Osaka, I find, can be very overlooked on people’s Japan itineraries. Many people stay in Kyoto and make a day trip to Osaka, and I say that’s a damn shame. I can’t say what drew me towards Osaka so much, but it was enough that we booked a full four nights there.
The main thing that struck me about Osaka was just how great it was in the evenings. It had a totally different vibe to anywhere else we’d been; despite the bright lights being somewhat reminiscent of those in Tokyo, there’s a vibrancy in Osaka that feels unparalleled. The best thing about spending four nights there isn’t that we got four days there (because we didn’t) – it’s that we got four evenings there.
Osaka makes an excellent base for exploring many of the areas surrounding the city, which is reason enough to stay there too. We used it to visit Nara, as well as hopping over to Hiroshima for a night before rebounding back to Osaka for one final night. Overall, we only really had one day actually in Osaka itself, plus one day dedicated to Universal Studios Japan.
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It also helps that compared to nearby Kyoto, the accommodation in Osaka is SO cheap! To be honest that probably contributed to our decision to stay there for so long in the first place, but also it’s not a decision we regretted in the slightest. (That said, I would of course recommend staying in Kyoto because it’s fantastic there, too. Altogether we stayed three nights in Kyoto and four nights in Osaka.)
We left Kyoto in the morning and left our bags at our hotel as soon as we arrived in Osaka, before heading out for lunch.
Our main plan for day one was:
- Go see Osaka Castle
- Enjoy the evening around Dotonbori
- Eat some amazing food
Honestly, if you only have one day in Osaka, this is what I recommend you do.
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Osaka Castle
Osaka Castle was the only castle we planned to actually go into in Japan. We also saw Himeji Castle (and Fukuyama Castle from the train), and I would have loved to have been able to go to Matsumoto Castle. Those are three of Japan’s best castles, and if you’re interested in going inside a castle, Osaka Castle is definitely worth it.
It’s not actually what you’d expect from inside a castle – it’s been completely renovated into a museum. The museum itself is fantastic and the main reason I recommend it. You learn all about the history of Osaka, the castle and its inhabitants, from Toyotomi Hideyoshi, a feudal war lord who built it back in 1583. It was the largest castle in Japan at the time, and was built to serve a unified Japan during a temporary peace. The museum takes you through Hideyoshi’s life and family, giving a great background for why the castle came to be.
It’s worth noting that the castle has been destroyed and rebuilt many times, so the current building is technically less than 100 years old. It’s easy to forget that when faced with the history of it and everything it’s been through.
There’s also a terrace at the top where you can get fantastic views over the city. I particularly liked this one with the mirrored skyscraper – it looked like it was transparent!
Top tip: you can take the stairs to the observation deck – it saves waiting ages for the lift, which doesn’t go all the way to the top. As we were using the stairs between each floor of the museum anyway, it only adds a couple of floors to the climb!
The castle itself is seriously impressive from the outside, so it’s worth going to see regardless, and the park surrounding it is lovely – which also offers more views of the castle.
Osaka Castle is just 600 yen to enter, which is a bargain! On top of this, we decided to get JR West rail passes which offers a 10% discount. Not a lot when it’s already so cheap, but something’s better than nothing!
It’s also possible to get an Osaka pass, which includes tons of attractions if there are a few things you’re planning to do – including the boat ride through Dotonbori and the Umeda Sky observation deck.
Next to the castle is a rooftop bar above Miraiza, somewhere I’d never normally even consider, but our friend had been before and suggested we go there for the sunset. I’m so glad we went up, because it was such a beautiful evening as we watched the orange hues take over the city and shine onto the castle. The drinks aren’t that cheap, but they’re not insanely expensive either considering the location!
It’s also a restaurant, but to be honest from reading reviews, I wouldn’t bother with the food, especially when there are so many incredible places to eat in Osaka. But definitely worth coming up here for a drink with a view!
(Also there’s a camera in the lift which is displayed where people are waiting for the elevator – we, being children, made silly faces the whole time we were in there!)
Plus it means that when you go back down, you can check out Osaka Castle lit up in the dark.
They also had a lights event going on in the park which we didn’t know about, but that looked like it would have been really cool to see. We, however, had more pressing matters.
Dotonbori
If you only go to Osaka to explore one area of the city, for the love of God make it Dotonbori.
This vibrant district is genuinely one of my favourite places I’ve ever been. It even gives the bright lights of Shinjuku a run for its money, and it really gives Blade Runner vibes like nowhere else.
On the water is the famous Glico running man, and there’s also the huge Don Quijote store with the oval ferris wheel. Sadly the ride is no longer running as I’d love to have gone on it, and the store itself is unbridled chaos. I recommend going into one of the other ones, if I’m honest, as this one was so crazy we were practically having to hold on to each other! It was the first one we had been into though, so it was more a scouting mission (mostly for KitKats).
Across the river on the south side is the main actual street of Dotonbori. Not only is it bright and colourful, it’s also the place to go for food. On night one, we stuck to street food; on our second night our friends had some of the best ramen they’d ever had (I had to opt out as I felt sick, would you believe?!); on night three we had okonomiyaki, a local Osaka dish; and on our final night we had tonkatsu, which was one of my favourite meals of the entire trip.
We did not have a single mediocre meal in Osaka – it’s not the food capital of Japan for nothing!
I highly recommend trying takoyaki (octopus balls, another Osaka speciality), gyoza and okonomiyaki.
(One thing we did NOT try was the puffer fish, a dish known as fugu in Japan – my travel writer friend Robin informed us that they actually take all of the poison out of it, and then inject a small amount back in; the trick is not knowing how much to take out, but knowing how much to put back in without killing someone!!!! Apart from the fact I didn’t want to try puffer fish in the first place, this is enough to put me off!)
(We also didn’t have Kobe beef because we’re not millionaires.)
As for the buildings, I kept reading that you must not miss the giant crab. I said to my friend, “we need to find the giant crab” and he laughed and went, “oh yeah, you won’t miss it”.
The giant crab is one thing. But what about all the rest???
What about the dragon?
What about the creepy buddha?
What about the golden cow?
What about Spider-Clam?
What about this insane man?
…not to mention one of the weirdest hotel fronts I’ve ever seen in my life!
Complete with silly photo, of course.
I could have walked through Dotonbori a hundred times and still spotted different things each time, I think! It was just absolute, wonderful madness.
(For the record, the main street on the north side of the river is much more sleazy… it was different to the “red light district” in Tokyo in that nobody was being approached, so it felt very safe to walk through, but there were a lot of, er, establishments offering people for hire. These aren’t prostitutes, but more a “girlfriend/boyfriend/companion” who will be conversational and go for a drink or a meal, or even act as tour guide. It’s more about companionship than anything else, and the person for hire is more a “host” than, say, an escort. We went to a secret/”speakeasy” bar on our last night – Bible Club – and someone at a nearby table was very clearly with one of these people. It was very weird! However this is extremely popular in Japan.)
Hozenji – a traditional street in Dotonbori
We also managed to get away from the crowds because I’d found out about these old, traditional streets in the heart of Dotonbori, culminating in a lovely temple. Can you believe this is five minutes from the main strip?! It was so peaceful.
A scene you’d expect more to find in Kyoto than in Osaka.
Namba Yasaka Jinja Shrine
The one other place we managed to see, which I didn’t think we’d have time for, was this amazing shrine in nearby Namba. We went straight there when we arrived back in Osaka from Hiroshima, as we’d gone back to Osaka earlier than expected and it’s only a 10 minute walk from Namba station.
It’s believed that the giant lion’s head will devour any bad spirits, leaving you only with good luck.
So cool, right?! And very different to most shrines in Japan!
Where we stayed in Osaka
We stayed on the edge of Dotonbori, which was perfect as we weren’t in the middle of everything, yet only a five minute walk from it. We were less than ten minutes from Namba station, which could take us anywhere in the city.
It was also right between Dotonbori and Shinsaibashi, a district popular for shopping. While that wasn’t why we were there, we did manage to get the famous Rikuro cheesecake, one of the wibbly wobbly cheesecakes! It turned into a bit of a mission, because Ash and I went there shortly before it closed and the person in front of us got the last one!! Our friends managed to get one the following morning before they left for Hiroshima, thankfully. Can confirm it was very, very good, even if we ended up enjoying it hundreds of miles away on Miyajima Island!
(What’s very annoying is the Donguri Republic store in the very same building has a fantastic Ghibli photo opportunity with No-Face on the train! There’s also Totoro and the girls planting trees. Can’t believe we didn’t know about this until afterwards!)
There are lots and lots of hotels around this area, and honestly we had a hard time picking one so you probably can’t go too far wrong. We went for Super Hotel Premier Namba Shinsaibashi “Natural Hot Spring” purely for the insane name on the listing. We kept saying it over and over again, and in the end I was like, “right, well being that this is already an in-joke, we’ve got to go for this one, haven’t we?”
The best part was it was a third of the price of Kyoto – and probably the best hotel we stayed at in the whole of Japan! The staff were so friendly, kept our bags when we arrived and delivered them to our room, and then even kept them overnight when we went to Hiroshima. We deliberately booked the same hotel both times in the hopes that we could do this!
PLUS there was a free bar in the evenings until 8pm (yes – FREE) and it was right opposite a Family Mart, which was perfect for picking up snacks in the morning and when we returned at night. Oh, and did I mention there’s a free on-site onsen?
Book the Super Hotel Premier Namba Shinsaibashi Natural Hot Spring here!
Osaka is brilliant, and I say that even as I realise that if we had had another full day there, I wouldn’t have had a clue how to fill it. Unlike everywhere else we went in Japan, Osaka wasn’t about what there was to do there; it just had this fantastic vibe.
That said, there were a couple of things we missed that I did have on my list: firstly, the Cup Noodle museum. As well as learning about the phenomenon of cup noodles, you can also make your own!! If we had gone to Nara earlier on our third day, we might have been able to fit this in later on in the afternoon. There’s also one in Yokohama which we originally planned to go to, but just had too much we wanted to do in Tokyo.
We also didn’t go to the Tsutenkaku district at all – it looks similar to Dotonbori with bright lights and a striking tower that’s become an icon of Osaka. We could have gone here one evening, but to be quite honest we just loved Dotonbori so much that we didn’t bother going anywhere else! The one thing I would have loved to do in Tsutenkaku though, is go down the slide in the tower! It looks like SO MUCH FUN!!
And finally, there’s another TeamLab exhibition in Osaka, this time in a park! You can read all about our time at TeamLab Borderless in Tokyo which is AMAZING. The one in Osaka is much cheaper, too.
Anyway, it’s safe to say that Osaka was one of my absolute favourite places in Japan. I want to say favourite, but let’s be honest, Tokyo is mindblowing. But there is a small part of me that thinks that, yes, Osaka could almost be better… and that is huge praise.
Have you been keeping up with our Japan trip? Catch up with all the posts here!
⭐ My Top 10 Highlights Of Our Trip To Japan
⭐ Our Perfect Two Week Itinerary For A First Time Visit To Japan
⭐ Five Days In The Bright Lights Of Tokyo
⭐ Visiting the Studio Ghibli Museum in Tokyo + Tips For Buying Tickets
⭐ Shrines, Temples & Geisha: How To Spend Two Days In Magical Kyoto, Japan
⭐ Making The Most Of Universal Studios & Super Nintendo World In Japan
⭐ Hanging Out With The Polite Deer In Nara, Japan
⭐ An Overnight Trip To Hiroshima, Miyajima & Himeji From Osaka
⭐ A Semi-Helpful Guide To Mount Fuji & How To Visit From Osaka
⭐ We Stayed In A Hotel With Robot Dinosaur Receptionists & It Was Brilliant!
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You’re selling me on Osaka!! Sounds amazing. Maggie
Fascinating city. My friend spent a year in Osaka as a child
I also only had one night in Osaka, but it was a wonderful time filled with visiting the Glico running man, Osaka Castle, and Dotonburi. I also remember eating ramen at the famous Ichiran and got the rikuro cheesecake (although it wasn’t really wobbly by the time we had it, as we’d taken it to our hotel and it didn’t keep well during transit). Similarly, I wished we had at least an extra day to take in more of Osaka, but one night’s better than nothing! Thanks for sharing, Clazz!
I really love the store fronts along the street and that every one feels like an experience in itself. And the food looks so amazing. 🙂
You had me at “food capital of Japan.” How would you rate Japan for vegetarians? In some ways I think it would be easy, but then I read your posts and think, “Maybe not.” Did you do the onsen at your hotel? Or anywhere? When I go to Japan someday they won’t be able to get me out of the onsens. That’s all I’ll do!!
It looks wonderful, and you’re right – well worth more than a day trip. The castle looks incredible, and then wow the food – I’d want to dry everything 🙂
havent really spent any time in Osaka but have visited the Aquarium, you’ve made a great case to visit it!