We found it hard to figure out where to stay in Osaka, every neighbourhood seemed to have its pros and cons. The two main areas that attract tourists are Umeda and Namba. Namba is home to Osaka's famous Dotonbori area, shopping arcades and fun night scene... it's also extremely crowded, noisy and dirty. Umeda is know for its great transport links and dining options but on the downside, it isn't really close to many attractions as it's primarily a business district. As hotel prices were exorbitant in both areas we decided to stay somewhere else altogether: Shinsaibati East. We thought it was a good compromise as it was about 20 - 40 minutes from most places we wanted to explore and our room only cost us £40 per night. Turns out it was annoyingly far to travel from, there wasn't much around it and our cheap room was cramped and awkward to use. Wouldn't recommend.
After dropping off our bags, we hit the streets again, walking through the towering high-rises towards Nakanoshima Island. Our destination was the Nakanoshima Museum of Art, but we first decided to stop by a highly-rated bakery for some snacks. In terms of flavours, The City Bakery didn't offer the most adventurous selection by Japanese standards, but everything looked quite appealing. We chose a peanut butter cookie, a corn and blueberry muffin, and a tuna mayo croissant. Everything was delicious, but at a somewhat pricey ¥1570 it should have been.
We enjoyed our walk around Nakanoshima Island, noting the mix of architecture it had to offer. The museum of Art however, we weren't quite so enamoured by. The main exhibition when we visited was "Trio", a collection that showcased art from museums in Toyko, Osaka and Paris organised into trios that followed similar themes. Normally we enjoy wandering around art museums but for some reason we just couldn't get into it. There was art pieces that we enjoyed, (with over 150 works in the collection it would have been strange if we hadn't) but we found the curation itself to be a bit underwhelming and contrived. Maybe it was due to the overcrowding in the gallery, feeling like we were being shuffled along with the crowd unable to stop without being in the way... or maybe we're just not that into art. At ¥2100 each we felt a bit ripped off.
That evening, after finally checking into our hotel at 4pm (have I mentioned how much our hotel sucked yet?), we headed to Dotonbori, specifically to Gyozaoh - one of the few places in Japan that serves vegetarian ramen. Having dietary requirements can sometimes be challenging while travelling, especially in countries where these needs aren't always understood. For me, being vegetarian means avoiding all meat and meat-derived products (like bone broth or gelatin). In Japan, vegetarianism might be interpreted as no meat, but bone broth or animal fat is acceptable, or no red meat, but chicken is fine, making it tricky in regular restaurants. However, Gyozaoh offered vegan ramen, so I knew it was safe to try. Unfortunately, it was very popular, and we had to wait over an hour before being seated.
We were starving by the time we ordered so alongside a veggie ramen for me (¥1078) and tonkotsu ramen for Ben (¥1078) we went for some vegetarian gyoza (¥683) and a plate of deep-fried tofu with ponzu (¥495). The goyza were fine and my ramen was nice enough, if not on the bland side, but the star of the show was without a doubt the tofu. It was fresh, it was lemony and it went far too quickly. Although Ben's ramen was better than he was expecting it to be, it just wasn't worth the wait. Maybe there's a reason why vegetarian ramen is slow to take off, it's just not that good.
So both dinner and the museum were a bit of a let down, but Dotonbori was exactly how we expected it to be. Music was pumping, advert upon advert lit up the night sky in technicolour, crowds lined up to get a selfie with the famous glico man and Osaka's edgy teenagers congregated in packs to drink and smoke surrounded by hundreds of tourists.
We had a few culinary items we wanted to try whilst in Japan and the next morning we managed to tick one off the list, Japanese pancakes. There was a few cafes across the city that specialised in this particular breakfast treat and we settled on "A Happy Pancake", a chain cafe that had brilliant reviews and wasn't too far away from where we were staying. We chose to share two different types of pancakes, the first came with a milk tea sauce and granola (¥1560) and the second with a sweet cheese mousse and berry sauce (¥1480). At first the pancakes seemed strange, their fluffy texture almost melted in the mouth like a delicate soufflé and the taste had an unmistakable eggy twinge to it but once it was paired with the sauces it balanced perfectly. The tea sauce was rich and sweet and the cheese mousse was delicate compared to the tart berry sauce, all in all, delicious and thankfully expensive enough that we couldn't justify ordering more.
Next on the agenda was a visit to Shinaekai Market and the Iconic Tsutenkaku tower. This is the image that comes to mind when you think of modern Japan: layered signs, quirky sculptures jutting out over the streets, bustling walkways, cozy little restaurants, and large izakayas. What i wasn't anticipating was a small baby-like mascot seen everywhere - Billiken, a goblin meant to provide good luck. I'm unsure whether that the luck was for the tourists or the vendors trying to sell them overpriced goods. Even on a grey, overcast day the area was vibrant and teeming with crowds, it was also very obviously a tourist trap but that didn't mar our enjoyment in exploring.
The next tourist hotspot on our list was Namba Yasaka Jinja, a shinto shrine famous for its giant lion's head building. This monstrous building with its wide gaping maw is supposed to eat any negative spirits that are plaguing you, enabling you to have better luck and prosperity. Whether it works or not, it was a fascinating building to visit. I enjoyed our trip, and even with the crowds vying for the perfect photo, the atmosphere remained peaceful.
Since we hadn't eaten since our morning pancake feast, we decided to head to the nearby Kuromon Ichiba Market, a covered street-food market primarily offering sushi and wagyu beef. On our way, we stumbled upon an unusual scene. We cut through an alley into a small parking lot where a brood of chickens was being ineffectively herded by two uniformed policemen, while a small group watched with puzzled expressions. Intrigued, we joined the spectators. Eventually, when most of the chickens were safely in their coop, the senior policeman stepped back, content to watch as his colleague chased the rooster back and forth. While we were puzzled by this peculiar tableau of Japanese life, the poor man didn't seem any closer to catching the strangely cunning bird, so we left them to it and headed on our way.
Once we entered the market, a small sushi stall grabbed our attention; by using their online order form, we could request freshly made hand-roll sushi and then watch their sushi chefs, working in a tiny kitchen, prepare it for us through the window. It was slightly pricier than sushi we'd brought before at ¥500 for the tuna hand-roll and ¥700 for the wagyu, but it was worth it for the experience of it. Still slightly peck-ish I headed into Mitoya, a shop that has been selling traditional Japanese sweets in the market for the last 70 years. I had a lemon and cheese daifuku (a cold mochi filled with cream), it was insanely delicious, and I would have eaten more if I wasn't so excited for dinner.
This past year I'd discovered a new favourite food: Onigiri. It's deceptively simple, rice shaped into a triangle, with a filled centre and a crisp nori wrapper. So far i'd only had the Konbini variety, but we'd heard of Onigiri Gorichan a small restaurant nestled away in an Osaka neighbourhood that made onigiri to order - count me in. In a strange twist, I chose the more experimental options of; grilled miso and cheese onigiri (¥450) and a green onion, soy egg yolk and tuna onigiri (¥500) while Ben went for a classic tuna mayo onigiri (¥350) and a beef tendon onigiri (¥450). We were seated at a long bench that surrounded the kitchen so while we were waiting for our delicious treats we could watch the kitchen hard at work making them. As expected, they were superb and far outstripped the pre-made version.
To continue on our foodie theme, we started off the next day with a trip to two different boulangeries, "Lian" and "Gout" where we picked up some treats for an impromptu picnic overlooking Osaka Castle. In my notes I have detailed and described each of the pastries we brought, but on reflection I can condense it down to this - cake for breakfast is always good but if you're in the area Boulangerie Lian is an amazing french bakery.
Sugar consumed, we were ready to head over the moat and into Osaka castle grounds. For some reason we weren't expecting a queue to buy tickets for castle entry, but with a twenty minute wait it at least wasn't too long to stand out in the heat. The outside of the castle was impressive, gleaming white walls, green tiered roofs growing every smaller as the each floor rose above the next... the inside was a different story. It had essentially been gutted, not a single scrap of it's original and authentic wood remained but instead it was reminiscent of a typical 70's museum. I'm sure the cases of replica artefacts would have been interesting if I only could have seen through the crowds to view them, and i'm sure some of hushed reverence that old buildings normally exude would have been present if not for the tannoy announcements every two minutes reminding us all not to take photos. I hated it. It was cramped and crowded, underwhelming and overhyped. I couldn't get out of there fast enough.
With the afternoon still ahead of us, we headed over to Namba, specifically America-mura to see what it was all about. This America-centric hub in the centre of Osaka is filled with independent cafes, street art and shop after shop selling retro American brand clothes. I have to admit that the area gave off a very relaxed urban vibe. Locals and tourists both seemed to frequent the area, looking for the best buys or just taking in the atmosphere while listening to the hip-hop blaring from shop speakers. As fun as it was to wander, i was suspicious of some of the 2nd hand retro goods on offer - how likely was it that some particular items were found in multiple stores in multiple sizes. While a lot of it seemed genuine, I can imagine that some vendors were just looking to take advantage of the tourists that are drawn to the area.
While we were in the area we headed to a well know Japanese chain restaurant for lunch, CoCo Ichibanya to try a quintessential Japanese curry. Curry in Japan isn't like curry else-where. It mainly consists of a smooth sauce into which toppings are added afterwards. Ordering is simple, choose a base sauce (pork, beef), decide how much rice to go with it, select a spice level between one and twenty and lastly pick what deranged toppings sound good. Luckily for me, the America-mura branch offered a vegetarian base alongside it's normal meat based offerings. Unluckily for Ben a conservative 10 on the spice scale, rather than being mid-strength, ended up provoking a rigorous hiccup attack and intense sweating. My toppings consisted of the normal combination of spinach, aubergine and a singular tempura prawn, where ben went for pork katsu and a trio of tempura quails eggs. It was strange, but it worked.
With just a few hours of the afternoon remaining on our last day in Osaka, we just had enough time to explore one last location and to get there we would need to hop on a train. Our destination was Sumiyoshi Taisha, a Shinto shrine with the distinction of being one of Japan's oldest and most revered shrines. Established in the 3rd century, Sumiyoshi Taisha is set apart from many other Japanese shrines due to it's unique architectural style, which remains true to the Shinto practices that predate the influence of Buddhism. Unlike the later shrines that were constructed after the introduction of Buddhism, which often feature elegantly curved roofs, Sumiyoshi Taisha showcases straight, simple roofs.
As we approached the shrine complex, we were immediately struck by the vibrant colour of the buildings. The temples themselves were painted in a vivid vermilion red, a colour believed to aid protection in warding off demons and illness. The red contrasted beautifully with the lush green surroundings, a breathtaking sight especially when it came to the temples iconic Taiko Bashi bridge which spanned across one of the temple's ponds. It was easy, while staring across the calm pond water, watching inquisitive turtles gather in hope of food, to forget we were in the middle of a bustling vibrant city. The complex exuded such a feeling of peace it would have been easy to spend hours here simply taking it all in.
That feeling of peace and tranquility was soon washed away as we hopped on a tram back to the city centre. Within a few stops the tram was overrun with school children, who from the age of 5 seem to navigate the transport system all by themselves to get to and from school. It wasn't that the tram was noisy, this was still Japan after all where speaking loudly in public is highly frowned upon, it was just so crammed. We honestly considered staying on past our stop, rather than try to ease our way out, but luckily the stop before ours was popular enough that we managed to escape.
As much as I enjoyed certain aspects of our time in Osaka, I'm not sure I would go back. I was left underwhelmed by many of the attractions we visited, they were either overly crowded or just not quite what I thought they would be. I didn't particularity like the city itself either, it was dirtier than other places we'd visited so far, grungier. For the most part the tourist attractions felt like tourist traps, they were cool but gave off an inauthentic air. Maybe it's on me though, for placing too high a expectation on Osaka, to comparing to the places we'd been before. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad we went but it's now checked off our travel bucket-list and i'm fine if we don't return.
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