Osaka

Our grueling work week started this Monday at 11am, when we had to meet at the office with bags packed for an overnight. Edson and I were almost late, but had just enough time to grab an iced coffee out of the work vending machine. Vending machines are all over the place in Japan, by the way. I may dedicate a post to pictures of all of the vending machines some time.

We traveled to Tokyo station to begin our assignment: travel to Osaka via the Shinkansen train, and then return via one of the national airlines. The purpose of this exercise was to compare the two competing modes of travel in terms of speed, comfort, amenities, and overall experience. The Shinkansen took about 2.5 hours, and was a very enjoyable and uneventful ride. I forgot to bring my headphones, so I was sans music for the entire trip.

Once in Osaka, we checked into our hotel and set our to explore the city. Osaka is the third largest city in Japan, and one of the top 20 global cities in the world. Although many Japanese companies have moved their headquarters to Tokyo, Osaka is home to many big names like Panasonic, Sharp, and Sanyo.

Our first stop was the Osaka Castle, a huge building that was first built in the late 1500's. Like most things in Japan, it had to be reconstructed after WWII, but it retains much of the original material. It is a huge impressive building.



We then went and had dinner at a local restaurant and tried the local specialty of okonomiyaki. It sounds fancy, but is really just fried food on a stick. I had some beef, pork, cheese, and ice cream. Wash it down with a beer and you could swear that you were back in Wisconsin. The picture below is the area that we ate in. There was another tower similar to the Tokyo tower, but we did not go up in it.



After dinner we took the train down to Dōtonbori, a major hangout and shopping area. The more time I spend in Japan, the more I am convinced that shopping is the national pastime. There are nice clothing stores EVERYWHERE, and the youth culture seems to revolve around the shopping areas. This area was pretty impressive, with a high density shopping area centered around a pedestrian mall. This shot is of a famous bridge and neon billboards.



Our last stop was the floating garden, but we had to rush back to get to it before it closed. The floating garden building is perhaps the single coolest building that I have ever been to, as you might be able to tell from the pictures. The building consists of two main towers, which are connected on the top levels and have two escalators traveling across the gap in between them. The top connected levels have a 360 degree view of Osaka, and an open rooftop where you can walk around. I told Nicole I want to have our wedding here, so everyone book your tickets to Japan.



We had a second dinner at a local fast food restaurant, where I helped a Japanese girl with her English homework. This morning we regrouped after breakfast and took off for the airport. The flight back was faster than the train, but the overall travel time was about the same when you factor in getting to and from the airports. You still need to start at the train station (unless you want to pay a ton for a taxi) when you are taking a flight, and there are no security hassles or waiting for a flight with the Shinkansen. If I were to plan a trip to Osaka on my own, I would probably take the train.

It is now pouring rain, so I am staying in my room listening to music and downloading movies to watch. Tomorrow we are heading back to Tokyo Station for a lecture on Shinkansen Operations.