-
This Observatory In Osaka Offers Breathtaking Views Of The City
There’s a plethora of things to see, eat, and do while in Osaka. One of the most popular attractions in the city is the Kuchu Teien Observatory in Osaka.
Kuchu Teien Observatory In Osaka
Located in the Umeda Sky Building, this observatory in Osaka provides a 360-degree view of Osaka from various floors in a 40-story high building.
Tickets cost 1,500 yen, ($9.50 USD). To enter Kuchu Teien you first enter on the 3rd floor where an elevator will take you all the way to the 35th floor.
From here you take an escalator from the 35th floor to 39th floor. If you’re not a fan of heights you probably don’t want to look to your left or right while on this escalator ride. Both sides of the escalator are enclosed in glass. As you go up you can see the city, it’s kind of like you’re floating in the air. It’s definitely a bit of an experience.
All the floors here are circular and provide 360-degree views of the city. The 39th floor is the first floor you can walk around in the observatory in Osaka. It contains a Gallery Shop, a Chinese Restaurant, and a Sky Lounge as well.
The 40th floor provides the same views as the 39th and has an additional Cafe where you can grab some food and a drink and take a seat to soak in the views of the city.
There’s also a couple of small exhibits on this floor that shows the history of the Umeda Sky Building and how it was constructed.
Once you spend some time on the 40th floor it’s time to head up to the rooftop. This is where the Skywalk is located. This is a circular walkway around the rooftop that provides the same types of views as the 39th and 40th floors but obviously without the windows!
I’m glad I went at night and was able to see the city fully lit up. The views are quite spectacular!
The rooftop also provides a great view of the middle of the building and how high up you really are. The design of this portion of the building is definitely quite interesting. Especially when you see the escalators which look like they’re floating in the air.
Is The Kuchu Teien Observatory In Osaka Worth Visiting?
If you’re a fan of observatory’s and views of city landscapes then you’ll definitely want to check out Kuchu Teien Observatory In Osaka. It’s a fun attraction (the escalator ride and feeling of floating about 35 floors up in the air is quite an experience) and the way the building is designed in itself is something worth gawking at. For about $10 USD this won’t break the bank either so it’s something that’s pretty fair in price. If heights aren’t your thing you may not enjoy this. The “floating” escalators may not jive well with you, nor the Skywalk. I’m not a fan of heights myself but found these elements of the attractions to be fine though.
-
Hole In The Wall Senryo Sushi in Osaka Provides Authentic Experience
The tiny Senryo Sushi in Osaka is a sushi restaurant located off a main street near the Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan. After walking around and enjoying the aquarium why not enjoy some sushi in a quaint local sushi joint?
Table of Contents
Senryo Sushi in Osaka
After visiting Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan in the evening and walking around enjoying the sights there, I was definitely quite hungry and looking forward to finding something to eat in the area. I managed to find Senryo Sushi which had an excellent 4.5 star rating (out of 5) on Google and decided to give it a try.
This is tucked away off the main street and you could easily miss it. It’s a very small restaurant consisting of a sushi bar with about 12 -15 seats. There’s one sushi chef. It seems like a husband / wife duo that run the place. It’s definitely a neighborhood type of restaurant that’s been there for a while, which I loved. It’s a very cozy, warm atmosphere. They do not speak any English here and only cash is accepted.
The Sushi
Senryo Sushi in Osaka does have an English menu with preset sushi sets, which is certainly helpful, but the menu is quite small which limits what you can try. I did order off it but in hindsight wish I had gone the Google Translate route to open up more options on the main menu.
I went with the Chu-Nigiri sushi set (1500 yen, $9.56). Definitely a good deal for the price! Eight pieces of excellent looking sushi for under $10? Sign me up. The presentation of sushi at Senryo Sushi in Osaka is impressive as well. Everything looks so meticulously placed and put together. I had zero idea of what most of the sushi was to be honest outside of the shrimp, unagi, tuna, and salmon roe, but was more than happy to give it all a try.
Something that immediately caught my attention was how the fish was extremely fresh and the sushi presentation was fantastic. It looked delicious when it was brought out!
Something else that was a little different was the wasabi was already spread on the rice, underneath the fish. I’d never seen it served like that, I’m generally accustomed to getting a glob of it on a side dish to mix it in with some soy sauce. I liked it!
The standouts to me was, of course, the melt in your mouth tuna and the shrimp which was very sweet. All of the pieces had their own type of texture, for better or for worse since I’m a big food texture eater.
Some of the cuts of fish were a little too chewy or a little too firm for my liking, but it was a great sampler of what is offered in this little restaurant and again, the fish was good quality. I just didn’t know what it all was lol. I do wish I had tried ordering off the main menu to be able to open up all the different types of sushi they offered. I certainly would have ordered a lot more of the tuna but I suppose it will have to wait until my next visit!
Final Thoughts
Overall I really enjoyed eating at Senryo Sushi in Osaka. It was definitely a find. It’s a good spot if you’re looking for a place to eat after visiting the Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan and are heading back to the subway station. Very affordable, and you can’t go wrong with a local restaurant serving good food. You really get a cool vibe from eating at places like this. I certainly recommend it!
-
Stunning Osaka Castle Is One Of The Most Popular Places To Visit In Osaka
Table of Contents
Osaka Castle History
Osaka Castle has over a 450 year history dating back to 1583 when the feudal lord Hideyoshi Toyotomi built the first iteration of the castle. The castle has been destroyed numerous times mainly due to war and fire but has been re-built afterwards each and every time during its exisitence. The last re-build occurred in 1931 when the castle tower was re-built. Although damaged during World War II, the main structure remained intact and was recognized as a historic site by the Japanese government in the 1950s.
Today’s Osaka Castle
Today, Osaka Castle is one of the most popular tourist attractions in not only Osaka, but all of Japan. When you get to the castle park and walk around, you have a great view of the castle towering over the premises, you can understand why it’s a tourist favorite. I was lucky to go on a clear, beautiful day, and the tower sitting on high was really a magnificent sight.
The area within the castle grounds contains citadels, gates, turrets, massive stone walls, and huge moats. It’s a great area to walk around to appreciate all of the impressive architecture. The stone walls are comprised of an estimated 500,000 – 1 million stones. The moat walls stand over 65 ft and are 295 ft wide. They’re certainly an impressive sight as you walk amongst them.
There’s two separate moats which encircle the castle and the castle park. Both are huge and provide a nice walk if you have the time and really want to take in views of the entire premises and see the castle from all angles.
The inside of the castle is completely modern and is a museum that provides the history of both Hideyoshi Toyotomi and the castle. The very top of the museum provides a great view of the castle grounds and of the surrounding Osaka area. You do have to pay a small entrance fee in order to enter the museum. The museum is interesting, especially if you’re a museum fan or history buff, but it would have been great if they had tried to re-construct how the castle may have once looked at the height of its powers. Wishful thinking.
While the castle itself is the highlight, the surrounding Osaka Castle Park is very large as well. It’s about 2 square km with lots of green space. It’s really a green oasis within Osaka. It really is a nice area to just take a stroll through. You can easily bring some snacks and drinks and just hangout in this area for a nice little break from all the sight-seeing.
The park gets very popular during cherry blossom season due to its abundance of cherry blossom trees in the area, which I imagine would be quite stunning. The fall colors within the Osaka Castle Park would be sight to behold as well.
Is Osaka Castle Worth Visiting?
If you’re visiting Osaka, the Osaka Castle is most likely one of the bigger attractions you’re looking to visit. If it’s not, it should be. It really is one of the bigger attractions in all of Japan and one of its most famous castles. Once you get there and start walking around the Osaka Castle Park, cross over the moat bridge into the inner Osaka Castle grounds, you’ll understand why the castle is such a popular destination.
In a sense, you feel like you’ve been transported back in time once you’re walking around the enormous stone walls and stand up on them and look out over the moat. It’s really a spectacle that needs to be experienced if you’re in Osaka!
-
The Popular Okonomiyaki Is A Must Have While Visiting Osaka
Okonomiyaki is a popular, savory pancake dish that is found throughout Japan. Consisting of a flour batter and cooked on a teppan, common ingredients include cabbage, meat, and seafood, with toppings including a thicker worcestershire type sauce, dried seaweed flakes (aonori), bonito flakes, Japanese mayonnaise, and ginger.
It’s prepared much like a pancake with the batter and ingredients pan-fried on both sides of the teppan.
Originally created in Osaka in the 1930s, it quickly spread throughout the Kansai region (Nara, Wakayama, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyogo, and Shiga). This version of okonomiyaki is what is generally found throughout Japan. In Hiroshima they have their own distinct take on the popular dish, where the ingredients are layered instead of mixed and there is about 3-4x more cabbage used with noodles and a fried egg topping it off.
I didn’t get to visit Hiroshima this trip, but was in Osaka to have their style of okonomiyaki.
Table of Contents
Okonomi Yukari
While out and about in Osaka, I ran into Okonomi Yukari which is a okonomiyaki restaurant that has been around since 1953. There’s a few of these restaurants throughout Osaka. The one I went to in the Kita Ward is the flagship location. With it being my first night in Osaka I thought it was a great time to get my okonomiyaki for the trip!
They had many different variations of okonomiyaki here, with a large selection of toppings you could add as well. I went with the most popular choice – the Special Mix Yaki (1450 yen, $9.25 USD). This particular mix included pork, cuttlefish, and shrimp.
The table you sit at has its own teppan and once you order your server comes by with a bowl with all the ingredients and an egg which gets cracked into the mixture and you stir it all up. You can either make it yourself or they will make it for you. Since I had zero idea of how to actually cook the okonomiyaki, I let the pro handle it.
Just like a big ol’ pancake chalk full of ingredients with pork laid on top, this is what the okonomiyaki looked like when it was first placed on the teppan.
It takes some time to get it nice and cooked (at least when you’re hungry and have food cooking right in front of you) but it started coming along. The outside was getting nice and crisp and the inside was starting to cook as well. It gets flipped a few times before it’s ready to be served.
Once fully cooked through the thicker worcestershire type sauce, dried seaweed flakes (aonori), bonito flakes, Japanese mayonnaise all get added. The pictures don’t quite do this justice. This is a large, dense, pancake! There’s a spatula that you use to cut the okonomiyaki into smaller pieces so you don’t need to dig into the whole thing.
The Okonomiyaki
After watching this cook before my very eyes I was ready to dig in! I gave myself a nice chunk of the pancake and dug in.
The outside had a nice char to it with a slight crunch. The inside is fairly packed with all the goodies. The cuttlefish was really tender and well done. It wasn’t dried out at all. The shrimp was sweet and the pork was a nice tasty surprise when you got a bite of it. There was also some green onion and carrot mixed into this as well which went great with the mixture.
The combination of the worcestershire type sauce and Japanese mayonnaise adds a little sweet and savory to the pancake. They gel well together and are really the perfect complement topping for this dish.
Overall, it was a satisfying, very filling meal! For under $10 USD it was a great value and it’s just one of those meals that you must have if you’rve visiting Osaka!
