Verdant Prefecture In Armony: Osaka

The Osaka prefecture is the third most populous area after Tokyo and Kanagawa in Japan. It has approximately 10.5 % of non Japanese residing in Osaka. Historically Osaka was Japan’s commercial capital, even though with the shifting of capital powers between Nara, Kyoto and Tokyo, Osaka was never affected economically and still serves as a powerful business centre.

Except for the past history of inhabitant of human since more than ten thousand years ago, the Osaka is also regarded as country’s gourmet food capital, you will find variety of dishes; dumpling made with octopus, kaiseki food is the specialty of the locals there.

Osaka is situated at the mouth of the Yodo River and is surrounded by the mountains by other three sides. Kansai is another name given to the Osaka for transforming itself into 21st century skyscraper which defines Japan’s social and economical standards.

Osaka castle

The Osaka castle is one of the oldest castles in Osaka. The Osaka castle park has been attracting tourists by it seasonal plum and cherry blossoms. In the late March to early April, number of visitors comes to see the full bloom of the trees. The whole garden looks stunning and it’s the top-notch garden to visit in spring.

Osaka museum

It is located outside the Osaka Castle Park. It is eight floor towers which have been converted into museum. The each floor represents different era of the Osaka. The top floor is the recreation of Naniwanomiya Palace.

Osaka aquarium

It is well known as ‘Kaiyukan’. It is the largest aquarium in the world. 14 water tanks are made with the Pacific Ocean tank as core. It is a home for 580 species and three thousand marine animals. The biggest tank in the aquarium holds the world’s largest fish, whale shark. It’s the most fascinating thing in the Osaka you can’t miss out to watch.

The Floating Garden Observatory

The most daring thing anyone can do is to go up there on the platform which is connected by two towers of Umeda Sky building; the scary thing is that the platform is 567 feet high from the ground level. But the view of the city is breathtaking. You may freak out a little when you go up last five floor by the escalator, it just give a feeling of floating in the air without any safety. During windy or bad weather the open air top floor is closed, but you must go and watch the view, it last forever in your memory.

Sumiyoshi Taisha Grand Shrine

This shrine is the oldest Sumiyoshi shrine in whole Japan. It was established in the third century and display traditional Japanese architecture.

The night life of Osaka is very much vibrant and diverse. There are numbers of bars, pubs, clubs, restaurants and entertainment houses in Osaka, so after night still there is bustle for the tourists. Being the modern attraction and have diverse population the night life is more fun. The Dotonbori area is very famous for partying and meeting people.

Transportation

Kansai international airport is the main and nearby airport in the Kansai region. It is to the south of Osaka city centre, about 50 kilometers away.

The Haruka Kansai airport Limited Express train links the airport to Shin – Osaka station. The journey by train to given destination is approximately fifty minutes.

The road networks between Tokyo and Hiroshima and Osaka is well connected by the expressways such as Sanyo and Chugoku expressways from west, and another expressway from Kyoto to the north east; Meishin expressway, Kinki and Hanwa expressways is to the south of Osaka city.