My visits to Osaka seem to be getting shorter and shorter each time I venture into Japan’s third biggest city. This time I didn’t even spend the night there and was in the area for only seven hours or so. It proved to be a fairly meticulously planned schedule as I ticked off about half a dozen things that I wanted to do.

The morning had began very early down in Wakayama Prefecture and I was in the southern depths of Osaka just before 8am to see this hidden fortress on the coast.

The day didn’t go quite as planned in some ways as Kishiwada-jo castle, used as a filming location in ‘Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins‘ (2021), was closed as it was a Monday. Still, that did save me a fair bit of time to fit in the rest of what I did.

Once I was in central Osaka I disembarked at Dobutsuen-Mae Station to have a quick look at the exterior of Japan Pentecostal church (1-1-14 Taishi, Nishinari-ku, Osaka) which is quite a strange-looking church but one that has a fairly long history dating back 70 years. You can’t really see it in my pictures but this church has many interesting handwritten signs dotted around the premises.

Japan’s cheapest vending machine was next with drinks dispensed for 50, 30 and just ten yen a bottle!

It was then time to head to the eastern outskirts of Osaka to see an old friend. On the way I saw this interesting mural (below) on the side of a building!

Every trip to Osaka in recent years has included a journey over to Owada to Oki’s sushi bistro and this was no different. On a busy day when I’d had no time to eat anything at all, sitting down and taking a break to chat about all things Star Wars-related and have lunch at his restaurant was most welcome for me.

Oki very kindly dropped me off at Owada and there was a quick transit at the following station on the Keihan Main Line which allowed me just enough time to see the unique sight of a large camphor tree in the middle of the platform at Kayashima Station.

The tree is best viewed from platforms 3 and 4 where the coexistence of humanity and nature shows off a strong, local community and a little bit of superstition too.

A few stops further along that line took me to Korien Station where the comical-looking oppai house (boob house) was a 15 minute walk away.

That was the end of my time in Osaka but there was to be one more stop in Kyoto a short while after that, and that would be my seventh and final prefecture on this four day trip.

Click here to read ‘4 Castles In 4 Different Prefectures Within 24 Hours’

Click here to read ‘This Surely Has To Be Japan’s Cheapest Drinks Vending Machine!’

Click here to read ‘The Hidden Fortress On The Coast Of Osaka’