Big day. At the start of the day we had only a vague plan of what we would do. The plan was to see some of Osaka.

We started the day buying an 800yen($8)(300yen for the kids) subway day pass. We headed off for the Osaka Aquarium, one of the largest aquariums in the world. Very Impressive. Some of the highlights were the giant, deep water crabs, a jellyfish section, the sea otters and a small (about 5m) whale shark.

Next to the Aquarium was the world’s largest ferris wheel (or so they said on the sign – I just googled it. Was the largest in 1997, but has since been outdone), so we had to  try it out.  At only 700yen it was a bargain compared to others such as the London Eye.

Next we headed into the unknown to the Osaka Museum of Housing and Living. This turned out to be an amazing surprise. On the 9^th floor of a modern city city building was a full size replica of an 1830’s Edo period Osaka Village. The girls dressed up in there kimino and we spent an hour or so wandering through the village. At one point it turned to night – the street lights came on and it went dark. There were fireworks, moon and even a storm. Just amazing. It was hard to believe we were inside a modern building.

Next stop on the subway adventure was Osaka-jo, Osaka Castle. This is another castle that had been destroyed many times in the past by fire and rebuilt, so we weren’t really expecting too much. We were wrong. Best loking castle we’ve seen. 2 moats, huge stone walls everywhere and the castle itself was at least 7 stories.

Last stop for the day was a walk between Shinsaibashi and Namba, a very modern shopping, eating and nightlife area. Dinner was at a fantastic buffet style restaurant. Great day.