Day 9: Osaka is Different and Food

This morning we awoke early and went and did a few laps around Noji Castle across the street.  Last night we watched out our window and noted lots of runners and a little research showed this was a favorite for amongst running groups due to the large sidewalk and the nearly perfect two laps around equals 5K.  We needed this as we have another food tour this evening.  So a few laps, another wonderful breakfast, and we packed up and met our driver for a just over an hour ride to Osaka.

This was an add-on for our tour company, so between that and we are at the start of a holiday week, Silver Week, we are at a nice hotel in a great location, but it is quite large and so far not the level of service we saw in Tokyo. We had to adhere to the check-in time for the first time on our trip and the line was quite long when 3PM did roll around. But we arrived at 11AM, so we had 4 hours to burn.  Our bags were checked and we settled into the lobby to plot out our afternoon. Andy has a project built in the AI engine, Claude, for our trip so he was able to ask for ideas and it was able to reference our location and the rest of our trip and build something unique and walkable.  We also asked for another coffee salon that is a local favorite to plug into our route and we were off.

We made a stop at Namba Yasaka Shrine, best known for its enormous lion-head stage, or Ema-den, which stands 12 meters tall. With its open mouth, the lion is said to swallow evil spirits and bring good luck. It was definitely not a hidden gem on the day we visited—the shrine was packed with visitors! I had hoped to add another hand-written goshuin to my collection, but with the crowds, I instead received a pre-written paper goshuin to take with me. Not quite the same as watching the calligraphy being done in my book, but still lovely and I am now up to 11 pages.

We then visited Dotonbori during the day, which may not have had quite the neon glow the area is famous for at night, but it was still unmistakably Osaka. Loud and crowded. While exploring Osaka’s lively Dotonbori area, we stopped at LiLo Coffee for a much-needed coffee break and a few sweets. LiLo began in Osaka in 2014 and has become known for carefully roasted specialty coffees, making it a fun taste of the city’s modern coffee culture. The shop itself is tiny, and its popularity was obvious—we waited our turn squeezed into the narrow stairwell before finally making it inside. Once seated, we enjoyed our coffee drinks and sweets before heading back out into the bustle of Dotonbori. One thing to know before visiting: bring yen, as it is cash only.

       

We then wandered along the canal, took in the enormous signs including the famous Glico Running Man and spotted the quirky Ferris wheel built into the side of Osaka's Don Quijote. From there, we headed over to Kuromon Ichiba Market, Osaka’s bustling food market. After exploring the market, we decided to walk back toward our hotel, Centara Grand Osaka, and somehow found ourselves wandering through an area filled with gaming, electronics, manga and anime shops. We had stumbled into Nipponbashi Den Den Town and managed to find some Attack on Titans swag which is an anime Alec got Andy hooked on. We eventually worked our way back through Namba Parks, the huge shopping complex connected to the area beside our hotel.  And "Park" in the name does make sense as the 8th/top floor is literally all green space we can see from our hotel room.

After a rest we met our guide, Gino.  Gino was nice although his name was not really Gino.  This mechanical engineer burnt out from working in semiconductor packaging turned tour guide from China is actually named Li Tian, but for ease he picked his favorite character from a Japanese anime who happens to be Italian.  LOL! He hurried us onto the train and 6 stops to the Tenjinbashisuji / Tenma area of Osaka, specifically in Kita Ward (northern-central Osaka).  First we were definitely one of the very few foreigners.  Second this was so different from Kyoto and Tokyo.  Tables on the street, loud, lots of drinking, smoking, casual dress, and we were definitely on the older side with most patrons being I would say 20's - 30's.

Our first stop very much fit the vibe we passed through some curtains and were in Sake no Okuda. This old-school tachinomi, or standing bar, has been serving the neighborhood since 1956, making it a 70-year-old Osaka institution. There are no chairs—just stand at the counter, order a beer or sake and our guide let the owner Okuda, a young man, third generation, who personally waited on us select our food for the evening. Apparently the menu changes every day and it's all drinking food. With its huge old-fashioned noren hanging over the entrance and beer vending machines outside.  It was really loud and really lively and we enjoyed everything so quickly we forgot to get a picture of our dishes until they were empty.

Continuing our wander through Osaka's Tenma neighborhood, our next stop was Kushikatsu Izakaya Semimaru, a tiny, colorful neighborhood pub tucked just off Tenjinbashisuji. Despite its wonderfully old-school appearance—paper lanterns, handwritten menus, banners and seemingly every available inch covered with something—the restaurant actually opened in 2018. Its owner, however, brought some 30 years of culinary experience to the kitchen. The specialty here is kushikatsu, Osaka's famous battered and deep-fried skewers, but the menu also includes fresh fish, oden, doteyaki and all sorts of inexpensive izakaya dishes. We completed turned our guide loose on ordering at this one and his choices did not disappoint.

Our last stop for the evening was tucked down one of Tenma's narrow back alleys,  Asa na Yū na ni, a tiny neighborhood izakaya marked by little more than a handwritten wooden sign. Inside, a large pan of oden stretched along the counter, filled with daikon radish, tofu, fish cakes, mushrooms, meat skewers and other ingredients slowly simmering in a savory dashi broth. Oden is classic Japanese comfort food—you simply choose the pieces you want from the pot—and here it's served year-round. This time Andy and our guide enjoyed Japanese Highballs and I had a peach soda with Japanese whiskey which was quite tastey. The experience was very intimate and the owner who was the cook and server this evening loved talking baseball and Caifornia.

We finished the evening with a little rain, a quick stop for taiyaki, but we were so full we got it to go this time. Having a male guide, who was quite new at the position, only 6 months, was definitely a different experience.  It almost seemed like he was nervous, but I think his chugging beers at our first two locations loosened him up a bit and before it was all over we would be discussing his cousin who attends Purdue and much more. We did kind of laugh at the end of the evening when he said "I only pick you up, you get home on your own."  Of course we had no probem with it, but it made us laugh.

Back to my title...Osaka is different.  It doesn't adhere to a lot of the social rules we have witnessed in other cities. People walk on the left and the right. People talk on the train a bit more.  And the dress is more casual.  Andy would actually wear his first t-shirt of of the trip here.  And definitely more I will share later.  But for now off to sleep before our last full day in Japan and another tour and last miunte shopping as we saved our knife for Osaka and I am on the hunt for matcha salt for my tempura at home.