Anyone been to/in Osaka?

[Aristatertotle]

So my wife floored me by saying I should take a week long trip to Osaka, Japan in late October with my friend while she stays home with the kids. She's the coolest.

We're booking the flights this week and we'll be there for 6 full days and the morning of our flight back.

Anyone been there and have any suggestions for awesome things to do there? I fully plan on gaining a whole bunch of weight from all the food I'm going to be eating.  I also know we'll do a couple of day trips.

Might have to scout around and see if I can find some cool old quirky guitars or something.

[AntKnee]

Ive never been there, but I know the food is good and baseball is very popular. If you're into the sport, its a very different crowd there. They get really into it.

[artstomp]

..hi..this might help..gingataff is a member here ar madbean..i think he's British and living in Tokyo..i had a trade with him a year ago..goodluck!

[nzCdog]

I went there for a day trip in 2011, we visited the Castle which was pretty awesome.  Japan is amazing, I'd recommend visiting Tokyo if you get time. The Suntori scotch is quite a tasty drop too

[WormBoy]

I haven't been to Osaka, but visited Tokyo and surroundings quite a while ago. One advice: if you are not familiar (at a very basic level) with Japanese etiquette and social rules, buy a guide and study it before you go. A little bit of knowledge and a few words in Japanese can make your trip a lot more fun. Enjoy 

PS also good to memorize the Japanese way of writing 'male' and 'female'. Avoids awkward situations when you go for the restrooms 

[Aristatertotle]

Thanks for the input everyone.

I've been studying up on my Japanese. Got a good amount of hiragana down to wear I can slowly read it out, and I'm working on my vocabulary and kanji.

Whisky tour was one of the first things I saw there and you better believe that's on the list of things to do.

We probably won't get to Tokyo. My friend had already been and I fully plan on making that a dedicated trip later.

And if anyone has ideas of sweet gear/music related things to keep an eye out for feel free to say, even if you haven't been. Definitely going to keep an eye out for a MIJ Jag or maybe a sweet teisco or something of that nature.

[PhiloB]

I'm going there for the first time end of Sept.  Going for a church mission trip.  Our band is going to play music in the parks and do a concert at the end of the week.  We have some built in "tourist time" but mainly we'll be playing classic "American music".  I'm totally stoked.  I can ask my buddy whose been before to recommend a few places and report back if he gives me anything;)


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[imjonwain]

 I was just in Osaka in May for work and go to JP maybe once a year for work.  Osaka is probably the best place in the Japan to visit in my opinion.  It's a big city but by far the most gaijin (foreigner) friendly as people there tend to be more talkative/forward/social compared to normal Japanese culture.  Has lots of great record stores and music stores as well ( I didn't get to visit many guitar shops but saw them around)

Note: 
-Most everything awesome in Osaka is hidden either physically underground or in a unmarked building so you have to be doing some exploring, asking people and google maps is your friend!
-Any record store you find in Osaka should have an Osaka record store map/guide pamphlet that can direct you to various record stores around the main train stations. 
-Get an Icoca train card, it'll make your life easier and you can just add value to it.  You pay for train rides based on distance traveled there.
-Download a JP/Osaka train map app for your phone, most stations outside of the major ones have no English and the maps are confusing as there are lots of different train types running on the same tracks. Trains are incredibly always on time though!
-FamilyMart and 7/11 there have MUCH better food then you would ever get here, it's actually a good place to grab cheap breakfast, lunch or snacks while you're roaming/exploring.



Osaka:

Areas to visit:

Namba - Nightlife, venues, bars, restaurants, shopping, massive NYC style shopping area, Glico man sign! Looks cool at night.
Shinsaibashi  - Shopping...Guitar stores around there and record stores.  Mostly hole in walls you need to search for
Amerikamura (American Village) - Record stores, bars, stores, in general fun to check out.
Osaka Castle/park- Self explanatory

Record Shopping:
King Kong Records -Bit of everything here
Night Beat Records- Classic and rare American early R&R mostly
Timebomb Records- Not much to say, it's Timebomb, the garage rock n roll mecca plus lots more!
Punk & Destroy - Hardcore punk mainly, in a hard to find basement in Amerikamura

Bars:
Misono Building - 3rd floor of a weirdo 70's art warehouse full of tiny ~15 seat bars.. Mostly punk, alternative, underground type stuff but really neat and worth checking out even if you don't go in, not much english but roll with it!  "Nama biru" = draft beer
Captain Kangaroo Bar - Gaijin punk bar near Osaka station, where I hang out when I work in Osaka.  Super friendly staff, located in an area full of bars and restaurants where mostly businessmen go after work.

Food:
  --I'm vegetarian which is difficult there but I find the street food and Ramen are the best things there, obviously sushi too.
  -Find an Okonomiyaki restaurant, it's the regional dish and really good.

Live Music:
Namba Bears-  Underground punk/experimental/noise venue owned by the guy from Boredoms


Kyoto:
  Take a train to kyoto, less than $10 from Osaka station (maybe 40 minute ride) and you can check out the Imperial Palace, a Castle (I forget the name), and lots of parks.  Kyoto is really beautiful and great to explore if you want a break from being in a NYC style city like Osaka

List of things in Kyoto from a friend who lived there...

Kyoto (Music stores)
-Workshop Records
-Art Rock No.1
-Toradora Records
-Jetset Records
-Happy Jack
-Bootsy's
-Hotline
-Poco Apoco
-Meditations
-Bar Galaxy 500

Kyoto (Instrument Shops)
-jeugia sanjo stage
-bigboss kyoto
-music land key kyoto
-watanabe musical instruments digikan
-Full Up
-koizumi
-shimamura music kyoto

[gingataff]

..hi..this might help..gingataff is a member here ar madbean..i think he's British and living in Tokyo..i had a trade with him a year ago..goodluck!

Hey art! been a long time!

Haven't been to Osaka in a long time though I used to live near there. I'd go with what imjonwain said. Also get a good guide book. Osaka is pretty much a party town. You'll want to hit the temples in Kyoto for some sightseeing, possibly the big Buddha in Nara and Kobe is a cool town with some nice bars and stuff. Just be aware Japan is an expensive country, and a lot of smaller places don't take credit cards. But 7/11s have ATMs you can use with overseas bank cards.

If you're planning a separate trip to Tokyo then I'd save your money for gear for that. The number of guitar shops in Tokyo is ridiculous and there's a huge amount of second hand stuff as well.  If you want a tour of the best guitar shops in Tokyo give me a shout!

[Aristatertotle]

I'm going there for the first time end of Sept.  Going for a church mission trip.  Our band is going to play music in the parks and do a concert at the end of the week.  We have some built in "tourist time" but mainly we'll be playing classic "American music".  I'm totally stoked.  I can ask my buddy whose been before to recommend a few places and report back if he gives me anything;)


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That sounds like an awesome trip!

I was just in Osaka in May for work and go to JP maybe once a year for work.  Osaka is probably the best place in the Japan to visit in my opinion.  It's a big city but by far the most gaijin (foreigner) friendly as people there tend to be more talkative/forward/social compared to normal Japanese culture.  Has lots of great record stores and music stores as well ( I didn't get to visit many guitar shops but saw them around)

Note: 
-Most everything awesome in Osaka is hidden either physically underground or in a unmarked building so you have to be doing some exploring, asking people and google maps is your friend!
-Any record store you find in Osaka should have an Osaka record store map/guide pamphlet that can direct you to various record stores around the main train stations. 
-Get an Icoca train card, it'll make your life easier and you can just add value to it.  You pay for train rides based on distance traveled there.
-Download a JP/Osaka train map app for your phone, most stations outside of the major ones have no English and the maps are confusing as there are lots of different train types running on the same tracks. Trains are incredibly always on time though!
-FamilyMart and 7/11 there have MUCH better food then you would ever get here, it's actually a good place to grab cheap breakfast, lunch or snacks while you're roaming/exploring.



Osaka:

Areas to visit:

Namba - Nightlife, venues, bars, restaurants, shopping, massive NYC style shopping area, Glico man sign! Looks cool at night.
Shinsaibashi  - Shopping...Guitar stores around there and record stores.  Mostly hole in walls you need to search for
Amerikamura (American Village) - Record stores, bars, stores, in general fun to check out.
Osaka Castle/park- Self explanatory

Record Shopping:
King Kong Records -Bit of everything here
Night Beat Records- Classic and rare American early R&R mostly
Timebomb Records- Not much to say, it's Timebomb, the garage rock n roll mecca plus lots more!
Punk & Destroy - Hardcore punk mainly, in a hard to find basement in Amerikamura

Bars:
Misono Building - 3rd floor of a weirdo 70's art warehouse full of tiny ~15 seat bars.. Mostly punk, alternative, underground type stuff but really neat and worth checking out even if you don't go in, not much english but roll with it!  "Nama biru" = draft beer
Captain Kangaroo Bar - Gaijin punk bar near Osaka station, where I hang out when I work in Osaka.  Super friendly staff, located in an area full of bars and restaurants where mostly businessmen go after work.

Food:
  --I'm vegetarian which is difficult there but I find the street food and Ramen are the best things there, obviously sushi too.
  -Find an Okonomiyaki restaurant, it's the regional dish and really good.

Live Music:
Namba Bears-  Underground punk/experimental/noise venue owned by the guy from Boredoms


Kyoto:
  Take a train to kyoto, less than $10 from Osaka station (maybe 40 minute ride) and you can check out the Imperial Palace, a Castle (I forget the name), and lots of parks.  Kyoto is really beautiful and great to explore if you want a break from being in a NYC style city like Osaka

List of things in Kyoto from a friend who lived there...

Kyoto (Music stores)
-Workshop Records
-Art Rock No.1
-Toradora Records
-Jetset Records
-Happy Jack
-Bootsy's
-Hotline
-Poco Apoco
-Meditations
-Bar Galaxy 500

Kyoto (Instrument Shops)
-jeugia sanjo stage
-bigboss kyoto
-music land key kyoto
-watanabe musical instruments digikan
-Full Up
-koizumi
-shimamura music kyoto

Holy recommendations Batman!

Thanks for the heads up on a bunch of places being underground.

Definitely going to need to check out some of those record shops, especially that Punk and Destroy place. My buddy and I were actually in a hardcore punk band together. We're using AirBNB and got a place just north of Namba Station in Dotonbori so we'll be pretty central to a lot of things. I've been drooling over all of the food places around, and we'll definitely be hitting up a good amount of street food. I'll definitely have to check out Namba Bears as well.

There's actually a festival happening in Kyoto while we'll be there. It's a heritage parade on the day that the capital moved from Kyoto to Tokyo. We were planning on maybe going over to Kyoto that day because we figured it could be cool to see a bunch of people in feudal Japanese outfits.

..hi..this might help..gingataff is a member here ar madbean..i think he's British and living in Tokyo..i had a trade with him a year ago..goodluck!

Hey art! been a long time!

Haven't been to Osaka in a long time though I used to live near there. I'd go with what imjonwain said. Also get a good guide book. Osaka is pretty much a party town. You'll want to hit the temples in Kyoto for some sightseeing, possibly the big Buddha in Nara and Kobe is a cool town with some nice bars and stuff. Just be aware Japan is an expensive country, and a lot of smaller places don't take credit cards. But 7/11s have ATMs you can use with overseas bank cards.

If you're planning a separate trip to Tokyo then I'd save your money for gear for that. The number of guitar shops in Tokyo is ridiculous and there's a huge amount of second hand stuff as well.  If you want a tour of the best guitar shops in Tokyo give me a shout!

We're definitely hitting up around Kobe. There's an onsen north of there there we're going to check out. We were planning on going to Nara as well so see some of the stuff there. I was looking as some pictures, and it looks gorgeous. That said, everywhere in the Kansai region looks gorgeous from what I've seen.

Good tip on saving for Tokyo as far as gear goes! I've been saving up for this trip and I had a coworker who went to Japan recently so I've got a good idea of how much to expect to spend.

Thanks for the input everyone!