Osaka Namba Station
We arrived on a November morning around 11am from our temple stay in Mt Takano. We stored our luggage in a coin-operated locker at Namba Station. From here we started our own hike. Since we could only visit the city at the end of the day, we decided to take the hiking tour mentioned in Lonely Planet Japan.
Osaka in Autumn
Check out Osaka
Kuromon Ichiba Market
But first we started with Kuromon Itchiba Market. This market is just a few steps away from Namba Station. Our senses are already aroused by the smell of different foods. But not only can you buy food, you can also get special socks that can be worn with flip-flops, shoes and clothes. It was fun to see it all. We chose to have a specialty of the area for lunch; octopus yaki. The cream filled balls had octopus slices inside and they were freshly cooked. I love it!
Kuromen Ichiba Market
Fresh food octopus teriyaki octopus
Takoyaki octopus
Pachinko Slot Machine
On this street, you can find tons of pachinko slot machines, a mechanical game of Japanese casual arcade games. Those machines make a lot of noise!
Pachinko Slot Machine Osaka
Shopping vending machines in Osaka
Dotonbori Street
After filling our bellies, we headed to Dotonbori Street to start our walking tour. Somehow, we managed to skip part of the tour, but what we saw was great! Dotonbori is famous for all the neon signs and advertisements on the street. We even saw 2 giant moving crabs as advertisements. Along the Dotombori River, we walked along Shinsaibashi Street. This long covered shopping street has all the clothing stores you could want, Zara, H&M and many more local stores. We skipped the restaurants recommended in our travel guide. Soon we had a new plan of what to do next.
Dotonbori StreetTonbori Street
Osaka Castle
We packed our bags and headed to Osaka Castle, a castle rebuilt in 1924. With 8.5kg of luggage, we managed to walk to the entrance of the castle. The structure of the building is very nice. We decided to just enjoy the view of the castle and not go inside. The view of the city was also nice, even with some autumn colors of the park.
We left the city before dark, so we missed the bright neon lights at night.
But the city is really worth stopping for the castle and the food.
Osaka Castle
Information
If you are arriving from Osaka International Airport like we did, you can get an ICOCA public transportation card. This card is the machine you buy at the subway station. However, you can use this card not only on the subway, but also on buses and trains around Osaka and Kyoto. The first purchase is 2,000 yen, of which 1,500 yen can be used for travel. When you return the card at one of the subway stations, you will receive a deposit of 500 yen.
