Day 4 - Travel to Osaka

A trip on the Shinkasen (Bullet Train). I have no idea what this costs for ordinary Japanese but our 14 day rail passes cost around £300 each and give us access to all long distance and metropolitan railways including the Shinkasen. I wonder if the Japanese use these rather than internal flights they certainly seem to be well subscribed and there are plenty of services to all the main cities.

Japanese main line stations are more like airports with lots of shops selling gifts and food both sides of the barriers. People buy their lunch before they board. Bento boxes seem to come in all shapes and sizes from a simple snack to a 2 tier box with main course and desert and cost between 500 and 1200 yen (£3 - £8)

The journey is swift and efficent, so far getting around has been a doddle. We catch a commuter service for the short hop into central Osaka and walk to our hotel a short stroll from one of the 3 central stations.


When I wondered earlier about the lack of people in Tokyo, I now understand that they all appear to be in Osaka. The place is a big shopping mecca with shops fronting into a large underground shopping mall that spread across the centre of the city linking large multistory department stores. The underground malls are heaving with people and it feels a bit like being on the set of Blade Runner (Without the rain) but with the passages lined with little shops and food outlets in between the entrances to the larger stores.

If you like to shop then Osaka is the place for you. One department store Hep5 is 10 floors with all the designer brand being represented in individual shops inside. The place also has a giant ferris wheel on the roof although we didnt get to go on it.

The other thing about Osaka is we appeared to be situated in that city's version of Soho. The main streets are Ok but the back streets can appear a bit seedy with strip joints and dodgy bars mixed with resturants of all types. It was difficult to find somewhere that we could eat as a family becuase the resturants mainly dont have street frontage and you couldnt tell what it was like without going in side. We didnt want to end up accidently strolling into a lap dancing club with my mother-in-law and simon in tow.

Anyway in the end we decided to eat in the hotel for ease of use. It was a bit like a hungry horse basic but cheap, it filled the bill for now, tomorrow we travel to Nagasaki we will need to do our home work on the train to look for somewhere nice.