Back to Japan - Osaka Again

Well now the days are rolling by and I can’t wait to go back to Japan, especially as the Foreign Office has downgraded their warning to go to the UAE, which is where I am transiting. This is defiantly a huge weight off my shoulders although I did get upgraded travel insurance, which would have covered me regardless. I also can’t believe that in 2 weeks time, I would have landed and taken off again from the UAE and would be about 6 hours from landing in Osaka!!!!!! Where does the time go?

So, this is the last bit of my Back to Japan blog and the next one you see should be from Japan or Abu Dhabi maybe!

So carrying on from last time, I will be trading 4 wheels back for rails again, it will be time to go to Osaka and while that is somewhere I went last time, I didn’t get to spend loads of time there due to a typhoon, so this time, I will be covering things that I couldn’t do last time, plus more.

Now Osaka is the third most populous city in Japan and has a population of about 2.8 million as of October 2025, which is quite a bit behind Tokyo with its population of about 41 million. I will be based out of a hotel called “APA Hotel and Resort Osaka Namba Ekimae Tower”, which is about a 5-10 minute walk from Osaka Station (Umeda) and is the same Hotel where I will be staying at the beginning of my time in Japan.

Fun Fact, did you know that Osaka has two main stations, Shin-Osaka and Osaka Station (Umeda). Shin-Osaka is more for bullet train access and does have some local lines go to it, but it is north of the Yoda-gawa river in the more business district area, whereas Osaka Station (Umeda) has no bullet train lines, but serves a lot of local and city trains is in the center of the Umeda Ward and is in a downtown area. I actually did get a bit lost when I was last in Osaka due to Osaka Station having that many lines and a huge underground labyrinth including shops, restaurants, bars. It even connects to a shopping center!

While in Osaka, the plan is to go to Universal Studios Osaka, which has a unique Jurassic Park ride and a whole unique area dedicated to Mario. I am also planning to go to Osaka castle, which I didn’t really get to explore last time, go to a zoo, see if i can go to a festival (if the 2026 dates line up), go on a day trip to Kobe, spend a long day in Kyoto and have a rest day in a place called Solaniwa Onsen.

Kyoto – So because last time a typhoon meant that I couldn’t go to Kyoto to do all the stuff I wanted too, now this time, fingers crossed I will be able to spend a full day out in Kyoto. Now because Kyoto is either 15 mins by bullet train for about 2000 Yen (~£10) or 30 min limited express for 580 Yen (~£3), it doesn’t take a genius to guess which one is more cost effective. My first stop in the morning is the Fushimi Inari Taisha shrine, which is probably one of the most iconic shrines in Japan as it has the famous 1,000 torii gates together, know as Senbon Torii. It also dates back to 711 AD After spending an hour here, I will be going to a temple called Nanzen-ji, which dates back to the 13th century and has a fair bit of history to it, including a aqueduct that used to carry water and goods from Kyoto to lake Biwa in the neighboring prefecture. I have also found a neat activity to do, which is a Kendo and Samurai Experience with Uniform and Gear for 2 hours, and it honestly looks amazing and should be a good experience. Lastly, in my itinerary for Kyoto is their newly opened Teamlab Biovortex museum. Now you might remember last time I was in Japan, I went to one in Tokyo, well this one is bigger and boasts 4 floors and 10,000 square meters of exhibits, which will take me a while to get around and after looking at the reviews, I can’t wait to go.

Solaniwa Onsen – This onsen is in Osaka Bay Tower, which also hosts a bunch of resturants, a hotel, offices and many more things, but the onsen is the main reason I am going there, now you might be asking why go to an onsen when you just have one in your hotel? Well, it is not just simply an onsen, as it covers 4 floors and has many different things there. Solaniwa Onsen has garden and foot baths on its roof, which includes a shrine and torii gates, it also has 9 different hot spring baths, private baths if you want to pay a bit extra, bedrock saunas, restaurants, games and festival stalls, a resting zone with reclining chairs, a manga and magazine library, souvenir shop, fish therapy for your feet and a beauty and wellness section, with a gym as well.

Kobe – This costal city is about 21 miles west of Osaka and is famous for both it Kobe Beef and sake, of which it produces about 30% of all Japan’s Sake. It is a city wedged neatly between mountains and the sea and it was devastated by a 6.9 magnitude earthquake in 1995, which was known as ‘The Great Hanshin Earthquake’. Because of this I am first starting off by going to “The Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake Memorial Disaster Reduction and and Human Renovation Institution” (yep, that is a mouthful to say), which is a memorial museum dedicated to the earthquake that happened in 1995. It also acts as a centre where you can learn what to do in future earthquakes and how to be prepared for them, as well. While there, I will also be going to the Kobe Maritime Museum, which also houses the Kawasaki Good Time World exhibition, which shows the history and technology that Kawasaki Heavy Industries helped to engineer over the year, which includes motorbikes, airplanes, trains and sea transport. After this it is time to go to the beach and relax as the early afternoon has finally passed and it will be coming up to sunset soon enough. I also plan on getting some Kobe Beef while in town and going the free Kobe city halls observation deck, which is on the 24th floor and gives a good view over Kobe.

See you all on the other side!