12 Hours in Osaka
We just got home from a week long trip to Japan and I am so excited to write about our experience! I wanted to do a daily social media dump recapping each day and started out strong for all of 1 day. The 20K+ step count is no joke! That being said, I’m really excited to share some of what we did on our trip. This post is all about our 12 hours in Osaka.
And yes, 12 hours was WAY too short for Osaka! We barely scratched the surface and knew we had to prioritize what we wanted to see and do. In a way, this was a little bit freeing. Knowing that there was no way for us to do everything made us pick and choose only the things that were most important to us. A lot of times, I’ll get to a new city and feel so overwhelmed and the Type A part of me only feels like I’ve done it “right” when I’ve put a nice check next to every single top attraction listed on Tripadvisor. On this trip, knowing that wasn’t even an option felt so … liberating.
We started the day strong with an early morning at the Kansai Washington Hotel. This hotel was perfect for us - we landed late in the evening at Kansai and only had to ride one stop on the subway before crashing for the evening. We took advantage of their provided in room kettle and the drip coffee packets for a caffeine boost before heading into the downtown area. Since we knew we would be taking the train to Kyoto later that evening, we headed straight to Temmabashi Station to stash our luggage for the day.
We found a very affordable coin luggage storage at Temmabashi Station, but it only accepted 6 ¥100 coins and this early in our journey we had ¥1,000 notes but very few coins. 3 trips to the convenience store later, we finally had the right combination of coins to store our luggage!
At this point we were starving and headed down the street for some unagi. Igaki 伊賀喜 was highly rated and it did not disappoint! This was probably the best eel I’ve ever had! They did only take cash which was a bit of a bummer given it was on the pricier end, but no regrets because it was absolutely delicious. There was no wait and the shop owners were so kind and patient with our minimal Japanese. The portions were really generous and I highly recommend upgrading to the slightly larger eel serving.
After lunch we were feeling the fatigue so we went for a caffeine boost at SOT COFFEE ROASTER - Osaka Temmabashi. It was cozy with lots of upstairs seating and we had two very tasty lattes. We were in good company as foreigners and overheard lots of other tourists discussing their plans for the day! Once we were caffeinated, we began our walk to Osaka Castle. We got so lucky with the timing of this trip and the autumn foliage! The weather was sunny, breezy, and the trees were absolutely stunning.
I had always wanted to visit Osaka Castle, but nothing could have really prepared me for how beautiful the entire castle grounds were. All of the gates, the surrounding water, trees, park, and castle were so meticulously cared for. We even spotted a groundskeeping crew trimming individual needles off of the pine trees in front of the entrance! We left a good bit of time to walk all the way around the castle and over Gokuraku-bashi Bridge which I highly recommend.
From there we took the subway to Dotonbori to get a picture with the Glico Sign and try out some street food. One of my favorite things we stumbled across while exploring the many winding side streets and alleyways was the Hozen-ji Temple 法善寺. It was totally hidden away from the hustle and bustle and we took a minute to pray and pour water over the moss covered statue of Fudō Myō-ō.
Our last meal of the day was my partner’s much requested ramen. He decided he didn’t want to look up any reviews, he just wanted to walk by stores and decide based on the menu and the feel. We ended up at a small ramen shop Sakunosaku Ramen 作ノ作 千日前本店 that had a cash only ticket machine outside that you used to place your order before going inside and sitting at the bar. The broth was rich and spicy and the noodles were perfectly cooked! My only regret was not ordering an egg!
As it was getting late, we headed back to Temmabashi Station to take the train to Kyoto and ended up doing a little bit of shopping at the Daiso before we headed out. Our 12 hours in Osaka went by way too quickly and we managed a step count of 18K. I loved the energy and wish we had been able to spend another day, but all that means is we will have to go back! For our first day in Japan, this was a wonderful if not very busy day. I can’t wait to share more of our adventures - next stop is Kyoto!