Sooo, I had nothing to do, so I went to Osaka. I left on Friday morning, hopping on a Shinkansen at about 9am, so I arrived in Osaka at midday. Having been kicked out the train in Shin-Osaka, I took the metro to the next best, most sensible-seeming station. First, I strolled around that neighbourhood, a very businessy, Shinjuku-like part of Osaka. Then I kept walking towards my hostel and bumped into the National Museum of Art (I guess they’re referring to the Japanese nation in that title), which I happily entered – it was a bit cold and windy, North Sea conditions almost. From there, it was only a short hop to reaching my hostel and relaxing for a bit. In the evening, I headed out to take a look at Dotombori, Osaka’s fame nightlife district, where in a rush of cultural adaptation and touristy immersement I had 21 Takoyaki balls. Oh yes, a slightly fatty affair. Then I looked around some more, and eventually headed back home.
So, that was the short intro. Now, some more depth on some more details. Such as: Planning. I think I should mention that I had had the idea to even go anywhere on that weekend only three days before, on Tuesday – until that point, I had planned to just hang out with Japanese homies. As they turned out to be hardly available at all for that specific weekend, I was facing what looked like utter boredom. In an outburst of life-dominating proactivity, I decided to take fate into my own hands and to take action towards working down my bucket list. I decided quite quickly that I wanted to visit a city, because I wasn’t really up for much preparation (and just very late too), which I assumed would have been necessary for off-the-beaten-path destinations. Also, I didn’t want to go long-distance, e.g. Sapporo was off the list – plus, I’ll be spending time in Nagasaki and Hiroshima in March, so that wasn’t a sensible target either.
All of this left me with Nagoya and Osaka, both being quite accessible, and suitable for a weekend trip in size and fame. For quite a long time, I tended towards Nagoya, mainly because a (Nagoya-)local friend had been advocating that as a destination for some time – however, Osaka seemed to be higher up the priority list, so I thought that to be more ‚pressing‘ of a journey. Also, the Shinkansen to Osaka is 14-something-thousand yen, that to Nagoya about 12000, however if you go to Osaka you get twice as much train-time – in other words, the per-kilometer and per-minute price to Osaka is much more economic. So, decision taken. Finding a hostel was surprisingly easy, even on that extent of short notice, and I found a nice and cheap one at that.
All of these basic arrangements done, I left day-by-day and destination-planning to the weekend itself. I was (and still am) doing an internship at the time, so I didn’t have that much time to google around. Also, I’m not a big supporter of high-preparation trips, because a) you never know what happens anyway, b) you never know if travel guide writers share your interests, c) usually recommended places are packed and mainstream and d) it’s much more interesting to just stumble upon things. As a back-up self-assurement, I kept telling myself that I’d do some ‚research‘ on the train. Well, I didn’t really, looking out the window was much more interesting. I did google a bit though, however couldn’t find too much – ironically, that’s how the situation turned out to be in reality, too, there just isn’t that much to see and do in Osaka (apart from business, possibly). All I could find really was the National Museum of Art (done on day 1) and Dotombori (also, done on day 1) – there were some mentions of secondary good-to-see areas and spots, but that sounded more like vague suggestions. Overall, therefore, I felt confirmed that just rocking up and keeping my eyes open was the most sensible thing to do.
One more important thing to mention: I went on my own – partly because I just didn’t feel like asking dozens of people at such short notice and stress myself about finding someone, partly because I hadn’t done a loner trip in a fairly long time, so I wanted to practice my self-reliance and experience independence and singularity. Retrospectively, I think I’d say that I would prefer traveling in company in the future – it’s fine being on one’s own for a weekend, but it does get a bit silent after some time. Also, the strategy of meeting people on the spot doesn’t really work: one, most people travel in groups or pairs, so they’re not very much open for socializing, and two, even if you could theoretically and practically find others, chances are they become annoying after some time. I personally am a bit picky about companions, and quite strict about my own ideas, i.e. if someone requires me to adapt a lot then that does piss me off quickly – I might be happy to adapt to a long-time life partner, but am definitely not very open to making major concessions if I met the person in question only 20 mins earlier in a hostel somewhere and have not yet any meaningful relation to them. Effectively, I spent the weekend roaming around on my own, which I didn’t mind, but, as said, which would have become a bit monotonous after some time. Still, worth trying!
Back to day 1 as it went. I had taken the Shinkansen once before in December, going to Nagano with my parents for three days in a hot pot (= Onsen), so I kind of knew how to float that boat. The one-way trip to Osaka was, by most sensible standards, rather pricey, clocking in at 14700 Yen original price and about 12000 Yen with student discount. However, the Shinkansen between Tokyo and Osaka is the fastest service in Japan, doing flat 300 km/h for most of the way, and that seemed like a fun thing to experience. Also, I didn’t want to arrive after a night bus journey, so the plus in civilizedness and minus in post-journey devastation was quite appealing, too. I really like the Shinkansen, they’re fast and comfy and quiet and have nice windows and great toilets (love the toilets), so I can recommend them at the temperature of an Onsen (i.e., warmly). This particular journey on Nozomi 213 – which I think can be a good name for one of my many cute children, without the „213“ though – was a positive one, too, so I was dropped off in stellar condition at 11.something in Shin-Osaka. It’s called Shin-Osaka because it’s not a part of Osaka that really matters, I think… or so it seemed. I didn’t bother looking at it, just took the metro to more epic cultural epicenters.
Because I hadn’t done any preparation, I was left googling and thereby trying to figure out where I actually was – after some of that, I decided to just walk from the station to my hostel, which would also allow me to have lunch and do sightseeing on the way. The station’s surroundings were very businessy, as I said initially, very resembling of Shinjuku, perhaps even more progressive in aesthetics. That was nice to see, but also a bit, well, one-dimensional. At the end of some strolling around, I ended up bumping into the National Museum of Art (which actually was not intentional, proving the genius both of my intuitive route guidance and my clueless approach to tourism).
They had an exhibition about a Belgian painter, which I left me quite skeptical at first – considering that I don’t see much point in looking at Belgian art in Japan, coming from Germany, next to Belgium. I then googled a bit about the guy and found out that he draws much of his inspiration and technique from Japan, using Japanese calligraphy paper, ink, brushes and techniques for his painting. That did sound appealing, so I went in. Indeed, the exhibition was very ‚enriching‘, and I really liked that artist’s style – using the very, very black Japanese ink widely in writing, drawing and painting, his art does have an edge over, well, whatever could be considered the mainstream of art. Especially his technique of outlining paintings before colouring them, i.e. of adding black edges to all shapes, lets them appear much more vibrant and sharper than normal, just colour-on-paper/canvas techniques achieve. Good stuff.
After that intense cultural input I headed on to my hostel, which was only about 15 mins walking away. Check-in was smooth, the hostel was modern, quiet, empty, all good. The beds had all-around curtains, so were very privacy-providing. I then just napped for two hours, because I had begun the day quite early, and because the walking in icy wind does fatigue quite strongly.
In the evening, I headed to Dotombori, which as mentioned earlier was one of few clearly recommended destinations in Osaka. Even though often those highly recommended places turn out to be rather boring, overflowing with tourists, mainstream, un-edgy, standard places, Dotombori has an interesting, funky vibe to it. There were many tourists, even at this off-season time, but there were also loads of locals, especially young ones, who gave the area a greatly authentic feel. Even though I didn’t enter any bars or restaurants, but rather limited my consumption to loads of Takoyaki from street stalls, spending some time in the area was very enjoyable. Only issue: Takoyaki does really get a bit fatty and fishy after about 15 balls, maybe 10 if you’re not well assimilated to Japanese food yet – not actually suited for covering one’s daily calorie intake requirements. So, Dotombori is good. Then I went back to bed basically, quite early, but who cares, yolo.
That was day one – I hope this wasn’t far too much detail. Now photos.
Boarding Nozomi 213. Sorry, I really hype the name.
A shopping- and eating mall near Umeda Station.
They always have those eating streets...
And more. There is a beauty to this shininess, though.
graf studio was supposed to be hipster, well, turned out to be hipster, but didn’t help me to find a hipster neighbourhood at all – it was completely empty and boring all around. mmmmpf.
dodgy attempt at architecture photo.
this was in the evening, on the way to Dotombori.
fortunately, they do have some quiet side streets with cosy bars
and not so quiet main streets
This is the romantic part
So, this was day one, I hope you liked the lengthy intro and the photos. Fortunately, the trip was only three days, so not much more than two more posts are coming up. I’ll try to be quick.
