Osaka, Japan (November 1, 2025)
I’m discovering that there are many, many cool cities here in Japan and that I could live the rest of my life in most of them; Osaka included.
Downtown Osaka directly accross from our hotel
Yes, we arrived on a Saturday night and the nightlife was booming. The train ride from Kyoto to Osaka was the equivalent to “moving nextdoor.” Seriously, it was the very next stop on our previous express train to Kyoto. Had we missed our stop, we would have ended up here. It took just 15 minutes. I’m pretty sure we could have skipped the bullet train and just rode the subway to get here. But I digress.
Yes, that’s a “Ninja Star” in my hand and I nailed that target 3 out of 8
The streets were like a giant carnival with Ninja Star throwing (YES, PLEASE!), archery, blow darts, air rifles, and all the fried food you could ask for. Not to mention every kind of T-shirt, stuffed animal, leather jacket, video game and toy you could imagine.
Even, and especially, Hello Kitty dolls in various outfits
But mostly, it was the atmosphere that made Osaka such a wonderful place to walk around and simply get lost in the city while taking it all in. The iconic tower was closed way, way too early at 7pm on a Saturday night, but hey, everyone wants to get out and have some fun, right?
Looking straight up at the tower we couldn’t go up in — closed
Earlier in the day, we watched someone walk out on the ledge part which you can just see at the top of the picture. I don’t know if the floor is glass or not, but either way it looks like an amazing 360 view of the city — especially at night with all the lights going. Here’s what we could see from the street view:
Now, as I was saying, there’s all kinds of things to do, but the thing that caught my attention was the trowing of ninja stars. You get 8 throws and a relatively small target to go for. No “prizes” per se, but they do ring a bell ever time you hit the target inside the relatively small rings.
Ninja throwing stars booth — ready to get into the action!
So how did I do? 3 out of 8 throws hit the target. Not bad. I could definitely use some practice. No recruitments from the local ninjas in Osaka, but it was a valiant first effort. I suspect the local scouts are keeping their eyes on me this week while I’m in town to see what other hidden talents I possess.
Meanwhile, back at our hotel, we discovered our rooftop garden and the epic sweeping views from there. Very picturesque.
Overall, a fine first day in Osaka. Given how fast we flew from Kyoto, I got out my Google Map to see how long it would take me to get to Hiroshima. Even though it’s a solid 170 miles from Osaka, the bullet train “supper express” would only take 90 minutes to get me there – even with 3 stops in between. What? Really? Okay.
I know Elena and Violet are not interested in joining me for this, but it’s something I’ve been considering since we got here. Now that I know how easy a “day trip” it can be, there’s no reason not to go. Tomorrow I’m heading out on the 7:50am train and will be there at 9:10 (yes, I realize that’s even faster than the 90 minutes I just quoted). Damn, these trains are not messing around here in Japan.
