Japan Trip 2025

By Green Snake

Introduction

This time, I visited the central part of Japan. I've never been there so I had to do some extensive planning. There's a lot of interesting things...

I also went with a few friends. I don't recommend large groups. I think 2-4 people is good. Maybe 2-3 is better. It'll be easier to move around, get consensus, and do things.

I flew out through Japan Airlines (JAL). It was a bit fancier than normal airlines.

I planned to fly into Osaka and then fly out of Tokyo. I made a mistake of getting two separate one-way tickets. This will cost a lot more than just getting something called “open-jaw” flight. If you plan on flying in and flying out of a different citues, you have to specifically book for “open-jaw” flight, which is similar to a “round-trip”. The cost savings are very significant. Be sure to check it out. Normally, I book through Priceline but it was down specifically for me for several days, for some reason. I tried to go to support and that was down for me too! It was like my IP was blocked or something 😠. I normally use Priceline for everything, their website is really easy to use. I booked out my flights a few months in advance and my hotel a month out in advance. I went to the Itami Airport (ITM), but you can take the Kansai Airport (KIX) (a bit further south of Osaka) if it's cheaper. I think either is fine.

I studied more Japanese at a casual rate using the Genki 1 book, Minna no Nihongo, and also some ANKI flash cards from Jouzu Juls. The ANKI deck for a few months really helped my vocabulary. And being able to plug words into basic grammar structures was really helpful. I would say I am around the JLPT N5 level.

Some bars may charge a “cover fee, otoshi” for a few bucks. It's normal to help cover operation fees. You normally get some stuff quickly such as: marinated vegetables, peanuts, etc. Some people think it's a scam and they get mad 🗿. Also, remember, there's no tipping.

Also, Japanese people enjoy their privacy, so don't take pictures of them without permission. Public places is sort of okay.

The temperature is mildly chilly at this time. 50 - 70 F. (10 - 20 C).

Day 0 & 1, Flight to Osaka (Wednesday, Thursday)

The group wasn't too picky on the date, so I picked around Halloween, because I wanted to see that.

We arrived at JFK a bit early. The JAL reception wasn't open yet. We waited in line. The lady in front of us had a Pokemon psyduck sticker from B-SIDE I could read some of it “??? forgotten”. When the reception opened, the workers lined up, gave a big announcement and then bowed towards us. It was odd since I'm not used to that. I am not exactly a big honcho.

I flew out with my bilingual friend (maybe JLPT N4 or N5 level) from JFK. My friend said, “The worst part about traveling is the travelling.” And, he's right. Being crammed in a small airplane seat is never fun. I'm glad that I don't have to fly in standing seats where the passengers face each other. That would be brutal. JAL was interesting since everything was really Japanese from the people to the entertainment. I spent my time reading books (Abroad in Japan), vocab JLPT N5, and sleeping. The food tasted better than normal airline food. I enjoyed the well-seasoned twisted beef pasta.

We landed at Haneda airport at Terminal 3 and went through customs. We had one more flight from Tokyo to Osaka. We had an hour and 20 minutes to make it. We stepped out of customs, got our bags, and just out of customs, we saw to our immediate right, “JAL, Domestic Connecting Flights.” We went there. We waited in line and they told us we were in the wrong line and we had to go to another terminal. They gave us a free monorail ticket. Also, our tickets didn't say “terminal 1.” Much later, I realized buried in our email is the “Terminal 1”. Also airlines generally have one terminal 🥴. We needed to go to Terminal 1. We look at a “flights board” for our flights and our flight wasn't listed 🥴. We were confused since there were a lot of options to go to Terminal 1. We had to ask the info people and they said to take the monorail. At the monorail, there were people just holding up the info line. So we just used our PASMO cards to get through. We were at the monorail and saw we were on the wrong side. I asked someone in Japanese if we were on the correct side and they said they were Chinese 🥴. So we backtracked and went on the correct side. We met a nice white lady. She was going to Okinawa to see her US Marine Corps son. She was in the same boat as us but she missed her connecting flight already, for the same reason as us. I gave her an origami dinosaur on the train 🦕. I should mention that I have many boxes of origami dinosaurs since I make them while walking or waiting in line and I don't want to pull my phone out. Whenever I would ask for directions or whatever, I'd give people origami dinosaurs. Most people were amused; others were confused?

I really recommend you get a connecting flight that's 2 hours or more, at least. And look at a map of Haneda beforehand. I still recommend JAL. If you miss your flight, you can maybe get another free ticket courtesy of your airline.

We got on the plane completely sweaty but we made it with 10 minutes to spare. The plane took off and we landed in Osaka, Itami Airport (ITM). We went to the observatory. We checked out the airport and talked with a few of the workers.

We picked up our wifi from Ninja wifi. That's all I use now. You can use esim, which is good for solo travellers. You pick it up at your desired airport and you drop it off at your desired airport. Easy. And I got a battery pack, which I recommend too. Overall it's a few bucks a day for 1 gb for your group.

Normally, I would give people origami dinosaurs (brontosaurus) if they answered our questions, normally about some directions. 🦕. I had about 3.5 small boxes of them. About more than a hundred origami figurines in either pure green or fancy washi-paper. Some people are baffled at seeing such a new origami animal. The people here crave novelty. I learned Origami from John Montroll. He has a lot of simple to complex origami book. From dollar bill Origami to a horse with wings (pegasus).

At the top of the observatory, we could watch planes take off. I also saw some olives trees and the mascot, Sorayan, a plane. Japan really loves mascots. They provide branding and an economic boost. Because of this, they are everywhere.

Downstairs, we saw a wall of Sorayan made up of live moss, something I've never seen before. We had to ask for directions regarding the limousine bus. We found the ticket machine for this specific limo bus. Some airports have limousine buses as opposed to trains. They may cost a few dollars more, but they are worth it as you have guaranteed seating and storage space underneath. I gave the friendly worker on the first floor, a dinosaur 🦕, and we talked about our Japanese learning.

(Read about Sorayan)



We stopped at a bus stop south of Namba / Dotonbori. Dotonbori is the main touristy area of Osaka. It has a lot of great bars and restaurants. It's also somewhat crowded. I used my compass to head east. We got to the Toho Cinemas and then we managed to deviate really badly. Also, we were both sleep deprived so that didn't quite help with the decision making 🥴. Anyways, after wandering for what seemed like forever, we realized we were lost and decided to take the nearby train station, and walked a few blocks to our hotel.



It was the afternoon, so we wandered Dotonbori, the most touristy part of Osaka. The streets by the river have huge signs related to food. Large sushi, large crab, large gyoza, it goes on. Just endless amounts of restaurants. I suggested we eat at the Sukiya. It's like a fast food place. No wait time. They have cheap and filling meat and rice bowls, it's really nice. I got the gyudon with the Kimchi, a salad, miso soup, and a coffee. We had no salad dressing on our table. So I asked the girl next to me for her salad dressing and pointed out that we had none. She said ok and I gave her an origami dinosaur 🦕. Honestly, if this chain was in the US, I would go probably every day.





Japan lore: There was a man named Manarisu. He was able to get people to “create an account” for some service and it would give Manarisu credits for Sukiya bowls. He ate nothing but Sukiya every day for years, and became a Japanese meme.

(read bout Manarisu)

We went to the Tsutaya books. I consider this the center of Dotonbori. Saw some nice art work for Street Fighter characters.

We went to the Ebisu bridge to go see the Glico man, who has been around for almost a century. We could see tons of tourists do the touristy thing and pose like the Glico man, and do the arms outstretched like a V, and have the left leg with the knee up. Kind of goofy, but fun.

We went to the nearby Don Quijote store. This store has a lot of stuff. Some good, some strange? They sell food, drinks, lighters, jewelry, adult stuff, costumes, pokemon, computer parts, luggage, souvenirs, etc. Don Quijote is a tourist attraction by itself with how odd of a store it is. If you come out of a Don Quijote without buying anything, you are either: broke, already have everything, or have strong willpower. This particular store also has a ferris wheel, if you like that sort of thing. Next to Donqi, is a building that is covered from a recent fire.



We turned to the nearby Shin Saibashi-suji street and walked south of that towards the Namba area. This street goes on and on with lots of stores. Walked into the Osaka Takashimaya mall and visited  MARUZEN Takashimaya Osaka book store. Walked south and check out Namba Parks, with a rooftop park that had some trees and a wobbly floor you can lie down on and get some sun. Glanced at THE SUMO HALL HIRAKUZA OSAKA here. We would be going to the other Sumo Hall in Asakusa for scheduling reasons.





If you are interested in Sumo, you can either catch the official Sumo tournament schedule. But in this case, it's in Fukuoka, which is at the extreme West of Japan 🥴.

I saw some “extra” manhole covers. Here, they have nice art on manholes. This one had the Osaka expo mascot.

We went to The Hearth Board Game Bar and Café. We actually passed by it first since it was a bit hidden. We ordered a few drinks and looked at the board games. A lot of them were too complicated to learn quickly. I gave the bartender a dinosaur. We solved the rubiks cubes there.



We walked back to Dotonbori. Saw a hole in the wall with “?!”. I looked inside and saw something that made me chuckle (that's a surprise). I went to a 7-11. Did you know that 7-11 is a Japanese company? The Japanese 7-11s have the best food and drink selection compared to the US.

We went back to our hotels to relax. I went out a little early to scout some restaurants. I went to a specific Kobe beef restaurant and met with a friendly lady chef. I asked if I needed reservations and she said I didn't. Then she explained the menu out front. I said I'll probably be back.



During the night, Dotonbori becomes alive. It becomes more packed and more glittery with the lights. We sync'd up with another friend and the first thing we did was get on the Dotonbori boat tour. It's a fun way to get a quick glimpse of all of the Dotonbori river at night. I really recommend it. The boat ride was a lot to take in. I suggested to the streamer next to me to switch seats so he can get the edge seat. They collected fare money on the boat.



There's a Klook.com Osaka Pass if you're interested, which you can use for this and a variety of other things, if you can plan for it.

So, we were all hungry. I suggested we go to a Kobe beef restaurant that I mentioned earlier. Kobe beef is a special kind of beef from a special cow in the Kobe region. For Kobe beef, there's an official website that has a list of official dealers. Kobe Bryant (RIP) was named after Kobe Beef (I am serious).

Official site: here

We went to Kobe Beef Kisshokichi Nishi Shinsaibashi Store. The place had some people but was not crowded. They let us in without any reservations. The chef was a professional and friendly named Sarala. She even posed for our food with the Kobe statue.

The Kobe beef was quite an experience. It was very buttery and tender. The fat will melt with just the heat of your finger tips. And there were a variety of toppings to try it with such as miso, salt, and wasabi. This meat is not something you can normally get anywhere.

We also received some vegetables, which is good to eat to balance out the decadent beef. The garlic fried rice with the Kobe beef bits was good. Then the chef recommended it with the miso, and it became my new all-time favorite fried rice dish.

This is a true bucket list item, and I recommend everyone do it at least once.

Overall, I think Kobe is the best beef you can get. But, if the price scares you, Wagyu is a close second. I think the better value is Wagyu.



After that, we went to PC and Retro Bar Space Station, but it was packed! So we went to another bar, BARエンカウント (bar encounter). We were in front of the block and were confused on where to go. We saw some stairs nearby and decided that maybe that was the place. So we went up to the 2nd floor, walked around. Went up to the 3rd floor, walked around, and found it. Urban Japan is very much like a maze. And sometimes, you end up gaslighting yourself as the maze shapeshifts since a lot of the buildings look exactly the same or very similar, so it is really easy to get lost or confused. Also, if you look at google maps, they'll put a marker on top of a massive multi-storied maze or in the middle of a highway.

We walked in and Frieren, one of my favorite animes, was playing on their big screen. There was no one there yet. We sat down, ordered drinks, and the lady Bartender gave us snacks. The first game we played was “Panel De Pon (Japanese)” which is basically “Tetris Attack (US)” for the Super Nintendo. My friends never played, so I explained the game quickly. They struggled as absolute beginners. They died pretty quickly to me, since I played this game a lot during my childhood. We played a few more times. Another friend sync'd up with us. He was lost trying to find the bar. I walked outside, found him, dabbed him up, and brought him inside. He was excited to see this game because he played it a lot during his childhood. We fought against each other. It was a flurry of block switches, combos, and close calls. Like something out of one of my Japanese animes. Even though I was absolutely locked in, I lost completely. He got cocky and set the handicap up for him. He lost badly!



We switched the game to Bomberman. I've never seen this in my life, but they had a Super Nintendo 4 player adapter. The lady bartender helped plug in the gazillion things together. We were playing 4 player bomberman. It was a first for me and it was fascinating. I was really hard trying not to die with all the chaos.

Overall, this was my favorite Osaka bar because of how whimsical it was.

We tried to go to The Drunken Clam, a Family Guy themed bar. It had a bunch of drunken foreigners singing karaoke. Maybe if I was alone, I'd squeeze in. It was absolutely packed, and so, we turned around

We decided to call it a night since it was getting late.

We ended up walking back towards Dotonbori river. We all stood in front and across from the Glico sign. It was like a scene from Blade Runner 2049. Absolutely surreal.

Day 2, Osaka, Halloween (Friday)

The first night, I slept 6 hours and felt mostly fine. Since it was Halloween, I decided to wear my green Snufkin (of Moomin) hat..Snufkin, a Swedish character, is oddly well known here. We met at the nearby 7-11. You can also use 7-11 to get money or fill your Pasmo card (at the atm or the counter). We woke up and went to Osaka Castle. But before that, we went to Coco Ichibanya west of the Castle. Inside were 2 of our other friends here to join us. Coco Ichibanya is the best curry on the planet. Here is my order: chicken cutlet, half rice, level 4 spice, and cheese. I would cover it with pickles and the Coco Ichibanya house sauce. Amazing.



It was lightly raining. We then went into the Osaka Castle area. There's a walking map at the entrance. Some rocks on the walls were absolutely huge. It was baffling. We waited in line for about 30 minutes for tickets. I later realized that you can buy the tickets online 🥴. The line to the elevator was long, so we decided to just spiral upwards to the top. It's only a few floors. We spiral upwards. In between the floors, there are fascinating exhibits about the castle. I learned that the huge rock walls are actually just really flat rocks. A security man stops me from taking my first photo. Some things you can or cannot take a picture of, and they are marked. At the top of the castle, there was an outdoor balcony and everyone looked like ants.







Before we exited the castle, we went to the bathroom. I stood next to a bucket-shaped hand dryer, and said out loud to my friends, “This is the WORST urinal I have ever used IN MY LIFE!” and some nearby foreigners laughed at that. On a side note, there is a mini-train that goes around the Osaka Castle, but we didn't do that.

Outside, we saw a sign in Japanese and attempted to translate it. “Dog, cat, something, fact, crime!” Kanji is brutal! We bust out the dictionary. It turns out that people were abandoning animals here! Brutal!

We took the train to the Umeda Sky Building for the Kuchu Teien Observatory. This area is way north of Dotonbori.

It started raining even more.

We walked to the sky building. And navigated our way by following a bunch of signs. We made our way to the top, bought our tickets there, and there wasn't a line. We got to the top and saw the view. There was even an outdoor section. Also, there's a rule, where you can't bring umbrellas or anything loose due to the high wind. I don't think anyone was interested in walking in the rain, except me, which I did. I did the rooftop loop, and got some nice gray pictures.



We went backwards to the mall to where we started. We went to Kinokuniya Books. I wanted some Japanese-language learning books. Using my basic Japanese, I asked the clerk for Japanese language learning books. I initially asked for “english and japanese books” but she clarified that there are too many of those. I realized my mistake and asked for “books for Japanese learning.” She pointed at the other Kinokuniya. I gave her a dinosaur 🦕. I saw some Japanese tech books related to AWS (Amazon Web Services), which seems really cool. I normally learn AWS related stuff through video learning since tech books outdate themselves after a few years. Outside, I saw Summo's mascot, a Japanese Marino moss ball. I used to have one while working at a financial office and the cleaners threw it out because it looked like trash. RIP.

(Read about Marimo balls)

Got really confused at the layout. I looked at the map and it was really confusing. We were at the intersection of a bunch of mini-malls. The filter was un-initutive and confusing. I had to call my friend over and we looked at all the buttons and words, and figure it out. We went to Tsutaya Books. It's a fancy book store. My friend shows me a book full of English slang meant for the Japanese. I got a Genki 2 book with the workbook. I asked about the Kiki's delivery service book in my Elementary Japanese. “I am looking for a book. From Hayao Miyazaki. From Studio Ghibli Movies. The book's name is Kiki, Magic user.” They helped me find the book. I gave her a dinosaur 🦕. I looked at the book and realized there's no way I could read it at my level 🥴.

Saw the Water Clock. This is something I've never seen. It sprays water downward to create images such as grapes and the time. It's near the south-eastern exit, just outside of the pokemon center nearby.

We were all hungry, so we all walked 20 minutes, in the rain, to an Onigiri (rice ball) place with great reviews named Onigiri Gorichan. When we arrived there, people were dressed like prisoners. I remembered that today was Halloween. They were like extra-ified Onigiris. The host was really friendly and spoke English. I ordered two onigiris. I think two is enough since they are large and filled with lots of toppings. Three might be the maximum.



After the meal, my bilingual friend asked about the numbers on the wall. They said it was a leaderboard of most onigiris eaten in one sitting and it went up to something like 12+. I wish I took a picture because it was incomprehensible. My bilingual friend ate 3 and said that was his limit. I ate two big ones and felt great. Before we left, we posed for a big picture for them. Then I gave the host a dinosaur 🦕.

We separated with the two other friends. The main group headed back to Dontonbori. Then my bilingual friend and I went to Dotonbori Round 1. Then I saw it. The first Gun Bullet X machine. In the last Japan trip, I didn't see a single one in Tokyo despite going to several Round 1s. I played, and my first attempt was 9th place.

By chance, I thought I saw a famous streamer walk by me. Then she spoke and I thought she sounded exactly like that famous streamer. I pulled out my phone and sure enough, it was that famous streamer. I wanted to chase them down to wave hello, but they've gone already.

It was a Halloween event so it was packed, but not too packed.



The three of us met up and walked around and checked out the costumes. We tried going to Voyager Stand night club. The line was about 30 minutes, I think. I was making origami dinosaurs in the crowd. I paid my way in, I think like $30, and gave the employees origami dinosaurs. It was the most packed I've ever been. I felt like a human sandwich. It took me a while to slither through the crowd to go from one side of the room to the other. We all decided to leave after about 30 or so minutes. I didn't even get a drink because it was too packed to get someone.

There was an art exhibit I saw on the internet. To enter the place, you had to squeeze between two naked people and you had to decide if you should squeeze through either facing left or right. Quite the dilemna.

We walked around more and enjoyed looking at all the costumed people. If you go to arcades, you may find your favorite female anime characters as figurines but in a maid outfit.

Day 3, Osaka, Universal Studios Japan (Sat)

My bilingual friend and I went to Universal Studios by train. It was energetic. We bought the tickets online and the express pass for four thrill rides. I wore my green wizard hat (Snufkin hat). I think four thrill rides is good enough for me.

I forgot my pasmo card 🤦, so I had to buy individual tickets. This was the last time I forgot my pasmo card. It was buried underneath some books. I normally just leave this in the back of my pocket. You can also buy a fancy card holder with a retractable string from a stationary store.

The park is not small, and not big. You can easily walk the whole primary park area within an hour. There are many stores in the cracks and crevices if you choose to check that out.



The first thing I did was get a free timed-area ticket to the Super Mario World area. The only way to get this is through the app 🥴.

Since it was Halloween weekend, many of the park employees were wearing wizard hats and they seemed to like my Snufkin hat.

The first area we visited was the Harry Potter area. I saw various sights from the movies. I saw many people dressed up as wizards. Honestly, I've only seen the first one (for now). Went to the first coaster, Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey. It was intense and made me a bit queasy, maybe due to the Augmented Reality aspects of it, which was also really cool. We got off, and got some Butterbeer (non alcoholic). It was really nice, I recommend it. I gave the vendor, a nice lady, an origami dinosaur 🦕 and she seemed to really like it and gave me a free Harry Potter sticker. We turned around and watched an outdoor show with a Hippogriff and some wizards.



I went and bought a green Harry Potter scarf without a logo.

We got some Harry Potter themed food which was good and some booze. We went and saw the Waterworld show, which is a really odd thing to be seeing in 2025. The movie came out in 1995. I enjoyed it and sat in the back to not get wet. It was in all Japanese, but you can still see the cool stunts and action.





We tried some “carny” games and I failed all of them. Knock the pins, knock the cubes, land the coin on the plate. I saw people win, but it was few and far in between. They gave me severage large pin badges for trying though.

We went on The Flying Dinosaur. It made both of us queasy afterwards, but it was fantastic. They rotated your seat so it was like you were in the “superman” position. The whole thing lasted for maybe an intense minute.

I went on the Hollywood Dream - The Ride. I was put in a row of 3 other young Japanese girls. They kept saying “Happy!”. I was like huh? They pointed to the music box in front of me. It looks like you can vote on what song the coaster plays. It selected “Happy” And it played the popular song “Happy” by Pharrell Williams. The ride was nuts and I was a bit queasy after it. We waved each other goodbye.



I went to the Super Mario World and the Donkey Kong land behind it. It was an odd surreal area. I recommend at least a visit. I saw Mario and Luigi 👀.







We stopped and listened to a Pokemon-themed concert. Later in night, the park released a bunch of zombies. I got to see Melody and Kuromi.





For dinner, we had the shrimp and lemon pizza. It was alright.



We were a bit early to Spy x family rollercoaster so we sat and rested our feet and answered messages and doom-scrolled.

The Spy x family coaster was the first VR coaster I went on. It was surprisingly hard-hitting like a Euthanasia coaster.



If I could, I would go here on a weekday, maybe early morning or night to just ride the intense coasters repeatedly.

Darkness arrived and we went back to Dotonbori. We went to the moss temple. I threw some water on the moss statue and donated some money. My bilingual friend was tired and went back. My buddy and I went to Kura Sushi, revolving sushi. I ate sushi with my friend with a moderate shrimp allergy. Everything was in Japanese. I could barely read it. “Something something shrimp something”. “Something something tuna”. It was kind of like a tasty russian roulette. Some stuff was a bit too freaky for both of us. Overall, I really enjoyed the experience.

We went to the nearby The Pink nightclub (the smaller one). It was early in the night and the nightclub was full of men 🪤. We decided to leave very early.

It was getting late and so we ended the night. We walked west towards America-mura and saw the Statue of Liberty.