The ULTIMATE 24 Hours in OSAKA | Dotonbori, Osaka Castle, & More!

Osaka, the second largest city in Japan, is filled with amazing things to do! Dotonbori, Osaka Castle, Shinsekai Market, and so much more to name a few.

After arriving in Osaka, we head straight to Dotonbori – a nightlife hub filled with lights, wacky signs, food, and a famous river walk. This area is sensory overload but in the best way.

The next morning we headed to the symbol of Osaka, the Osaka Castle. No words can describe how lovely the castle is. It blew away our expectations. We were also surprised about the amount of food options and other things that were on the beautiful grounds. You can go in the castle as well for a small admission cost.

We also checked out a unique shrine that features a big lion head called Namba Yasaka Shrine and the very retro, old-fashioned Shinsekai Market.

We firmly believe you can’t go to Japan without going to a cat cafe, so while in Osaka we did just that. There are many across Japan, but the one we went to is Cat Cafe Mikazuki. The kitties were so cute, and the owner was so nice!

To end our busy 24 hours in Osaka, we traveled a bit out of the way to Umeda to see the Umeda Sky Building. There is a ticket you can purchase to see an observatory on the 40th floor, but we heard that you could go up to the 39th floor and see some views for free. It was a bit of a let down, so we recommend you buy the ticket if you really want to see a view of Osaka.

We only brushed the surface of what all there is to do in this amazing city. We hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Osaka Castle Tickets: https://www.osakacastle.net/guide
Umeda Sky Building Observatory: https://www.skybldg.co.jp/en

== Follow Us ==
❤ Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/matt_and_ra…
❤ TikTok – https://www.tiktok.com/@matt_and_rachel

== About Us ==
We are Matt and Rachel, a couple based out of Pennsylvania, with a knack for adventure. We want to discover all of what this wonderful world has to offer. Follow along on our journey of exploring exciting places, meeting new friends, and trying unique foods! Join us in this crazy adventure we call life and learn with us as we go.

00:00 Intro
00:55 Dotonbori
03:00 Winning BIG at Crane Games
05:25 Osaka Castle
11:20 The BEST Fluffy Pancakes
11:38 Namba Yasaka Shrine
12:35 Cat Cafe Mikazuki
16:40 Shinsekai Market
19:28 Markets of Osaka
20:36 Umeda Sky Building Observatory
22:26 Outro

[Music] we’re here in the bustling city of Osaka Japan it is crazy busy here second largest city in Japan and we are here in dobur right now which is the main downtown section of Osaka where all the action is at lots of food stalls lots of things to do lots of stores and we’re just taking in all the bright lights and eating some food along the way we’ll later have a video on uh all the food that we’re going to be eating here but for now we’re just taking in the sights so come join us as we walk around dobur and then later on Explore More of oaka [Music] I’m here with the iconic Running Man of Osaka he is a icon of downtown dobur and basically you think he was associated with some kind of soft drink advertisement some type of Gatorade thing but actually he’s associated with a candy company and I believe he’s been up here since the 1930s so he’s had a long run pun intended but yeah he’s such uh he’s such a landmark here in Osaka and it’s uh must to get a picture with him so we’re going to do that [Music] you’ll notice in buur there’s all kinds of huge crazy signs like we have some octopus right here and they’re just to draw people in catch your attention to come eat the food but there’s tons of these crazy things up above stores here and it they’re really awesome just to come look at [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] he [Music] back yay y I can’t believe I just won this penguin I did it in one try I thought he was in a good position and he looked like I could win them and I did but I failed many other attempts at other things so I’m just happy I got something but now we have to find luggage space for him so yeah keep trying and maybe sometimes get lucky playing these crane games real question guys what should I name my son I need some ideas maybe by the time this is out he will already have a name but maybe I’ll always rename him so please submit your name suggestions below and um we would greatly appreciate it this is just a random cran game store there’s lots of different games in Osaka they have some old school carnival games too um one of the people that are like there’s like this guy that’s kind of like Osaka’s mascot and he looks like a clown I forget the story with that but there’s just lots of old carnival games and more retro games in this area because of the old more old school Vibe of Osaka it’s a super fun place if you want to play some games try out some other activities there’s lots to do in dobur but I think that’s it for tonight we’re going to do some more stuff in [Music] Osaka we have a full day in Osaka and we’re beginning the morning at the oaka castle and the garden surrounding it and you might be able to see it way back there emerging from the tree line and all its Elegant Beauty it’s quite the site even this far away we’re really excited to see this and we’ll give you some history as we go [Music] [Music] so we tried to hit visiting everything whenever the cherry blossoms were supposed to be blooming but it’s been really cold and rainy delayed it but you can see these ones it’s finally a nice day and these ones are just about to pop off they’re going to be peek Bloom pretty soon so it’s nice we at least got to see a few open here around the castle grounds but now it looks like we’re going to have to go up some crazy steps so let’s hope our backs don’t get out [Music] we’re here at the Landmark icon of Osaka Osaka castle and as you can see it’s so magnificent and white it really stands out on the skyline of oaka and it is definitely really really impressive I think this is super super pretty and the grounds itself are super pretty I almost like it more than the Imperial Palace grounds and it’s so nice how they have it laid out there’s all the grounds and then you walk in to where like the castle is and they also have like food options bathroom set up all around it’s super nice and we even seen a few kitties on the grounds which was a plus those are the first cats we’ve seen in Japan to give a little history on Osaka Castle it was originally built and completed Construction in 1597 but since then it has been destroyed multiple times uh one of those times at least was it being burned down I think the foundation remained the same but they had to rebuild the castle itself so this Castle you’re seeing now is not the original structure it’s a rebuilt um Castle but it’s supposed to to look a lot like it did and um holding true to the original Castle but yeah it’s it’s super super cool and such an amazing Landmark highly recommend um it’s probably the top thing you should do in Osaka and then probably next gonur another thing I forgot to mention is you can actually go in the castle it’s a small fee I think 200 yen a person but just looking at today I don’t know how packed it usually is it’s super packed I’m guessing because of cherry blossom season it is one of the more touristy times which we knew that going into it but um I don’t think we’re going to go in just because we’re afraid of how packed it’s going to be inside but I’m sure it would be really cool to look inside the castle and there’s also way at the top it looks like a Viewpoint where you can look out from there so if um it’s not as busy when you come maybe go in the castle and check it out but yeah we’re going to get some food now I think we’re kind of hungry [Music] so they actually have this really nice building here I think there might be a museum on in it as well but there’s lots of stores in here and there’s lots of food options in here it’s actually really really nice and impressive I didn’t know all this was here on the ground [Music] all right so we found this cute Little goua Pon of the oaka castle we have to put it together and find out what color we got we’re thinking there’s three different colors sure if you can switch to Colors so let’s see what we got we’re going to put together real quick [Music] [Music] getting a stamp here L the train stations have stamps ooh that was good so you’ll see this in our food video but we just went to the most amazing food place ever so it um featured fluffy pancakes and if that interests you at all go check out the food video but on to exploring other [Music] stops we’re here now at what I believe is called Namba yaka Shrine it’s a super super unique one I think it’s a lion I’m not sure is it’s mouth open and it’s I don’t know if there’s anything else in Japan that’s like this it’s super super unique and cool and very very pretty area here they have a couple buildings and some statues and it’s super neat so if you’re in Osaka definitely make this Shrine a visit [Music] everyone’s sister oh [Music] good what one with this no that’s the one from [Music] okanawa you had enough tweets I’m giving it to him oh yes make them biscuits [Music] it looks offended yeah think it you’re like a chunky face peaches oh I don’t has no more just wait wao you good baby to be patient again be patient oh my gosh guys I’m supposed to feed you with a [Music] spoon so after that Shrine we actually went to a cat cafe that was practically right next door to that Shrine so if you’re looking for something to do in that area and you love cats highly recommend you go to that Cat Cafe because the lady that was there was super super nice I guess she’s the owner or at least runs it she was super super nice and they had lots of cute kitties mainly Scottish Folds and just a few like you know typical cats but yeah they the main breed they had there was Scottish Folds and um they give you little you can buy treats to feed them and you definitely need to buy them treats because they won’t come to you if you don’t have Treats they’re very food motivated but that’s okay I get it I’m food motivated too but if you’re looking for something in the area to do I would recommend doing that if you didn’t know Japan pretty much created the Cat Cafe phenomenon and it originated here now they have cat cafes all over the world in the US when in Japan you have to go to some kind of cat cafe but one thing we were worried about and we didn’t think we were actually going to go to a cat cafe is it seems like there’s mixed opinions on how um they treat the animals in these cafes but this one they seem like they were treated very well they had a space that the cats could go to if they didn’t want to be in the area anymore with people they seem very well cared for and pampered and the lady was super sweet so I think that’s one of the good ones for sure but whenever you’re going to these cat cafes just be aware and make sure that the cats have good conditions and you’re supporting a good place now some of the Exotic Animal cafes I think those a lot of those probably aren’t good because those animals aren’t supposed to be in habitats like that where they’re constantly in a sunny in a bright room being messed with by people so just something to keep in mind [Music] [Applause] [Music] so we moved on to one of Osaka’s other markets called shinsekai market and it’s considered like one of the best markets I think in Osaka just because it gives very like local Vibes retro old school more so than dobur and it does kind of feel like a flea market in part which is kind of fun especially in the covered area now we’re in this outdoor area that is kind of more upscale I would say but but it seems like they have lots of food options here and some interesting shops for souvenirs it might be a place Worth to check out just to see that contrast with dobur [Music] [Music] by [Music] [Applause] [Music] ah one thing you’ll notice about Osaka is there’s tons of little markets everywhere we just stumbled on another one just uh one of the food places we wanted to eat at was in one and we didn’t know what was in US actual Market but lo and behold another market so I guess that’s why Osaka is called the kitchen of Japan there’s so many little markets and so many food options d [Music] well like any travel day with us we had a few bus which has been the trend with Japan so basically we went to um umeda or umeda I’m not sure how it’s pronounced but there’s a building here it’s called yumita Sky building and basically they have an observatory on the 40th floor that you can get tickets to and go up to and have a nice view of Osaka well I saw somewhere that on the 39th floor the floor before the observatory you can go there and there’s some nice views and it’s free so I was like oh life hack let’s do that so we went up to the 39th floor and basically there was barely any windows that we could see out of we did see a little bit but not enough to make it worth it so us coming in the whole way out here to this area was pretty much for nothing so if um you want to do that I would recommend don’t unless you really do want to pay the emission cost to go up to the 40th floor and another bust we had today just to add on to it was we um went to a crane game place and we probably spent the equivalent of $30 on CR cran games and had nothing to show for it except for a couple snacks so beware of the crane games you might not be as successful as you hoped unlike um I guess it was yesterday last night I won um that penguin so I think that was truly luck I think that’s it for Osaka it’s definitely a very different city than Tokyo it’s more rugged grungy and some people like that Vibe and it’s super super Lively I like it for what it is I can’t say if I like one more than the other I like them both for different reasons and it’s definitely a city that you have to visit in Japan the second biggest so yeah thanks for joining us while we walked around Osaka and we hope to see you next time peace h