Open Air Museum of Old Japanese Farmhouses
by nexusangel
This little gem hides in a sub-urban area of Osaka.
Located in the heart of Hattori-Ryoukuchi Park.
It contains a collection of 11 old Japanese Farmhouses from all over Japan. Most of them are Gassho-zukuri, or straw thatched roofs, similar to the ones in Shirakawa-go.
The museum is not crowded, and have the occasional painters and artists doing sketches.
It's a really peaceful walk and really a must have in your itinerary.
It's a 500yen admission fee for Adults and 300yen for kids.
The place is really nice during autumn's koyo and winter.
Opens 9:30am to 5pm, last entry at 4:30pm
Closed every Monday.
Take the Midosuji line to Ryokuchi koen station and exit via west exit.
Just take the path straight all the way.
It's about a 5min walk to Ryokuchi garden and another 5mins to the Museum (follow the signs)
SUBWAYS & TRAINS
by heywinks
The best way to go around Osaka is by subway or train. Some lines are public & others private. There are many rails to choose from: Midosuji, Hanshin, Hankyu, Yotsubashi, etc. These routes allow you to travel in, around, & out of Osaka (to Nara, Kyoto, Kobe, etc).
Each line is color-coded for your convenience & operate from 5am to about midnight.
Also check out http://www.urbanrail.net/as/osak/osaka.htm for an excellent map of the rail lines.
Dotombori - Osaka's liveliest nightlife area
by aukahkay
Dotombori is Osaka's liveliest nightlife area where hip and trendy young Japanese hang out. It is centered around Dotombori Arcade, a pedestrian-only strip of restaurants, bars, shops and karaoke lounges. Parallel to Dotombori Arcade is Dotombori-gawa, a narrow canal lined on both sides by brightly coloured neon lights.
Glorious Spa World!
by mikegr
+++From January 5th to the end of March Spa World has a discount promotion - 1000 yen for the whole day! Don't miss out!+++
+++In addition there is a new room this year - ATRANTIS (I think they mean Atlantis!!!!!!) is on the Europe floor and looks pretty amazing (fish tanks and stuff!) - the men are on the Asia floor at the moment so i will have to wait until February until i can have a proper look!+++
I love this place!
Spa world is a massive complex of, well, spas.
There are 2 floors dedicated to single sex bathing, and an assortment of different pools, steam rooms, saunas, salt rubs (the women get mud as well - boys, it seems are not trusted with such things!). Although you are provided with small towels they aren't very effective at keeping you covered - more Japanese people put them on their heads that round their waists anyway.
Once you are over the initial shock of being naked (us Brits are such prudes!) this is a great place to unwind.
There is a European and an Asian floor and these change from men to women and vice versa every month.
There is also a mixed swimming pool and set of hot baths etc on the top floor which is mixed, and bathing costumes are required.
The price is usually a hefty 3000 Yen ($25 US approx for all day) although there is a special promotional price of just 1000 Yen from January to March - a bargain, and usually in September (I think!).
Yes, its tacky. Yes, its over the top. But check it out - this place rocks!
Les liaisons dangéreuses - et incompréhensibles
by CliffClaven
Many foreign men dream of going to Japan and finding a sweet and demure Japanese girlfriend. Finding a girlfriend is easy. Indeed, after a while you wonder whether you have caught her or she has caught you to show off as her trophy gaijin boyfriend. But expectations differ, and the relationship never quite develops as it might do at home. After a couple of dates you try to hold her hand and she snatches it away. "Why?" you ask, and she replies "Hazukashi – I'm shy." You try to be bolder and kiss her cheek. She glares and snaps "Sukebe – you pervert!"
And then one evening, after you have eaten at a cheerful akachochin red-lantern pub and have begun to wonder if you'll be home in time for the sumo highlights on TV, she stands on the pavement and quietly says, "I want go your apato." And so you take her back to your tiny apartment, hastily bin the empty beercans and unroll the futon. Later, as your mind drifts into a zen-like state of satisfied nothingness, the first train of the day clatters past the back of the building and she suddenly sits up with a cry, "I go now."
Sleepily, naughtily, you think "I went hours ago." Like so many aspects of Japan, the language can sometimes be the opposite of what the foreigner expects. While "Can I come with you?" triggers smutty schoolboy sniggers in the west, "Let's go together" reduces Japanese schoolgirls to paroxysms of naughty giggles.
And then you meet her the next time and try to hold her hand. "Yamete yo – stop that!" No wonder that the East and West can never understand each other.
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