OOOOOOOSAKAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

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Mad place, mad world...Osaka is a party town with a hip young population as the dominant force. There were a lot of buskers here, mostly young guys with guitars but all had thier own sound systems. One band on the pedway from the main train station to the malls had a five piece set up: they rocked! That is the best thing about Osaka: it feels so vibrant. Tokyo felt like money, Kyoto felt like a kimono, and Osaka feels like a 2 am disco. The bad part: getting around was murder. Even the locals were looking at maps trying to untangle the mess of streets.

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Photos

Umeda Sky Building
We went pretty darn high up there.

Nightview of Osaka
From the Sky building up 40 floors.

Loud and busy
We tried to do some shopping, but I found the pachinko palour noise, the people and the music just too much.

Crab shack
It's moving man!

Cool buildings
Osaka had tons of great architecture and there was so much to see.

Kaiyukan
Kaiyukan is one of the world's largest aquariums, with 11,000 tons of water and plenty of sharks, dolphins, otters, seals, and other creatures of the sea.

Underwater
I really felt like I was under the ocean in this tank when you walked in.

Don' t eat the tourists
Dave and a giant spider crab.

Sea Turtle
My favorite animal.

Main drag
Osaka's the bright lights big city place.

Takarazuka
We took a day trip to this city from Osaka to go to the museum.

Osamu Tezuka Manga Museum
The creator of Astro Boy. His hometown devoted a museum to him.

All Woman Review
Part of the novelty of Takarazuka is that all the parts are played by women, based on the original model of Kabuki, before women were banned from the theatre in Japan. The women who play male parts are referred to as otokoyaku (literally "male role") and those who play female parts are called musumeyaku (literally "daughter role").