Again, we arrived in Osaka too late to spend any time wandering the city. We found our hotel, relatively quickly, and prepared to go out for the night. As is becoming a theme on my blog, we randomly ran into some Norwegians while we were wandering and stuck with them for the rest of the night. They were working in Asia and taking a vacation in Osaka for a few days.
The next day we attempted to rent bikes, but were unsuccessful because it was Sunday. Instead we walked to the Osaka Museum and Osaka Castle. The museum chronicled the history of Japan from ancient times to modern times. It was very interesting to see the development of their culture, including the periods of cultural isolationism. The castle had been converted into a museum and chronicled the history of its construction. I won’t attempt to explain the history, as I do not understand enough of it to give fair description. That being said, I was struck at how similar the castle and the history were to European feudal times. In many ways they were the same; in many others it was completely different.
After our cultural experience, we ventured to Spa World. Spa World is wonderful place (Thanks to Josh for suggesting it!). It is literally an entire building dedicated to onsen baths, Jacuzzis, spas, saunas, and steam baths. The best part is the 1000 yen price tag for the day. Men and women are separated on different floors, but have access to hundreds of different baths. We spent an hour there relaxing luxuriantly before heading to Kyoto.
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