Arrival in Osaka, Japan

We were going to the World Expo 2025 in Osaka, Japan. Two months prior to our cruise, we did not even know that Osaka was hosting the World Expo. We were going to take a train to Nara to spend the day with the polite bowing deer. When we came to Japan on a UTO tour, we visited Nara and enjoyed feeding the deer with wafer biscuits that you buy from vendors. We were told to bow to the deer and the deer will bow back. After that, you give the deer a wafer. It was magical. 

We looked into going to the World Expo by visiting the website. The tickets were affordable (at 4,000 yen), easy to buy online and the location was just two stops from the Osakako station which was the station closest to the cruise terminal.

This was not our first visit to Osaka. We flew into Osaka about 7 years ago and was not picked up by the UTO guide. We ended up walking back and forth looking for a tour guide with a UTO flag but there was no one there to pick us up. We panicked. Then we spotted this guy with a UTO clipboard and our worries subsided.

When we arrived in Osaka, we had to go through customs and immigration. From Nagasaki, we had to leave Japan and enter South Korea. Now that we were back in Japan, we had to reenter Japan. The customs process took a bit of time. It would be 11:00am before we were done. From the cruise terminal, we walked up to the Osakako station to catch the train. It was going to be a short ride but interesting because the train would go underwater through a tunnel. The Expo site was on the Yumeshima island and sat on 383 acres.

When we arrived at the East Gate, there were a lot of people in line. It didn't take long to reach the gate where our tickets were scanned. Bags were checked and bottled or canned drinks were not allowed to be brought in. Water was fine. 

We would spend most of the day at the World Expo. When night came, we exited the Expo and took the train to Dotonburi for the night lights.

Cindy wanted to visit Dotonburi at night because when we came to Osaka for the UTO tour, we only toured the area in the day. Dotonburi is certainly the heart of Osaka's night life with all the neon signs and food places. 

When we got off the Namba station, we weren't exactly sure which exit to take. When we emerged from the underground, we were on a busy street that did not look familiar. I was trying to get my bearings and orientate myself with my Google Maps. Without really knowing where to go, we walked down the street and noticed the Dotonbori sign.

We would walk down this street but unfortunately, it did not lead us to the Glico man sign. Instead it was at the end of the lights and the streets became dark and quiet. Where did all the tourists go? We felt safe at all times because it was Japan. We made a right and walked across a small bridge and knew the canal was nearby. We made another right and walked up a dark and quiet street that led us back to the lights and noise.

We saw stairs leading down to the canal and decided to go down and follow the canal to the running man. Somehow, I stumbled on the last step and fell forward. I ended up bruising my right forearm and my knees. I scuffed up my right knuckles and had a scratch on my upper lip. I was a little shaken and confused because I didn't know what I tripped on. Did I not see the last step? Or did I trip on something? I honestly didn't know. Cindy said I tripped going up the stairs and I said the opposite. 

We climbed back up the stairs to the street level and there it was...the busy, hectic Dotonbori area that we came for.

The famous Glico running man is the most notable iconic sign in Osaka Dotonbori district. It has been the huge brightly lit sign for 80 years. The current sign is all LED in its sixth generation. Previously it was in neon. Glico's most popular in its Pocky line which is known throughout the world, but it also makes Pretz, Caplico, Bisco and Karujaga. The sign has gone through various renovations over the years but the running man theme was always used.

Cindy was happy that she had (finally) experienced Dotonbori at night. On our first visit to Osaka, we were dropped off in the day and given an hour to explore on our own. It wasn't the same. We saw the variety of restaurants serving everything from poisonous puffer fish sashimi to Kobe beef. We even saw a robot arm prepare coffee. We stopped at the Glico store and bought some Pocky and souvenirs but the sign wasn't lit up as it was tonight. 

On the next morning, we took the train to shop at Don Quixote Mega store and to spend our last day in Osaka.

The Osakako Station was the closest station to the cruise terminal. Also nearby was the aquarium, hence the reason why ocean creatures were painted throughout the station.

We wanted to have some ramen before leaving Osaka.

This was a spicy ramen.

This was a classic ramen.