Osaka: Universally Utilitarian

Osaka's nickname is Tenka no Daidokoro (the nation's kitchen). Since I don't cook, and don't like to shop for food, I may have a slightly bias view of Osaka as a practical kinda place.

Observations:

We only spent two and a bit days in Osaka, and almost all of it was in the Konohana Ward a few metres from the entrance to Universal Studios Japan.

Osaka had really... efficient... public transport system...? I didn't really pick up much else. Osaka has long been a big commercial port and economic powerhouse. While Osaka castle is gorgeous and the place itself has a long and important role to play in Japanese history, it does kinda feel like the first priority of Osaka has usually been industry and profit rather than pretty things.

Having said that, it's a big place, so no doubt we've missed cool stuff somewhere.

Oh btw - we passed through Fukushima...

... but not the nuclear disaster site, which is in Fukushima Prefecture in the Tōhoku region (much further north), of which the capital is also called Fukushima. There is also a Fukushima ward in Osaka that is on the major train routes.

Fukushima means fortune/luck and, island. Which didn't really work out for the poor people of radioactive Fukushima, but doesn't apply to the Osaka version either since it's land-locked.

Kaiju collected: A really really easy transfer from Shin-Osaka Station, to Osaka Station, then to Universal City Station. Like *really* easy - including for gaijins like us.Read more