As planned, I arrived in Osaka on november 15th. Osaka is the 2nd largest city in Japan with a population of 2.6 million – it is also the capital for the metropolitan area covering Kyoto, Kobe and Osaka and with 18 million population… I took the bullet train (Shinkansen) from Tokyo station…
to Osaka. To get to Tokyo railway station from Asakusa is app. 45 minutes by subway as there is no direct line. To get the 686 km. from Tokyo to Osaka with Shinkansen Nozomi (super express) is just 2½ hour. Amazing. There are 5 stops on the Nozomi – 2 local in Tokyo area and then Nagoya, Koto and Osaka. The average speed is more than 200 km/h. And the comfort is excellent.
The public transport surprises and amazes me i Japan. All trains are on time. Always. But further, the Shinkansen from Tokyo to Osaka continues to Hiroshima and even further… A distance of more than 1000 km. And there is a train every 15 minutes from 6 morning to 2 evening. Waau.
No wonder it is more expensive to go by train than plane! It is more convenient and actually FASTER from Tokyo to Osaka… Why? Because the airport is 70 minutes outside Tokyo, you have to check in at least 30 minutes before (domestic) and from the airport in Osaka, you have 60 minutes to Osaka center… Then the flight time is on top. Tallied up we get 3+ hours.
The city itself is not worth much description. You have highways and railways and elevated roads everywhere… But also a few parks and the harbour. Nice.
They say it is the food capital of Japan, but as I am not brave enough to just walk into a restaurant and point to japanese signs and hope for the best, I really don’ know… I found one restaurant which offered pictures of the food and I got 6-7 different small courses. Delicious…
In general I have eaten a lot of Sushi in Japan. It is very good, and inexpensive. 10 pcs . nigri: 1500 Yen ~ 75 DKK.
Japan has taken a lot of their culture from China, which shows in the castles and temples. I went to see the no.1 sight for touists: Osaka Castle… It was beautiful, but compared to castles and temples elsewhere, Himeji or Forbidden city in China.
Otherwise I used Osaka as a base to got to Kyoto and elsewhere (Hiroshima, Himeji and MiyaJima). I am tired of moving from place to place every day, so I tend to get a base and stay there 4+ days and do “daytrips”.
The daytrip from Osaka to Kyoto was 40 km. each direction. And 25 minutes by rapid train and 14 minutes by Shinkansen. Again a train every 10 minutes…
