Cool to see another city, but it wasn’t our favorite. We got to see kabuki and a taiko collab, hit a sushi-belt place, and did a day trip to Nara and MONKEYS.
Background
Osaka is Japan’s kitchen and its loudest city — neon and street food stacked along the Dotonbori canal, a moat-ringed castle, and a more brash, casual feel than Kyoto. It’s also the jumping-off point for Nara, half an hour out, where the free-roaming deer bow for crackers in the old capital’s park.
If you go
Osaka is the food-and-neon city — Dotonbori at night, conveyor-belt sushi, and a more brash, casual feel than Kyoto. Kabuki and taiko are the traditional-arts side. The easy day trip is Nara, half an hour out, famous for the free-roaming (and very forward) deer in Nara Park; the region’s monkeys are up at the Arashiyama monkey park near Kyoto. A good city, even if it’s the one that didn’t quite win us over. Japan travel info.
