Osaka, Japan

Shopping Arcade - Osaka, Japan

Osaka-jo Castle - Osaka, Japan

Wayne with Bullet Train - Japan

Pat Being "Eaten Alive" 
by Baby Koa Fish- Osaka, Japan

School Children - Osaka, Japan

Dotomboria at Night - Osaka, Japan

Wonderful Japanese Food 
for Dinner - Osaka, Japan

"Are You Making Any Money" 
- Greeting in Osaka, Japan

Modern Osaka, Japan

Osaka, Japan (10/22-23/2009) - Osaka is Japan's bustling modern city and a very interesting city to visit.

Bombed almost flat in WWII, Osaka is now a very modern Japanese industrial (hi-tech) and port city with a population of 17 million in its greater metropolitan area. Osaka also has significant history. Serious about business (second only to Tokyo), they even have their own special greeting: “Are you making any money?”

Shopping is huge in Osaka with literally miles of shopping arcades (see photo) - especially women’s fashions. The women in Osaka dress with style.

With our very nice Goodwill Guide, Keiko Kurohawa, we visited the Osaka Aquarium that has the world’s largest aquarium tank home for two huge whale sharks! Osaka Aquarium also has well done simulated marine environments from around the world.

A visit to the Umeda Sky Building, known as the Floating Gardens, gave us an impressive view of Osaka from a tall space-like complex. Wandering through Osaka’s glittery neon entertainment area (Dotombori - see photo) gave us a fun understanding of modern Japanese life at play. 

And, of course, a visit to Osaka is not complete without soaking in the many themed baths at Spa World. Spa World is possibly the largest bathhouse in the world with many floors of European and Asian style spas. Pat was eaten alive by fish (see photo) - she had a baby Koa foot treatment removing dead skin and makes your feet smooth.

We took the bullet train (see photo) to Osaka - pretty nice ride.

Some history... Osaka’s history revolves around its famous castle (Osaka-jo - see photo) built by the first Japanese ruler that united all of Japan in the 16th century. Finished in 1583, over 100,000 workers worked for three years to build Osaka-jo. It was Japan’s most impressive castle at that time.

Please also see our 9 other blog posts for wonderful Japan...

Japan (Northern) Hakodate Otaru Aomori

Japan Himeji

Japan Hiroshima

Japan Kyoto Famous Temples Shrines Palaces Castles

Japan Kyoto Gardens

Japan Kyoto Japanese Food

Japan Kyoto Living and Impressions

Japan Nara

Japan Uji Fushimi-Inari Taisha Torii Gates

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Write by: AN - Friday, October 23, 2009