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YoungBuck · Joined: 18 Mar 2005 Posts: 82 Location: Hangzhou, China

I'll be in Osaka for 2 weeks with a $1000 Canadian budget. I'll be visiting friends and they asked me what I wanted to see. But with every website I've seen claiming their city is "best, I'd rather just ask you guys. Suggestions Question

earthmonkey · Joined: 18 Feb 2005 Posts: 188 Location: Meguro-Ku Tokyo

Hi.
I don't live in Osaka, but I have one tip. I went there last summer. I was at the station looking for a map and found the tourist information office. There, I dicovered the Osaka day pass. Not sure exactly about that name. It's a package of tickets to about 10 or so local attractions. It includes Osaka Castle, the tower (forgot the name, but cool), a couple of museums, and some other stuff. Also includes a 1 day subway pass. All for about 2,000 yen, very cheap. It's a great deal if you go to even 3 or so of the places.

Enjoy!

PAULH · Joined: 28 Jan 2003 Posts: 4672 Location: Western Japan

YoungBuck · Joined: 18 Mar 2005 Posts: 82 Location: Hangzhou, China

hmm, not particularly encouraging, but thanks anyways Cool

abufletcher · Posted: Tue Dec 27, 2005 9:39 am Post subject:

I'm basically with Paul on this. Two weeks in Osaka is probably about 10 days too long. Still if you the Japan you want to see if the big city "Blade Runner-ish" vision on the future, Osaka is a much better bet than more traditional Kyoto.

If it were me, I'd probably want to be spending 2-3 days max in Osaka itself and then making side trips to Kobe, Kyoto, Nara, and Himeji (for the best castle in Japan). Kobe and Osaka are essentially connected cities and Kobe's Sannomiya station is only a 390 yen train ride away from Osaka's central Umeda station.

PAULH · Joined: 28 Jan 2003 Posts: 4672 Location: Western Japan

If you have the cash, I would recommend a day trip to the Atomic Bomb Peace museum in Hiroshima and if you have a night or two to spare you might want to try these in Okayama, between Hiroshima and Kobe

http://www.harenet.ne.jp/villa/

recommended if you want to see the 'real' Japan.

Hoser · Joined: 19 Mar 2005 Posts: 694 Location: Toronto, Canada

Ughh. Shrines, shrines and more shrines. That's the only thing the japanese can ever reccommend. I feel like telling them that shrines are boring. Oh well, I suppose if I ever run into any Japanese tourists back in Canada I'll return the favour and tell them to head on down and check out my local Catholic church and if that doesn't satiate them, the Presbyterian one and the Baptist one down the street.

abufletcher · Posted: Tue Dec 27, 2005 10:34 pm Post subject:

I feel the same way. Pretty much anything officially designated as a "sight" in most guidebooks is boring! If you've seen one shrine, you've seen them all. An hour of people watching in Namba is MUCH more interesting!

This is the primary value of Osaka. It's a big city, like any other big city, and therefore there are a lot of people to watch.

Gordon · Joined: 28 Jan 2003 Posts: 5309 Location: Japan

wintersweet · Posted: Wed Dec 28, 2005 12:09 am Post subject:

Osaka seemed to me like the kind of place where you really need a local friend/guide to enjoy yourself--it's renowned for good food and such, but I was hesitant to just pick places at random. (Next time I'll be more adventurous.) I agree with the suggestions of visiting other conveniently-located towns and cities. If you go west, check out Kurashiki. Walking from the canal area to the Ivy Square area, there are dozens of tiny artisan shops and small museums, including a nifty mechanical music/automaton museum. It's a neat place which I enjoyed a lot. You might also check out the Kansai Places section at Quirky Japan: http://www.quirkyjapan.or.tv/kansai.htm

Rorschach · Joined: 25 Mar 2004 Posts: 130 Location: Osaka

I agree with the general sentiment in this thread, Osaka is not a good sightseeing city. If you are into shopping Umeda would be the best place to go. The most attractive part of Osaka would have to be the Business Park but it isn't geared towards tourism. Den Den Town is okay if you know what you want but you can wander around down there for hours and accomplish nothing. The Osaka Castle Park is worth seeing, it's quite an impressive park no matter where you are from. To see the best of Kansai you have to get out of Osaka though. My personal favourite is Kobe - nice looking with some good hikes and mountain onsens. Another would be Wakayama. Very scenic train ride with some half decent beaches. If you want to see a nice part of Kyoto that hasn't yet been swamped by tourists I'd check out Uji and Byoudoin Temple (temple on the 10 yen coin). Very beautiful small town.

gaijinalways · Joined: 29 Nov 2005 Posts: 2279

I'd do Kyoto's Sagano, which has a lot of smaller temples with bamboo forests. The fabled bridge really is not attractive, just a concrete monester, but the surrounding areas are nice. Also there are some temples near Kyoto, and a monestery on a mountain that can be a half day trip out. Also you should check out Gion, where you can see maiko and geisha if you're lucky. Kyomizudera is spectacular at night, one of my favorite spots in Kyoto.

Osaka is famous for Takoyaki and Okonomiyaki, musts for visiting this Kansai area locale.

Himeji is worth seeing, personally, I didn't find Kuroshiki that great, though it is pretty if it is not too crowded.

parrothead · Joined: 02 Nov 2003 Posts: 342 Location: Japan

You don't have to limit yourself to Kansai. Two weeks is plenty of time to visit places like Shikoku (take a ferry through the inland sea to Matsuyama) or even Kyushu (Beppu's onsen are worth checking out. Take an overnight ferry). Both places are less expensive than Osaka as well.

gaijinalways · Joined: 29 Nov 2005 Posts: 2279

True, but long distance transport in Japan tends to be expensive, though buses are cheaper, but hard on the body if the ride is long depending on the traffic.

Zzonkmiles · Joined: 05 Apr 2003 Posts: 309

If you're coming to Osaka and are looking for special places to visit as a tourist, I will agree with the other posters in that Osaka is not really a good place for tourists to visit.

However, Osaka is the third largest city in Japan (after Tokyo and Yokohama), so there are lots of things to do in terms of entertainment. You just won't find many "touristy" things to do. But if you insist, these are the places I'd recommend checking out in Osaka:

Osaka Castle and its surrounding park
Umeda and nearby Kitashinchi--upscale entertainment districts with many bars and clubs, some of which are "private"
Namba/Nipponbashi and the Namba Walk--good shopping there, trendy place for teens and 20-somethings to hang out
Shinsaibashi (just north of Namba)--primary entertainment area for the younger crowd
The aquarium and huge ferris wheel in Tempozan (Osakako)
The Modern Transportation Museum in Bentencho (if you're into trains)
Osaka Noodles City in Namba (the Namba Parks shopping area)--it's not a museum, but it does have many shops showcasing different types of ramen from all over Japan
The shotengai in Tsuruhashi (lots of Koreans there, and a lot of them own restaurants)
Shitennoji Temple--maybe the nicest temple in the entire city, but it's small
There's also a Hard Rock Cafe in Hommachi if you're into that

If you're looking for more outdoors-type activities, I agree with the other posters who recommended the surrounding cities and suburbs, such as Kyoto (though it has A LOT of tourists), Nara (far slower paced than Osaka, has lots of deer), Takarazuka (they have a performing arts theater there), Himeji (has a beautiful castle), and Wakayama (near the beach). Kobe is a medium sized city about 25 minutes from Osaka by express train and has a good balance of size, convenience, entertainment, and nature. Lots of music clubs and bars there too.