Japan - Day 12

Shanon loves photography and is going to be buying a fancy digital camera soon. He wanted to buy a good lens while we were in Japan as it would be cheaper. We went to Yodobashi Camera, a giant multi-storied electronics store, the night we were in Shinjuku. But there were so many people there I promised him we could go to the one in Osaka instead. So, today was the day and we got up early to take the train to Osaka Station.

The instructions I had for the shop were 'behind the station', but considering the one in Shinjuku was something like 8 stories high and covered in flashing neon signs I didn't think this one would be too difficult to find. As we wandered down the street around the side of the station, where we were literally only metres from the back corner, Shanon threw a hiffy and said 'It's all industrial back there', and started storming off back the way we came. While the area we could see was indeed industrial looking, I still thought we should at least go to the corner and have a look. 'What's the point?' Shanon snapped.

We proceeded to spend the next hour or so wandering about in the drizzling rain looking for a shop I knew we weren't going to find. 'I was told it was behind the station', I kept repeating. We ended up giving up and having a final lunch in Doctor Coffee. As we headed back to the station we came across a map which had the shop on it. Following the directions we ended up finding the massive shop. And guess where it was? Behind the station of course! Shanon felt very, very (very, very, very) bad.

This shop was just as busy as the one in Shinjuku, but we still managed to walk out with Shanon's new lens, and a bunch of cheap photo frames which will soon be adorning our walls. Even though the rain was getting a bit too heavy for sightseeing without jackets or an umbrella, we decided to go and see Osaka Castle anyway.

Just like all the other castles we've seen, Osaka Castle was set in beautiful grounds. But this was my least favourite of all those we've seen. The inside does not resemble a Japanese castle at all. It houses a museum, a video room, elevators to take you to the top, vending machines, and way too many Eastern European tour groups for my liking. But one thing it shared with all the other castles was the observation area at the top where we enjoyed some great views of the city. By the time we left it had stopped raining so we were able to enjoy the grounds before heading back to the station.

Japan - the land of vending machines

On the way home we stopped at Rinku Town Station for some dinner. I vaguely remembered seeing an Italian place and a burger place there before. It was a lovely surprise to discover that the burger place was in fact a Lotteria where we were able to be reunited with our old friends the chocolate balls.