After our journey to the highest point in Japan, we spent a few days in Osaka to rest up before our next mountain adventure in the Northern Japanese Alps.
This trip was before COVID-19 changed our lives and how we travel. The purpose of this post is to write about my memories. I don’t know about current restrictions to travel to Japan right now.
It was a whirlwind leg of our trip (arrived in the evening, spent a day exploring and left the next morning) so here’s a few highlights!
Osaka Aquarium
The Osaka Aquarium is the world’s largest aquarium. When deciding what to do with a full day in Osaka, the chance to see whale sharks sealed the deal.
We arrived right before the aquarium opened and there was already a long line to purchase tickets. I’d recommend buying online in advance.
Once inside, the aquarium kept us busy for several hours. The highlights were watching the feeding times for otters, whale sharks and penguins! Make sure to check out the feeding time schedule and plan your visit around your favorite creatures.
There’s also a snack bar with fun and unique treats. We tried the whale shark soft serve ice cream and jelly fish soda. My husband and I joke that we were the only adults eating such treats in the cafeteria filled with parents and young children.
Nara Park
After exploring the aquarium and filling up on sushi (see below), we had the afternoon open and squeezed in a trip to Nara! We were able to use our Japan Rail Pass to make the one hour (each way) train venture from Osaka to Nara Park.
The park is home to more than 1,000 deer. There are vendors that sell biscuits for the deer so you can give them a little snack. The deer are famous for bowing for their snacks! I’m cautious of animal attractions like this when I travel. For example, there’s a Fox Village in Japan I wanted to visit (foxes are my favorite!), but after reading reviews, it didn’t feel like it was in the best interest of the animals. However, the deer park felt OK since the deer were in an open area and the park itself is free. I have great respect for wild animals and would love to hear other opinions on this.
We had time to wander the park for an hour before heading back to Osaka for a final meal and to pack our bags.
Food Highlights: Yakiniku, Sushi and Ramen
As mentioned, our time in Osaka was short. But, we had the opportunity to try some well-known Japanese food experiences for the first time including…
- Yakiniku (Japanese bbq): you can choose from a menu of raw meat and cook at your table.
- Conveyor-belt sushi bar: this was so much fun to pick sushi from the tablet at our seat and watch it come to us at high speed!
- “Vending machine” ramen: You order and pay at a vending machine, but are seated inside and served fresh from the kitchen! We had a hard time translating the buttons but figured it out with the help of Google Translate and loved what we ended up with.
That was it! I wish we had more time in this region of Japan. Next up on our agenda was Kamikochi and Tokyo.
Road and Air 