Finding Nemo ... in Osaka

  Osaka, Japan
Wednesday, October 25, 2006

It only takes just over 20 minutes to travel by train the 50 kilometres from Kyoto to Osaka, so we decided to head there to see what Japan's third largest city (after Tokyo and Yokohama) had to offer. Osaka was bombed heavily in WWII and so many of the buildings are modern with what our guidebook describes as "Bladerunner cityscapes". The people are famously down-to-earth and seem to revel in the national recognition of their reputation as gourmets (or maybe that should be gourmands?).

It's thought the average citizen eats out six times a week. The food tends to be hearty and practical - after all the instant noodle was invented in the city in 1958 and an old Japanese saying goes - "Kyoto kidaore; Osaka kuidaore". Apparently it translates roughly as while Kyoto-ites are apt to go bankrupt by buying too many kimonos, Osakans will be ruined by eating out too much.

02 Osaka Aquarium

With this in mind we launched ourselves into Sushi-heaven and both filled up on deliciously fresh raw fish and vegetables for less than 10 pounds. Considering our choice of restaurant, it may seem odd that our first sightseeing port of call was the city's aquarium near the harbour. We spent a fantastic couple of hours viewing thousands of specimens - from otters and seals, to whale sharks and jelly fish. The whole experience was fascinating - as was watching all the Japanese people presumably deciding which of the displays they'd eat given half the chance!

04 The aquarium's enormous whale shark

We emerged from the aquarium feeling like a cross between Jacques Cousteau and Keith Floyd and I had just enough time to make it across town for a long over-due haircut. I only mention this as while chatting with the lovely Keiko who cut my hair, she asked me where I was from. After telling here, I now live in London - I thought I'd just see if she'd ever heard of Wales. Without skipping a beat she said "O'h Wales, like where that Hugh Grant film was set." For those of you who aren't aware of his entire back-catalogue she was referring to the classic "The Englishman Who Went up a Hill, But Came Down a Mountain" - when I told her it was actually filmed in my village of Llanrhaeadr-ym-Mochnant much squealing and general appreciation ensued - much to Jim's amusement!

01 Umeda Sky Building

As well as being famous for its food, Osaka has a reputation as an economic powerhouse. Indeed the prefecture has recorded a GDP bigger than the individual GDPs of all but 8 countries in the world in the past several years - that means were there a G9, Osaka would qualify for membership!

06 At night

With such wealth around there are several bold and striking new buildings on the skyline - one of these is the Umeda Sky Building. It looks like a modern day Arch de Triomphe and you get an amazing view from the 40th floor floating garden observatory - not for the fainthearted. The views were amazing and a perfect accompaniment to the cocktails served in the bar.