Ireland day 1319. Friday 09 May 2025- Osaka 1

Today’s summary	Woke up early as a result of jet lag and were down at breakfast at 6:30 am. After eating, walked along the river through a rose garden to Osaka castle and had a look round as soon as it opened, and before the crowds arrived. Then visited one of the castle gardens and walked to the nearby Osaka Museum to learn about the history of the city. Sushi lunch in the museum restaurant then walked due south, in the light rain, to Spa World for three hours of relaxation. Underground train back to Umeda and the hotel then sushi from a 7-11 for dinner
Today’s weather	Warm, humid and overcast but dry in the morning, light rain starting at lunchtime which lasted for the rest of the day and got heavier towards evening. Light easterly breeze. Appx 20c

Today’s overview location (The blue mark shows the location of our route)		Close-up location (The blue line shows where we walked) (Click button below to download GPX of today’s walk as recorded, or see interactive map at bottom with elevations corrected): Osaka Castle Museum and Spa

Commentary

This is going to be a short blog as it’s getting quite late and we have both been up for a long time – as a result of jet-lag waking us at what our bodies thought was a sensible time, but was actually the middle of the night here in Osaka.

The bonus of waking early at least meant we were down for breakfast as soon as it opened at 6:30 am. After a good energy boost of octopus balls and seaweed, we set off to start exploring Osaka.

We started by walking down the Tosahori river to Osaka Castle, passing through the beautiful Nakanoshima Rose Garden along the way. We got to the castle just as it opened at 9am, which was fortunate as we were able to get in without queuing, and before it was mobbed with hordes of visitors. We had a good look round and learned a bit about its history and then walked up to the top of the pagoda-like tower for a superb view over the whole of Osaka and its environs.

We left the castle proper and then paid a quick visit to the castle’s Nishonomaru garden – which was unspectacular but peaceful. Then it was just a short walk on to the Osaka Museum, which is housed slightly incongruously in what looks to all intents and purposes like a modern office block. Anyway we really enjoyed it – it’s laid out over floors 4 to 9 of the office block and today featured an extra exhibit on Japanese samurai swords. All very fascinating, especially the “ancient” (7th century and thereabouts) section on the top floor with giant red pillars from an old palace. All very Game-Of-Thrones.

After looking round the museum, we had a sushi lunch in the museum restaurant then headed out into the now-wet afternoon to walk down to our next destination – SpaWorld, which is allegedly one of the biggest spas in Japan (if not the wider region). The 4km walk took us through some of the less upmarket suburbs of Osaka – but it never felt threatening and it certainly felt very authentic. All part of a very memorable Japanese experience.

SpaWorld is right in the middle of this modest area, but it’s great. Almost all the signage and instructions are in Japanese, and there seemed to be hardly any Western visitors. But we worked it all out and enjoyed three very relaxing hours chilling out in the various saunas and onsens. It’s segregated male and female and the areas of the spa used by each swap over every month. Val had the “European” section and me the “Asian”. The hot water comes from a borehole 1000 meters deep. The whole thing was fabulous.

Afterwards, we caught the Midosuji line underground train back to Umeda station and the hotel. We had a quick cup of tea then headed out to a nearby 7-11 store to get some dinner, which we enjoyed in the hotel room and then headed for another early night.

Truly a day to remember. Absolutely fantastic. I think we will both be processing the experience for several weeks to come

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)


Happy at breakfast!	Entrance to the rose garden – which was beautiful and really looking its best

Osaka Castle – its been destroyed and rebuilt at least twice in the last thousand year	Massive gates guard the entrance to the castle compound. Impressive

Lunch – ¥1600 each (about £8 / €9) – good value	SpaWorld. Nicer on the inside than on the outside!

The red room on the top floor of the Osaka Museum. It felt surreal. We loved it