Osaka Japan: A Mixture of Traditional and Modern Culture

 

                                The next morning I awoke around 7a.m. to take the train from Hiroshima to Osaka.  This part of the trip was definitely a highlight for me since I only had a rough outline for what I wanted to do while in the city.  Following checking into my hostel, I asked the front desk to recommend a couple of things that tourists tended to enjoy seeing in Osaka.  Per her suggestion, I determined that I would go see the Osaka Castle first thing that afternoon.

 

                                Luckily, the receptionist was spot on because I absolutely loved visiting the Osaka Castle.  Once I had entered one of the forward gates to the castle it only took me a couple of steps to feel totally eclipsed by the massive scale of the grounds.  The castle's massive 15 acre perimeter of walls, moats, and bridges literally makes a traveler feel like a miniature figurine in comparison.  Since this day was exceptionally hot, it only took me about twenty-minutes to decide that I was going to need to find somewhere cool to rest.  Fortunately, I learned that the Osaka castle keep had been turned into a massive air-conditioned museum years ago; therefore, I made the pragmatic decision to pay the entrance toll in order to at least rest a while in side.  While inside the museum, I enjoyed reading about the different time periods in the history of the city of Osaka and their respective influences on the castle itself.     

 

                                In the evening, I used the metro to get into the modern shopping districts of Osaka.  While in this shopping paradise, I became the prototypical picture taking tourist everyone thinks of when they envision someone visiting a foreign place for the first time.  To me, the awesomeness of cities has always had an attractive pull on my conscious awareness.  Truly, no matter how many cities I visit I am always looking forward to visiting the next one.

 

                                After a day sightseeing in Osaka, I made the decision that the next day I wanted to go on a side-trip to visit another city in Japan.  In general, I really enjoy this type of deviating itinerary since it allows a person to make critical decisions on the ground with the best information available at the time.  In the end, visiting Japan's most famous castle seemed like too great of an opportunity to pass up.

                               My overall impression of Osaka was that it was not the highlight of my trip in Japan nor is it a place that should intentionally be circumvented while traveling in Japan.  It is a city that is worth visiting for a few days depending on how much time you are planning on spending in Japan.