Ooooo-saka

How many blog posts have started with us arriving somewhere absolutely knackered? Well you can add one more to the list! After a sleepless night due to illness the night before, followed by a 1.30am flight the day after, we arrive in Osaka deprived of rest and borderline delusional! Alex has done her homework though and guides us to the subway station to get from the airport to Osaka central. Of course we need to use cash to buy the tickets and seeing an ATM behind the subway barriers I ask a policeman (in an oversized uniform and wearing delicate white gloves and a blue cap) if we can go through to withdraw cash. “Oh! Not here. Over there.” He says, gesturing back towards the airport. His outfit and manner reminding me of numerous Nintendo titles and due to lack of sleep I feel like I’m in a video game.

Eventually we make it into Osaka central and as we walk around one of Japan’s most famous and largest cities, we feel a slight sense of unease. It’s a Sunday morning in the heart of a city and there are plenty of people milling around, including the occasional cosplay dresser but something is different. It is completely silent, you could hear a pin drop. Pedestrians obediently wait in line at crossings for the green man to show, even when there isn’t a car in sight. The lights change and more police (again in oversized uniforms) gently wave people across the road. No one shouts, no shrill whistles, no hordes of scooters beeping at you as they drive through red lights, just quiet tranquility. It is also immaculately clean and tidy. After the noisy chaos of Latin America and South East Asia this is quite the change of scene.

After a quick breakfast we head up to Namba Mall, one of many malls in Japan but this one has a unique feature, a landscaped garden on its stepped rooftop. We wander through the green leaves in the cool air and even feel a spot of rain or two, it’s most welcomed after melting every minute in Vietnam. We find a couple of chairs under the shelter of a tree and feeling exhausted and still under the weather I grab a few minutes of sleep. Alex is keen to explore and offers to meet me back here so I can grab more precious sleep, it’s tempting but I’ve been looking forward to Japan for a long, long time, sleep can wait. Almost immediately I’m glad I chose to explore as we stumble on the bizarre spectacle of a J-Pop band performing on a small rooftop stage. They’re in full costume and make-up and although they continuously cut out, there is a loud sound system too. Only a dozen or so people are sat watching them but the performers give it their all as they belt out high energy and expertly choreographed tunes. At the end of their first song we expect the locals to clap or cheer but there is just a deafening silence. The Westerners exchange awkward glances. This happens a couple more times before they finish their set with a graceful bow, now the locals burst into applause. That must be how it works here!

Moving on, curiosity gets the better of us and we follow the flow of cosplayers until we reach a street full of people in elaborate costumes from their favourite anime series. It seems there is a special event on today and the city is filled with anime, manga and video game characters. We follow the crowds until the streets are packed with people and yet again you could hear a pin drop, it’s quite eerie!

With Alex’s expert navigating we are soon in the shadow of the Tsutenkaku Tower and find a fried chicken place to stop for some lunch and rest. Eventually we can finally check-in to our Airbnb at 4pm and immediately crash into bed for a much needed nap.

Castle in the Sky

We start the day with a visit to Osaka castle. Perched well above the ground on a plinth of huge stones, the castle is elevated for defensive purposes but this also means it is visible from quite far away.

Construction or the castle began in 1583 by order of Toyotomi Hideyoshi. In 1597 construction was completed, Hideyoshi died the year after. The castle passed to his son, Toyotomi Hideyori.

In 1660, lightning ignited the gunpowder warehouse and the resulting explosion set the castle on fire!

For lunch, we follow Karl’s (one of Alex’s friends) suggestions of a sushi restaurant in a shopping mall in the city center. I’m not joking when I say it takes us almost an hour to find the place within the mall. It’s a very odd layout where most of the mall is only two stories while the part we need is on the fifth, buried away towards the back. After much despair we finally find the place and while it is open there is not another soul inside. Eventually a staff member spots us and sits us down. The chef comes out from the kitchen and hands us a basic menu seemingly just for dumb tourists like us. We point to a couple of platter options and await our fate. Most of the sushi is palatable at best with the chef watching us ominously over our shoulder to ensure we are enjoying it. Alex bravely swallows down the salmon eggs which explode an intense fishy liquid into your mouth on each pop while I appear to have saved the worst until last, sea urchin. I enjoy most food but this thing is horrid, tasting like a stagnant rock pool I have to switch my brain off detecting any taste while trying not to grimace with the chef watching on. I will have to thank Karl for his suggestion the next time I see him!

That evening, we head out to try Okonomiyaki, another one of Karl’s recommendations but hopefully a better one. It’s a kind of cross between a noodle dish and a pancake where the chef starts the process, combining all of the ingredients before serving it onto a hot plate infront of you to finish cooking it yourself. The small restaurant is run by a lovely couple who despite the language barrier make us feel very welcome and relaxed.

Universally Speaking

Now one of the days I’ve been most looking forward to for some time. Because I’m a big kid, I have wanted to do a theme park trip at some point in our travels. Having been to American parks in Florida I’m curious to explore a Japanese version and Universal Osaka is the park of choice. With pre-booked tickets bought weeks ago, we join the queue of thousands of other excited fans and furiously attempt to work out how the Universal app works. Super Nintendo World opened here in 2020 and is immensely popular. So much so that you need to reserve a time slot to ensure you’ll be allowed into this section. After much panic and fuss, once we get through the gates just after 8am we have confirmation we can visit Nintendo world at 9am! Result.

The majority of visitors are rushing towards Nintendo World hoping to get in first thing. This means they’re all rushing past the big Hollywood Dream rollercoaster by the entrance. Alex being of a nervous disposition for such thrills leaves me to it and having joined the “single riders” line I’m in the loading station in no time. On this ride you can choose a soundtrack (including Taylor Swift!?) to play as you fly along the tracks. Confused and not fully awake I somehow select a high energy J-Pop song similar to what we heard yesterday, that blasts in my ears as I hurtle along at 60mph. It’s quite the wake up call!

With that experience over, I’m questioning myself if I still enjoy rollercoasters while we head over to Super Nintendo World. We’re allowed in at 8.59 and immediately join the line to buy a Yoshi watch. These incredibly overpriced items allow us to play mini-games and collect digital coins and stamps within Nintendo World through the mobile app. I told you I was a big kid.

Still early in the day we join the line for the Mario Karts ride inside of Bowser’s Castle as the queue for this can be three hours long at the peak of the day!

We end up spending five hours in the Nintendo section of the park, here are a few more pictures…

After finally leaving Nintendo-land behind, even though we could have happily spent all day there, we explore some more of the park. We ride the classic Jaws ride with some genuinely scared locals, then seek a late lunch in the nautical themed cafe. While we digest our food we take a seat and enjoy the stunt show “Water World” based on yet another film that Alex has seen and I haven’t even heard of.

We finish the day in the Harry Potter biome of Hogsmeade. Alex has already done the Forbidden Journey ride in LA so I fast track the two hour queue by joining as a single rider. I get on instantly, closing my eyes in the section full of giant skittering spiders thank you very much. The last ride of the day will be Alex’s first rollercoaster, the family friendly Flight of the Hippogriff. Amusingly I’m told I am “too tall” when we board the middle of the train and we have to get on the next one at the front for “larger passengers”.We leave the park tired but content with a fun filled day. It’s been nice to be a child in wonderland again and forget about all of the horrors of the world by immersing ourselves in a land of make believe. It seems crazy that there can be places like this, full of joy and people losing themselves in their imagination while on the other side of the world wars are raging and people are in very desperate situations without hope. It makes us incredibly grateful we’re one of the lucky ones.

Beware of Bears

For our final full day in Osaka, Alex has picked an exploration of Koyosan, outside of the city, on recommendation of cousin Ben. A beautiful train ride leaves the city behind and we’re immersed in the lush green mountains. Arriving at our destination at the end of the line, we are the only ones on the train who opt to walk the route rather than take the funicular up the steep hill. As we begin the walk, we spot the first of several signs warning us about black bears inhabiting the area! No wonder everyone else opted for the safety of the funicular. We walk for one hour up the incline and only pass one soul on our journey. Reaching the end of this path we decide we’re hungry for more and Alex expertly plans our route onwards.

A while later we arrive in the town itself. Entering through a gigantic gateway, protected either side by huge monstrous guardians.

Walking through the main drag of Koyosan we spot a familiar face and have to go inside to see what merchandise is on offer.

Koyosan is stuffed to the brim with incredible temples, pagodas, Tori gates and many more impressive sights, here are a few..

Our adventure in Koyosan ends with a scenic walk through a beautiful cemetery (Japan’s largest according to Wikipedia) and a visit to a famous shrine.

Returning to Osaka in the evening we opt to eat another local specialty, octopus balls. No not that, they are dough balls stuffed with octopus. And they’re pretty delicious.

After dinner we find a Nintendo themed bar nearby. We order a couple of beers and take each other on at Mario Karts on the N64. Alex hits me with a lighting bolt as I’m in 1st place going over the jump in Waluigi Stadium and I will never forgive her for it. Through nefarious methods Alex wins all of the races and we vow to leave before we get too competitive 😂

The last stop in Osaka is the famous bridge in Dotomburi district where the iconic running man picture comes from.

Epilogue

Our long day isn’t over yet as we trek back to Osaka Castle to pick up a Fitbit charger that has finally been delivered by Amazon. I can finally use my Fitbit again after Dad took my charger home in Hawaii and we lost countless hours looking for a replacement in South East Asia!

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Adventure – Cosplay festival. J-Pop weirdness. Adjusting to Japanese culture. So many beautiful temples, shrines, cemeteries and more in Koyosan.

Excitement – Super Nintendo World. Amazing food (minus the sea urchin).

Trauma – Absolute exhaustion on arrival and not being allowed into our Airbnb until 4pm. Universal App. Feeling poorly (James).