After having a few days to visit Kyoto and Himeji, I was moving on to Osaka. Osaka is the second largest city in Japan following Tokyo and is known for being home to Japan’s Universal Studios, Osaka Castle, and the famous tourist area, Dotonbori.
Waking up in a major city, I was excited by the prospects of finding an acupuncturist who might speak even just a bit of English. Towards the end of my time in Korea a friend introduced me to a natural medicine clinic across the street from our apartments and I’ve been a little obsessed with acupuncture ever since. That said, with some determination in my google searching and a few short emails I made myself an appointment for that afternoon.
I had a much harder time finding the office than I’d anticipated, but found a multitude of people who did their best to help me find the hidden annex building. Special shout out to the man working at Toyota car rental who actually printed out a map and drew the path I would need to take, as well as, the woman working at the hospital who knew I was in the wrong place and walked with me down the block to the correct office. I think I’d still be wandering the streets of Osaka had they not offered their assistance.
Finally making it to the acupuncturist we made very brief introductions, and I tried my best to explain that my shoulders and hips were sore from walking and carrying my backpack. She said, “okay,” and we got started.
The acupuncture in Japan was much different than what I’d received in Korea. She put a few needles on my back then after 10 minutes took them out, asked me to turn over, and repeated the process. She also spent about 30 minutes helping me to stretch, which I had never experienced before. That said, it was really helpful. Even now weeks later, I’m still feeling better.
Conveniently, the acupuncture office was just a half hour walk to Osaka castle which was on my list of places to se. And since the castle came up in Google Maps, the walk to get there was much easier.
I spent the next two hours walking around the gorgeous white and green castle and the part that surrounds it. Everything about that castle made me feel like I was living in a fairytale. The Japanese architecture was so beautiful and perfectly complimented by the lush part that surrounds it. There were even people sailing in gold canopy boats through the moat to get a closer look at the structure.
I decided to walk through the park and then journey back the mile and a half to my hostel and explore all of the side streets of Osaka. There is just something about walking through Japan that is so intriguing and yet calming at the same time. The entire country just has this energy that is hard to describe.
Right through my walking path was Dotonbori, another place I wanted to cross off my list. It took nearly two hours, but I’d made it to the flashing lights of the tourist strip. Dotonbori sits along the Dotonbori Canal is filled with shopping, restaurants, street food, arcades, and casinos. It’s most well-know for takoyaki which is kind of similar to a little pancake ball that is filled with octopus and then covered with delicious sauces. I decided to grab a plate from a little mother/son run cart and sit next to the canal to eat. It was interesting just to do a little people watching on this busy strip in Osaka. The perfect way to end the night.
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After a quick and adventurous weekend in Beijing I flew into Tokyo for a two-week tour through Japan. I started with two days in the capital city before moving down to Kyoto for the rest of the week.
Himeji is a city in Japan that lies just a few hours train journey away from Kyoto or Osaka and is home to this centuries-old gorgeous white castle. I caught a late morning train which put me in Himeji in early afternoon; perfect timing for exploring. After buying my ticket I took a self guided tour through the six-story castle climbing up the steep staircases with the rest of the visitors.
bbm travels 