Our original plan for Japan was to fly into Osaka, then visit Kyoto, Nara, Nikko, and fly out of Tokyo. We cut that down to the bare minimum of flying into Kyoto, taking the train to Tokyo, and then flying out. We spent an extra day in Osaka to avoid the rush at the end of Golden Week, but otherwise spent no more time here than was required. It’s really a shame, since it’s a beautiful country that we’ve both been really excited about visiting. But we’ll come back and do it properly when we can, hopefully soon!
We made the best of what time we had in Osaka. We arrived late one evening and immediately headed out for food. We were staying near the Umeda train station which had a large selection of places to eat and picked a sushi place that was both popular and affordable. The food was superb! Not surprisingly, it was some of the freshest, tastiest sushi we’ve ever had. What was surprising was that the prices were in-line with a mid-price sushi restaurant in Boston; we ended up spending about $40 for a dinner for two, including a beer for me. We had a great time watching all the young Japanese kids walking around, gawking left and right as one costume more intricate and colorful than the next was paraded by. Gone is the fear of sticking out and the prohibitions on showing too much skin that we saw in the rest of Asia. Micro-skirts (sometimes with stockings underneath, sometimes without), princess outfits, goth get-ups, punk stylings, and many outfits I can’t start to describe were all quite popular.
The next day we woke up early, bought our train tickets for the following day, and then went out walking and exploring. We stopped by the huge Yodobashi Camera store to see seven floors of technology for sale. After getting our fill of gadgets not available in the states, we moved on to Shinsaibashi area, a huge shopping area for Japanese clothes, accessories, and other odds and ends. This area, like many of the others in Osaka, is comprised of a combination of streets and long covered alleys. When we got hungry, we walked to the neighboring Dotonbori district, filled entirely with restaurants and street vendors. We had some superb noodles, breaded octopus, and several other great dishes. The people watching was extraordinary! It was also fun seeing all the Pachinko parlors and vending machines with strange contents.
On the final day of our trip, we woke up early and took the Shinkansen Nozomi bullet train to Tokyo then another train directly to Narita airport. The train ride was a lot of fun, since we got to pass by Kyoto, Mt Fuji, a dozen nuclear reactors, and probably a hundred golf courses. Even moving at three hundred kilometers per hour, you can still see a lot of scenery and get a decent feel for what the country looks like. Certainly much more than you can from a plane!
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