I am going to Japan for two weeks this September. The flight was obscenely cheap, and so I couldn't say no. I am flying into Osaka, so I decided that since I only get two weeks of vacation, and one day is effectively stolen by travel, I should focus more on quality, then on quantity. So I am focusing on Kyoto (9 days) and Osaka (4 days). I have a decent idea as to what I want to do in Kyoto, however I'm not that up to speed on Osaka. Days that I am in Osaka are Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday. What should I see/do in Osaka? So far, visiting Osaka aquarium, and going to Den-Den Town are two things on my to do list (Aquarium probably on Monday, to cut down on crowds). I am prepared to skip Osaka-jo, since it is modern, so, frankly, not that interesting to me at this time. My Japanese is reasonably good, and while I can't read Asahi Shinbun without a kanji dictionary, I generally can keep up with a reasonably paced conversation on majority of topics. Any suggestions? Doesn't have to be gaming related. To give you an idea, I enjoyed a trip to the Met last time I was in NY, and had a great time at California Academy of Science and Japanese Tea Garden when I visited San Fran. So a good museum suggestions are also very welcome. Alternatively, instead of a weekend in Osaka, I am thinking of either a 2 day trip to Koya-san, with a stay at a temple and morning meditation practice, or a one day trip to Himeji-jo. If you've done either one of these trips, also, I'd be very interested in your experiences.
Himeji-jo is a great place to visit, but I strongly recommend Mount Shosha/Engyoji close by Himeji. One of the places I enjoyed most in that area =]
A day trip to Hiroshima isn't that difficult and quite worthwhile. Not sure where the best okonamiyaki is, but Osaka is known for it. Space Station is a neat little video game themed bar run by a US-expat - I had a blast here. I love aquariums and the one in Osaka is great.
Partytown indeed. Osaka nightclubs are always busy, Monday to Sunday, if that's your thing. Weekends are packed. Since you're staying there in the weekend you should try it at least one day. Bars are not always so busy, though, but I didn't try so many. Osaka-jo may be from the 1950's like all "old" buildings, but it's one of the nicer castles in Japan. If you go inside (boring museum) you can go to the top and get a nice view. (But I'm sure Himeji-jo is much better, though I haven't been there myself.) I'm sure you'll get enough of shrines and stuff in Kyoto, so not much point going to Sumiyoshi Taisha. I've taken daytrips to Kobe and Nara. In Kobe you can eat Kobe beef, and take the cable car up a mountain then walk down. It's nice, but not sure how fun that is if you're alone, though. Nara had the biggest wooden building until 1998 (Todai-ji, and I think that is an actual OLD building) and you can pet the deer roaming around freely. Both these cities are easy to get to from Osaka. I'm curious what you'll be doing in Kyoto for 9 days. I didn't like it so much, but I was only there a few days a few years ago. Maybe I should try it again. Finally, if you can punch in the name on the attached image into your GPS, you can find the best restaurant I've been to in Osaka (at least the best one I remember where is). It's mostly (or only?) seafood, really really good. Maybe a bit strange to go to this kind of place alone. It's a kind of izakaya, but you don't have booths. Everybody are sitting around a big table.
