We are about to leave Osaka and thought I'd share a few notes.
We came in by train from Kyoto and checked into Mimaru Shinsaibashi North. Via booking.com we paid about 60,000JPY per night for a 2 bed family apartment for 2 50:year old adults and 3 teenagers. We all had our own spacious bed and you could sleep another 2 on the flat couches and another in the bunks. It was basically perfect. Great staff, laundry was easy to do, good free Wifi etc. We have stayed in Mimaru's in Tokyo and Kyoto as well.
We visited Dotonbori and the surrounding malls a few times. The Godzilla shop was good. I also bought an Osaka exclusive t-shirt at an Adidas store.
We went to a cat cafe. My daughter enjoyed it but I fell asleep. Make sure you leave on time because they charge for extra time without advising you that you are running past the time you paid for. Having been to a cat cafe before the minipig cafe in Shabuya, Tokyo was more fun. Mostly cats sleep.
We ate steak twice at a place called Cowboy Steakhouse but steak is major part of the cuisine here in Osaka and you won't struggle to find places with Google Maps – just avoid the places with touts because they are overpriced. We also had Indian/Nepali near the hotel which was fun because of the huge naan that we weren't used to in Sydney. McDonalds is much better here than at home.
It was very hot and humid and only 3 of us braved the middle of the day to take a day trip to Nara to see the deer. One of us loves Spa World and went there twice. McDonalds is a lot better here then back home. We found a bit of home at Melbourne Coffee but it is struggling to really be like a Melbourne cafe.
I had a cool experience getting a simple men's haircut and blade shave near the hotel. It was 4000JPY which is very cheap compared with the same in Sydney but this guy must have shaved me 4 times, washed my hair 3 times, put hot washers on my face 3 times and used various techniques I have never experienced like putting talc on my head at one point and using a popping device (?) at one point. All I know is it went 'pop pop pop' and I had my eyes closed so I have no idea what it looked like. Oh and there was a little head and shoulder massage near the end. We never needed to tip anywhere but I just had to give him 5000 because he did an outstanding job.
Uber is a great tool for booking taxis (not Ubers) here partly because you can easily get a people moverbto get you all to a shinkansen station or airport, it means there is no struggle to explain where you want to go and there's no rush to pay at the destination. Also I swear they drive faster with the price set. Other than the barber, very small restaurants and shops we were able to use a Visa card everywhere. We were able to do our laundry just with the coins we picked up along the way. Convenience stores are everywhere of course – just metres from the hotel.
Similarly you feel super safe everywhere in Osaka and while we walked a lot (5km+/day) it's all flat
We could have done more but we are all a bit neurodivergent and fight with one another. But you also need a rest day I suppose.
I think 2 nights may have been enough in Osake after Tokyo and we could have used an extra day in Kyoto.
Now we are itching to be out of the city at Kawaguchiko near Mt Fuji. We are taking a shinkansen to Mishima because we are hiring a car from Toyota hire there so we are much closer and it's probably cheaper to do that too. We will be using that car to get to our accomodation in a fancy looking AirBnB and to tour around for 3 days. We aren't going to try and climb Mt Fuji but actually enjoy the lower area below the highest station you can catch a bus or train to.
Our next port of call after that will be Hakone to stay in a Ryokan and go to an onsen in the area very well known for hot springs. Then we will drop the car at Haneda.
Tip: Dress light for the plane.
by Retireegeorge