A Day in Osaka
Osaka Castle
Another warm sunny day. Being October, I brought alot of fall clothes thinking it would be cooler. I only threw in a few summer things at the last minute so I’m often feeling overdressed for the weather.
We head out by subway to Osaka Castle. We walk through a pleasant park to get there.
The castle is a 1931 reconstruction of the original that had burnt down a few times.
The original was built in 1583 AD.
There is a museum inside and a great observation deck where we get a 360° view of the city.
Saturday, in the Park
We walk back in the park. It’s Saturday and I see joggers, kids baseball teams and people walking their dogs (many of them with their dogs in strollers or in baskets if the owner is biking). There are not as many dogs as in Canada. Most of the dogs here are smaller and many are dressed in clothing…even hats.
America-mura
We grab the subway for America-mura. This is a very trendy area of fashion, used and vintage clothing and street food. There are a few stages set up with ongoing performances. Click here for a video.
Nearby is the high end, designer shopping area.
Shinsaibashisuji
We walk down the shopping arcade street called Shinsaibashisuji. It is super busy. I see lots of interesting fashion trends and there is even a dog clothing store.
Kuromon Market
We stop at the hotel for lunch and a quick rest before heading out to Kuromon Market. This is a huge food market that goes as far as the eye can see down a covered street where you can buy a lot of fresh and local food specialties. I regret having lunch before coming here…sounds like a supper plan.
Seafood is really reasonably priced here but vegetables and fruit are expensive. It is the equivalent of $25 CAD for a bunch of grapes, and just 4 grapes in a container sell for $3.00. The four strawberries in the picture are $4.00 and three regular sized tomatoes are $5.50.
In restaurants you don’t get many veggies with your meal so I have been buying two or three salads at a time in the corner stores.
Sennichimae Doguyasuji Kitchen Shopping Street
We next check out Sennichimae Doguyasuji shopping street. They sell everything kitchen related here. I would be happy to shop in many of the kitchen stores but John is not quite as interested as I am.
Dollarama; Japanese Style
On our way to our next destination we stop in to
Daiso, which is the big dollar (yen) store in Japan. They sell everything for 100 yen (0.90 CAD) and up. There are five floors with many different departments. Wow.
Namba Yasaka Shrine
Namba Yasaka Shrine is our next stop. This lion head shaped building with its mouth wide open is a big tourist photo stop. It is pretty unique.
Kaiyukan Aquarium
We grab a subway for Kaiyukan Aquarium which is one of the biggest aquariums in the world. There are over 600 kinds of marine life on display. This is what I have been looking forward to all day.
There is a line up and timed tickets. We have an hour’s wait 
till our entrance so John runs around the area looking at things and I find a shady bench to relax.
The aquarium is fantastic. It definitely is a highlight for me.
It’s dark when we leave the aquarium. There is a beautifully lit up area in front of the building and the nearby giant ferris wheel also leaves a colourful visual in the skyline.
Shinsekai District
We decide to make one more stop before calling it a night. We catch a subway train heading to the Shinsekai District.
This is a retro entertainment area filled with shops, restaurants and bars. Since we haven’t been here yet, we change our supper plans.
The Tsutenkaku Tower built in 1912 is a huge landmark in the area. Of course it is lit up at night.
Supper of Local Specialties
We choose a restaurant that seems to be frequented by locals. It turns out that we are in the catch your own fish section. Not wanting to fish ourselves, we are happy to hear that you can order off the menu upstairs.
It takes us awhile to figure out how to order but we finally do. We’ve ordered a lot of local specialties including Takoyaki, Yakitori, blowfish, sea urchin, BBQ eel and more. This should be interesting.