(Continued from Tadaima! Japan Pt 1.)
Of the two cities that we visited in Japan, I’d say that Osaka resonates with me much more than Tokyo. The contrast in vibe between the two cities immediately became clear to us upon disembarking from the Shinkansen/bullet train. While Tokyo is the center of business in Japan, Osaka to me felt like a focal point of culture.
Osaka is all about street food, eateries, and coffee shops. Throughout the city is a diverse amalgamation of districts, each of which offer little nooks of culture that were a joy for us to explore on foot, camera in hand. Although we had some intel on where to eat, we largely depended on google reviews and instinct to find where to go, with about 85% success. Personal favorites are katsu curry rice, yakitori, and amazing coffee!
I think what struck me most about Osaka were how personable and down to earth the people were. Almost every person we interacted with were interested in learning more about us, with no personal reservations. Any sort of ‘trip anxiety’ that we felt around not knowing much Japanese was quickly dispelled, as people from Osaka were more than willing to accommodate us as well as practice their English.
The city is becoming increasingly tourist heavy, which is both good and bad for the obvious reasons. We did not feel overwhelmed in that sense, aside from the more popular shopping districts. I actually struggled to take pictures of people this trip, due to the sheer density of people in general! It was tough to find people being themselves in isolated spaces, which is reflective of life in these Japanese cities in general. People are living on top of each other, space being a huge commodity.
Oh, and we went to Super Nintendo World and Universal Studios! What an awesome experience. The true tourist experience.
I certainly plan on coming back and diving deeper into what Osaka has to offer.
