A nice and unusual hotel and a rainy day in Umeda, Osaka

27 November 2016 After visiting Kobe and Himeji, we would be staying a couple of nights in Osaka before flying home. There were two main areas in Osaka that we considered – Umeda or Namba. My preference was to stay in the Namba area where most of the places I intended to visit were located. However, I had some British Airways Avios points which were due to expire and one of the hotels that I could...

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Exploring Osaka Namba area – Kuromon Ichiba Market

28 November 2016 After enduring a rainy first day in Osaka, the weather was fortunately good for our visit to the Namba area of Osaka. We started the day by taking the subway from Nishi-Umeda subway station to the Namba subway station.  Kuromon Ichiba Market (Kuromon translated means “black gate”), located in the Namba area of Osaka, was easily reached by a short walk from the Namba Subway Station....

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Exploring Osaka Namba area – Dotonbori Street and Shinsaibashi Shopping Street

28 November 2016 After a morning of eating at the Kuromon Ichiba Market, we headed north to the Dotonbori canal.  The entire area of Dotonbori is thronged with an unbelievable number of restaurants and amusement facilities, starting with the famous Kani Doraku restaurant near the Nihonbashi Bridge. Dotonbori is another place in Osaka where visitors could eat and eat. We already had our fill...

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