Written by Dave

Kansai, Osaka – Sensory Overload and Calm in Osaka

If a bike trip slows life down, then visiting the heart of major Asian city speeds life up. We’ve spent the last couple days mostly just wandering Osaka and Rinku City (Kansai). We’ve done a little shopping and some eating. But mostly, we’ve been trying to catch our breath. Not because we are tired from the cycle trip but more because the city is so full on.

It started right from the get go, at the train station to the city on Tuesday morning. We decided to take the slow train, it was cheaper and we had time to kill. While we were standing on the platform waiting for our train, an express train went through the station and wow, it was shockingly fast. I recorded a video but can’t get it uploaded. The video is wild but it doesn’t give you the full effect as being there live, the compressed air whoosh shakes your entire body. If you were looking the other way, or a wee bit too close to the platform edge, it would stun you. Mothers, hold on to your children. Wow.

Eventually our pulses returned to normal and our train arrived, calmly delivering us to central Osaka. I honestly don’t know how people get used to waiting on the platform while those express trains fly through. In the city we had two goals, the food/nightlife district of Dotombori District and the shopping street of Shinsaibashi.

We tried to arrive mid-morning so as to avoid the commuter rush but it didn’t seem to matter. There were people everywhere. We started in Dotombori and it was packed. We’ve been travelling in some cites but nothing anywhere near the size of Osaka. And on this morning, it felt like everyone was out. There were people everywhere. And in Dotombori, the restaurants have to compete to attract those people so shops have a never-ending contest of building the biggest, most outrageous store front. Think garish plastic faces, flashing lights, billboard sized signage and constant loud muzak.

Then there was Shinsaibashi Street. It was sort of conga line like but that’s not really fair. In a conga line everyone is going the same direction. Even though they drive on the left, walking seems to be “whatever works”. Left, right, plough straight ahead, it doesn’t matter. Oh, and if your skills are high, be typing something on your smart phone screen will walking. I had to shout out “head’s up” to a number of walkers just so they wouldn’t plough right into us. And what the heck, if you feel like it, ignore the “no bike riding signs” and use you phone at the same time on the walking street. I have no idea how there aren’t more collisions. If all that sounds crazy (it was) maybe try being at the front of the queue when a walk signal turns green – big push from behind, into a mass of walk-where-ever’s coming at you. It’s enough to make me want to go in the fabric shops that Nancy was looking for.

Well, that was the first couple days at least. The last day, if anything was almost a polar opposite. We starting making our way to a shrine which required us to ride a slower local train, followed by a low key local lunch and then some wandering the small neighborhood streets. Last but not least, there was the soak in the hotel onsen to finish the chill-out. In our wanders we found another treasured IPA so we now can celebrate our last night here properly.

The shrine was the Sumiyoshi Taisha Shrine, which is apparently the oldest Sumiyoshi shrine in Japan. It was founded in the 3^rd century (around 211AD/CE). This was before the introduction of Buddhism, making it free of influence from the Asian mainland. Buildings face south and have straight, rather than curved roofs. Sumiyoshi shrines enshrine the kami (Shinto gods) who protect travelers, fishermen and sailors at sea.

It is an active shrine with many children dressed in traditional clothes for photos near the “first shrine visit” sign (thanks Nancy for spotting this one). Some of the moms were also in traditional dress and we ran into a bride and groom out for wedding photos. While it was sort of busy, it is a very large complex and completely the opposite to the city. It was mostly peaceful and quiet with much of the city noise muffled by trees and a surrounding wall.

We had lunch just across the street at a restaurant called Don & Udon – easy to remember. It was run by an elderly couple and had a pretty small menu. The food was basic and very tasty. For most of our time in the restaurant, we were the only guests. There were no touts waving coupons or large plastic crabs to attract our attention – just simple food across the street from the shrine.

We’re now back at the hotel and thinking about packing our bags so we are ready for our final trip to the airport tomorrow. One nice thing about bike tours is that this is a pretty easy job. We don’t have many things to pack and haven’t had the room to buy souvenirs anyway. Plus we have to get to that IPA – cheers to another successful trip. Our speeds, feeds and overall thoughts on Japan post will come out next week sometime.