hub in Osaka. There are a gigantic underground mall and a Mandarake located in this neighborhood, as well as the Umeda Sky Building (Japan's 12 tallest building) and a Yodobashi Camera (large electronics store).

1. The People

People in Osaka are (in general) incredibly friendly. I've had people yell at me out of windows to say hello, cab drivers who go waaaay above and beyond in helping me get around, restaurant servers who go the extra mile to help a lost tourist, just a string of amazing encounters in this city. Although I prefer to live in smaller towns, Osaka is the one big city in Japan that I could see myself living in happily. There are many more reasons to love it than the ones I've listed here, but a big shout out to all the Osakans livin' and lovin in that fair metropolis. <3