Seeing the sights in Japan’s “city of water”

Osaka, Japan is the third biggest city in the country and has a lot of great attractions and sights to see. It is known to offer a laid-back kind of environment. When I was there, I visited three different places that stood out to me as memorable.

Located in the center of Osaka, Osaka Castle Park is a beautiful place to walk around and spend at least half a day. With the landscape of forests, groves, and open spaces, the park can be utilized for playing sports and exercising, or just simply relaxing and taking in the nature. You can even go to a concert in the park, as there is an outdoor music hall called Osakajo Ongakudo as well as an indoor one called Osaka-Jo Hall, which seats 16,000 people.

Osaka Castle itself is the focal point of the park and a significant historic site in the country altogether. The original castle was built in 1583 and the current castle pictured is from 1931, as it is a more modern recreation. In fact, the castle has been destroyed and rebuilt on several occasions.

Osaka Castle is open daily from 9AM (09:00) to 5PM (17:00) and entrance to the inside costs 600 yen. For the view you get from the observation deck at the top of the castle, I would say it’s worth paying the small entrance fee to check it out yourself. There is also a museum that gives insight into the history of the castle, which is interesting too.

The view pictured is looking out towards the front of the castle, but you can walk around the entire perimeter and see the different parts of Osaka City. It is a fun place to get some pictures and enjoy the sights.

One other thing you can do at the park is take a boat cruise on the river that surrounds the castle. After doing some research about this, it looks like you can buy tickets in advance on the Osaka Castle Park website. I did not do it, but it seems like another worthwhile way to take in the beauty of the park.

As previously mentioned, the inside of Osaka Castle does close at 5PM, but you can still go into the park in the evening and walk up to the castle to see it when its lights are on! The way the castle illuminates in the dark gives it a unique view. It’s worth going back to check out later on!

As you can see, the park is not very busy at night. During the day, this area was definitely more crowded (but still manageable enough to get around).

Next up on the list of places to see is Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan, which has unique and colorful architecture. It is located in the Minato ward of Osaka and sits on Osaka Bay.

Before going into the aquarium, you can watch some boats go by at the port of Osaka, one of the country’s major ports as well as one of Asia’s major trade ports.

Like a lot of attractions, if you’re there early, it is not too crowded at all. On the weekends, the aquarium opens at 9:30AM and is open until 8PM, and during the week, it opens at 10:30AM and closes at 7PM.

The way Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan is set up is unique in the fact that it showcases aquatic animals throughout 15 tanks that each represent a different part of the Pacific Rim. It is a neat, focused concept that feels orderly and well executed.

There is a lot of great animal life here, and if you go to the penguin exhibit at the right time, you can watch them being fed. More specifically, there are 30,000 creatures that encompass 620 species in total.

Even with the abundant marine diversity, the focal point of the aquarium are the whale sharks that can be seen living in the main tank. A lot of people gather around to see these special creatures.

Be sure to stop and check out the whale sharks from different viewpoints of the tank!

It is recommended that you start your “trip” around the Pacific on the eighth floor of the aquarium, making your way down to the fourth floor where you complete the tour. This is one of my favorite shots that I took at the aquarium, so of course I wanted to include it in this write up. As the person looks out into the vast tank, the photo reminds me about how little of the ocean we have explored as humans.

With the aquarium being on multiple floors, you can see the marine life from all kinds of different perspectives, including taking a seat up close with the huge stingrays.

This is Yuki-chan, the aquarium’s famous ringed seal. Her chubbiness and her seemingly perfect roundness have made her the adorable spectacle of the aquarium. She really is cute and has an exquisite plumpness!

There is an entire room where you can go around and touch stingrays and even small sharks, so that was a good place to visit too. At first, I was apprehensive of touching the sharks because I have only ever touched stingrays at aquariums, but it ended up not being bad at all.

(Note: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this touch exhibit was closed for a while. The last time I visited the aquarium was in December, 2022, and this exhibit was still closed. However, it may be reopened by now, but I would not say it is for certain.)

Before you leave the aquarium, be sure to get some whale shark soft serve ice cream at the cafeteria! It was a good way to conclude the journey. Also, if you’re wondering, the two ice cream flavors are Ramune (a Japanese soda) and vanilla, topped with little sugar pellets. The Ramune had a fruity, berry-like flavor. It was a tasty mix!

Last on the list of attractions is the Umeda Sky Building. It is made up of two 40 floor towers that connect at their highest point.

While Umeda Sky Building is mainly an office building, the connecting point of the two towers creates what is known as the Kuchu Teien Observatory, or the Floating Garden Observatory. This observation deck allows you to get a panoramic view of Osaka City and is a great place to spend several hours of taking in the views and getting some great photographs.

I visited at dusk, so I got to get a glimpse of what the views are like in the last part of the day. I’d recommend visiting at this time because you get to see the transition from the end of the daylight to nighttime.

Plus, the sunset can make for a beautiful sky. You can see a great view of the Yodo River, which is the river that runs through the city.

In fact, Osaka is known as Japan’s “city of water” because of its abundance of rivers and canals. Even the places I mentioned previously have nearby waters; Osaka Castle is situated around bodies of water, and Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan is right on Osaka Bay!

The Floating Garden Observatory is on the 39th floor. To get there, you have to take an elevator and then either go on an escalator or walk up a flight of stairs to get to the outside deck. As night time begins, the perspective changes. It really is pretty seeing the buildings illuminate the city.

When you’re walking around the perimeter of the observatory, you can look down at the escalators. The Umeda sky Building boasts some impressive architecture, especially at the observatory.

When you’re in Osaka, be sure to make these standout attractions a part of your itinerary, as these places are a great place to get started on what to see in the city and can even be included in a great day trip.