I’m no stranger to piling in as much as I can while traveling. For the cost, and the amount of effort it takes to go anywhere beyond an hour away, I want to make sure I make the most of it. So when I was told that I should only do a day trip to Osaka, and that I would be better to spend a day in Koyasan instead, not once, but twice. I realised that was probably the best bet.

From Kyoto to Osaka is not even a half hour on the Shinkansen bullet train. Getting to my hostel meant it was another subway system I had to figure out, but I was getting further and further from Tokyo, where everything had English written below. In Osaka, the subway station maps next to the ticket machines were completely in Japenses. It took a couple minutes of wandering around before I stumbled on to an English map on a wall hidden behind some pillars on the far end of walk way.

Word to the wise: Google maps posts some of the station names as full names written out in Romanised letters, where as in the stations themselves, some of the words (or parts of words) are written as numbers. Just so if you’re looking for a specific station, it may not fully match between Google Maps and the Osaka maps.

I must have looked lost, as an old Japanese man walked up to me and asked where I was heading. I pointed to the station, and so he took a map in his bag, told me which lines to take and then gave me the map saying “I have more” and then he just disappeared into the crowd of lunch time commuters. I figured this guy either worked for the city/transportation system, or is just super nice and helpful. Either way I was on my way.

After dropping my bags off at my hostel, I was a man on a mission. I headed out to stop number one.

The Osaka Castle

Worth Seeing: 3.5 out of 5. This is the main attraction to Osaka in my mind, and it’s definitely worth the visit.

Getting There: About a 10 minute walk from Tanimachiyonchome Station (Note: ‘Tanimachiyonchome’ is the name given by google maps, the Osaka map has a similar, but different name).

The Castle grounds its self are huge, surrounded by a large river curling around the entire area. Because of that, it definitely takes a while to not only see it all, but to take it all in as well. Smack dab in the middle of Osaka, the views of the city and of the castle are really something to see.

Walking up to the entrance to the grounds, there was a group of people practicing Kendo in one of the pavillions. You couldn’t miss it as they would yell out each time they took a swing at their opponent on the other end.

I could’ve spent all afternoon here, but if I was going to see everything I wanted to, I had to keep moving. It was on to the Osaka Aquarium.

The Osaka Aquarium

It was a quick subway ride and a 10 minute walk to the Osaka Aquarium. I had been told how amazing it was from almost every blog. This is a must see and don’t really see the point in having to sell it anymore than the pictures can them selves.

It was a solid day in Osaka, and looking through a tourist brochure, I didn’t feel as if I would be missing anything that was a “must-see” if I went to Koyasan the next day. That said, I had one more culinary experience in Osaka I wanted to do. Conveyor Belt Sushi.