I lived in Osaka for two years, and Mike for three. Osaka is to Tokyo what Portland is to Seattle…half the size, scrappier, less formal, and a better food scene. (I know I have some friends up north who would disagree!)

The first part of our trip centered around Tokyo, while the last part is in the area we called home: the Kansai region. Arriving in Osaka, it felt a little like home…that is before 15 million arrive in your living room!

We started our jam-packed day with the Osaka Museum of Housing and Living.

It was a great reflection of the changes seen in Osaka since the Edo period.

After much of Osaka was burnt to the ground during WWII, they used buses for temporary housing in the Shirokita Bus Settlement.

Next we found a little restaurant for lunch. Teishoku (meal sets) can be very inexpensive here…my tempura lunch was around $7 and Mike’s $9. They make the money with drinks!

Next we went to Osaka Castle, which I can’t remember ever visiting. Once again I was glad we had watched Shogun to understand more of the history. The museum inside was excellent, but it was completely packed with people and we felt pretty claustrophobic.

We headed to Hirano, the area where I lived for a few years with my friend Jean (when I wasn’t at Mike’s place most of the time). The area had completely changed of course…for example we realized there were two train stations now and we took the wrong one. Unfortunately I didn’t come equipped with my old address, so we spent a fair bit of time wandering around trying to find something familiar!!

The area is not in the best shape and I was not able to definitively identify my neighborhood. I guess my muscle memory failed me after 39 years!

I could remember which side I got off at the station and there was a pachinko station nearby and a sushi restaurant on the first floor…but my apartment was pretty old. It might have been demolished, although a lot looked old in Hirano!

Next we headed to Umeda, always a nice area but now fancy pants!

Umeda Sky is a pair of 40-story towers joined at the top by the dramatic, donut-shaped Kuchu Teien (Floating Garden) Observatory. Reached by glass-walled escalators, the open-air rooftop offers a 360° panorama, from the Yodo River and Osaka Bay. We had no clue how mobbed it would be, and we ended up waiting in a crowded line for 1/2 hour or more to go up…and 15 minutes to go down.

It was worth the wait!!

The views were spectacular.

We headed for the Dohtombori area where Osaka’s nightlife thrives. Once again we were SHOCKED by how popular it had become. The area was packed with tourists.

After we first started dating and hadn’t seen each other for a month, I came to Osaka and we had a night out. I’ll never forget making out on Dohtombori Bridge, shocking all the Japanese passersby (public displays of affection are not done here).

It was an exhausting, full day, but we felt like we got a good glimpse of the way Osaka has changed.