We said goodbye to Tokyo today and hopped back on the train headed west. It was a 3 hour ride to Osaka and it went by fairly quickly. The bullet trains are something else. You can get very far very easily in Japan, and having the rail pass makes everything super simple too. You just show the pass to the gate attendant and in you go to the terminal. There is an app called Hyperdia where you can get train information and it’s very easy to use, making finding your way quite simple.
Once in Osaka we stopped at a coffee shop and hung out for a little while because it began to rain. We read that there was the Instant Ramen Museum in Osaka which was a 30 minute subway ride away, so we headed off in the direction of the subway to try and find our way there. Apparently Osaka is the birthplace of instant ramen noodles so this piqued our interest. Plus, the museum was free. The subway was different then the train station and we soon felt bewildered trying to find where to go. The ticket machine was all in Japanese making it nearly impossible to buy the right ticket, and we gave up on that venture in search for the Osaka Castle instead, the most popular tourist destination in the city.
As has been the norm, we walked the two miles to the Castle from the Osaka Train station. Japan is incredibly walkable, at least in the major cities, and this has been our go to method getting places. It allows you to observe the city and its people more intimately and gives you a great sense about a place. We stumble upon a lot of great stuff this way.
We finally got to the castle and it was a towering spectacle. At 8 stories tall it looked over the interior grounds which was a maze of tall stone, people walking around and food vendors. The place was crawling with thousands people, and everyone looked like insects scurrying about in a colony. Insects that ate green tea ice team called “matcha” and walked around with wierd grilled meat on sticks.
We got in line to buy tickets into the castle which also served as a museum. At 1200 yen for both of us it wasn’t too bad. The interior was packed with hundreds of bodies moving up the castle. Each floor had some kind of museum exhibit, like art from the era (around the 1600s) and original samurai garbs, which were totally awesome.
We arrived at the top and squished our way to the railing to look over the city. Osaka is the 2nd largest city in Japan and it looked the part. I’m starting to think that all of Japan is just a series of connected concrete buildings, railways and subways, with millions of people interspersed within, walking and riding bikes and eating in noodle shops too numerous to count or keep track of.
After the castle we made our way to find our hostel for the night. It was just a regular bunk hostel, not a capsule one. I’m not sure I could do another capsule motel again- maybe if there was some kind of air conditioning inside. Last night was miserable on account of how warm it was. I was sweating and sticky all night. It was awful. Some party people came in at 5 in the morning being loud and drunk. They were trying to squeeze themselves into their little sarcophagus capsules for a few hours of hot and sticky sleep.
“I’m setting the alarm for 9:00 AM!” one of them shouted to the other. The accent was British.
“No, 9:15!” The other one sputtered. “9 is far too early.”
“That’s too late, mate! 9:11! I’ll set it to 9:11!”
“Fine. 9:11 you wanker!”
There was rustling for another 10 minutes more. It’s hard to get into the capsule, especially the top ones, and apparently it’s even trickier when you are inebriated, which could be said about any activity really.
The hostel tonight is nice. It’s quiet and the room is cool. A window is open letting in fresh air and this makes me happy.
We didn’t do much tonight. We grabbed something quick at the 7-11 for dinner, some sushi and ramen. We didn’t feel like going out to eat. It’s such a chore trying to pick a place to eat because we can’t speak or read the language, and this is taking its toll on us, having been in Korea and Japan for two weeks now. It’s easier (and a lot cheaper) to just go and pick something out at the store.
Osaka was neat and it’s nothing like Tokyo. There aren’t a lot of suits and there’s a few bits of trash and cigarette butts on the streets. It’s edges are rougher and more realistic and that’s what I liked about it. We are heading to Kyoto tommorrow and will spend a few nights there. I hear it is older and more traditional overall, aside from the downtown area. I hope this translates to fewer people and quieter, but I won’t hold my breath.
