The travel show that was the catalyst for our trip to Japan featured the Dōtonbori area of Osaka.  The store fronts had large octopus or crabs or other huge displays above the entrance and the place seemed amazing.  So there was no way we were coming to Japan and not at least seeing this place!

Even though there is plenty to see in Osaka, we only allotted about 24 hours to it as we were crunched for time trying to fit everything else in.  Our original plan was to arrive around 10am, drop our bags at the hotel, try some fun food along the Dōtonbori, then visit the Osaka aquarium to see whale sharks, return to the Dōtonbori and surrounds for dinner & window shopping, then head to bed.

Previously, I mentioned to the kids that there was an Universal Studio in Osaka and the kids didn’t really care about going.  However, when I mentioned it again a couple of days before going to Osaka, the kids jumped at the chance to go.  I hated giving up seeing whale sharks, but I thought visiting a theme park would be more fun and give everyone, especially the kids, a break from sightseeing.  I secretly really wanted to revisit Harry Potter World, so I was pretty happy.

So the first part started off the same by checking out of our Kyoto airbnb, then taking a train to Osaka, then dropping our bags at the hotel before walking around the Dōtonbori area.

First up was trying takoyaki which are fried octopus balls which we’d seen on the travel show.  We weren’t fans at all, so they quickly went in the garbage.  Boo.

Then we wandered around checking out the cool displays and hunting for lunch.  I really wanted to try okonomiyaki which is a savory Japanese pancake with cabbage, but I never found a place that was open.

The Dōtonbori area was fantastic though!

I thought we’d have an easy time finding lunch, but it proved really difficult to find something for all 4 of us.  Eventually we found a place that was an ok choice, then headed to Universal Studios Japan!

The weather was scheduled to rain all afternoon, but I thought we should risk it.  It turned out to be hot and sunny and never rained.  In fact, we ended up buying sunscreen as we were going to get sunburned if we didn’t lather up!  Good thing we didn’t let weather stop us!

Universal was so much fun.  I LOVE Harry Potter World and it was so much fun to visit again.  First up was perusing Honeydukes then grabbing a butterbeer.

Then we headed for Hogwarts and the Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey ride.  I decided to skip it this time as it made me so nauseous last time.  I was so sad to miss out, but it seemed for the best.  The wait was crazy long, but there was a way to still tour Hogwarts so I did that while Chuck and the kids waited in line.  Then I strolled around Hogsmeade and had a great time.

Once we were back together, we grabbed a snack at the Three Broomsticks.  And after some more strolling around Hogsmeade, we headed out to explore the rest of the park.

The kids were able to ride a few rides, and we had a great time walking around and taking it all in.  Our legs were ready to fall off at this point so we took breaks when we could, yet we still had a good time.

We ended up staying to watch the parade which was cooler than I expected.

With the park now closed, we made our way back to the Dotonbori and got to see it all lit up at night.

We dropped the exhausted kids back at the hotel to shower while Chuck and I went back out to explore the area more.  Unfortunately it was closing time and the stores were all shutting down, so we went back to the hotel too.

The next morning we had breakfast then headed to the airport for our trip to South Korea.

And that wraps up our time in Japan!

P.S. I noticed the manhole covers in Japan were really cool.  The ones in Osaka in particular were painted in addition to having neat artwork.

One of Chuck’s friends went to Japan the year before we did, and posted pictures at this Japanese Onsen Theme Park.  The experience looked so cool so it quickly got put at the top of Chuck’s Bucket List for our trip.

The Onsen, Ooedo-Onsen Monogatari, bills itself as one of Japan’s largest Onsen Theme Parks.  The place consists of a various hot baths, a street food section, and outdoor section and more.

When you first arrive, you check in and drop your shoes in a locker.  From there, you select your yukata before heading to the locker rooms.  There you find your assigned locker, take off everything except your underwear, and use the instructions on the wall to put on your yukata.  And then its time to go explore!

It was so cool that everyone wears one of the assigned yukatas the entire time they’re there.  They did take a little getting used to especially the first time I sat down, but we all got a kick out of wearing them around.

It was well after 2pm at this point, so the first order of business was lunch!  We checked out each of the many street food restaurants and I think we all ended up with food from a different restaurant.

After lunch, we decided we needed treats since they had so many yummy choices.

Then it was time to explore the facility.  We ended up going outside to this really serene area with foot baths.  It was so nice and peaceful.

The kids really wanted to use the fish spa like they had in Thailand.  It cost extra, but it was totally worth it especially to watch Beckett giggle and squirm.

We noticed that prices for leg massages were pretty reasonable, so we decided to splurge on 30 minute leg massages for the entire family.  We booked a time about an hour later and went to the actual onsen (baths) while we waited.

This part is where it gets weird.  The Japanese use the baths naked.  Completely naked.  The men and women are split into different sections, but still.  We each grappled with whether we wanted to partake in this, and each decided “When in Rome…”.

The first thing you do is get a locker to put all your clothes into.  You’re given a hand towel and a washcloth and that’s all you are allowed to take into the baths.  When you enter, you’re supposed to rinse off and then you can go into any bath you want for as long as you want.  The baths ranged from cold to lukewarm to blazing hot.  There is even an open air natural hot spring outside.  I did feel awkward at the start, but pretty quickly realized no one was really paying attention to me and that this is normal for them, so I just went with it.

Once done, there is a section of little tables and stools with various soaps and a hose where you can sit and clean yourself.  When you’ve had enough, its time to shower and get dressed in your yukata.  Unfortunately, I didn’t notice my main locker room key in the spa’s locker and left it.  I realized pretty quickly that I didn’t have it and went back only to find my locker already taken by someone else.  Despite the language difference, I was able to explain to the locker room attendants what happened and they put a note on the locker asking the person to return my key.  I had to wait till after my massage was over to find out if I got my key back and was so worried that the person would use it to open my locker and steal my stuff.  Luckily the locker room staff had it and I could breathe a big sigh of relief.

Back to the massage.  We all met up after our onsen experiences and were taken to this massive room with many massage tables set up side by side.  We each got a 30 minute leg massage that was glorious.  Each masseuse did things differently, but we all had a wonderful experience and it really soothed our tired legs.  Beckett was even talking about it long after we got home.

It was somewhere around 6pm at this point and we decided it was time for a snack.  So back to the food court we went for snacks and treats.  We even got some arcade time in and wandered the little shops.

It was nearly 8pm when we finally left.  None of us wanted to go as it was such a relaxing place and it was so nice to slow down after all our busy days in Tokyo.  But we were heading to Kyoto the next morning and needed to get home to pack and get some sleep before our big travel day.

If you go to Tokyo, I highly recommend visiting this onsen.  Its such a unique experience, but also a nice oasis from the big city.

We went to the teamLab Borderless Digital Art Museum in Odaiba, Tokyo.  They have a few different art installations, but I picked this one because it looked mind blowing.  I have to say it definitely lived up to the hype.  This really was one of the coolest museums any of us have ever experienced.

You have to get tickets ahead of time as it usually sells out, but even with tickets, there is a wait to get in.  We waited maybe 20-30 minutes before we got in.  I was happy that I’d looked at the website as there were no maps or directions inside so it wasn’t obvious where to go or how to find things.  Plus it’s very dark especially in between the rooms.  But because I knew of certain rooms, I knew to keep wandering hallways and staircases until we found everything.

I’m also glad I read the online reviews that said to wear a white shirt and light pants as you’ll blend into the art better.  I told the rest of the family, but was pretty much ignored (in their defense, I don’t know that any of them brought white shirts on the trip).

We first entered a long, dark hallway before emerging into a long room with light projections of flowers on every wall.  It was incredible to be immersed in the space.

After exiting that room, we entered a huge room with a rainfall that was really cool.

Next we entered a room that consisted of hundreds of lights dancing in different patterns.  We spent a long time in this room mesmerized by the choreographed lights.

And then we went up some stairs and discovered one of the coolest rooms we’ve ever seen, “The Forest of Lamps”.  There was a wait to get in as it’s quite popular and  once inside, you only have a couple of minutes max to enjoy it.  There is one way glass though, so you can watch the lamps transform from color to color while you wait which was amazing in and of itself.

Our time in the room was way too short, but it is still so vivid in my mind and one of the highlights from our entire trip.

Next up we found the Crystal  World.  The crystals are laid out in a maze so you have to follow the the cutouts as you wind your way through.  Once we were ready to leave, we couldn’t find the exit and had to keep wandering paths until we finally found doors.  The crystals changed colors and patterns so it was constantly changing.

This is how it went for the next hour: Opening one door to discover a room then leave and find another room then walk up a staircase and find yet another room or a balcony into a room and on and on.

We were getting a bit hungry at this point as it was around lunchtime, but I knew we were missing one of the cooler rooms I’d seen online.  Eventually we found a tall staircase and at the top was the “Athletics Forest”.  Its a massive room with a planet trampoline, undulating floors with various sea creatures, a side alcove with a slide, another few side alcoves with lights or activities, and a room of giant balloon lights in the back.  I don’t even know how to describe what it was like being in there.

The kids started by jumping on the trampoline while Chuck and I explored.  He noticed you could interact with the water droplets coming down the pillars which was fun to play with.

Then we discovered the drawing center.  Here they had various creatures you could color in.  Then they would scan it and your creature would show up on the walls and floor and crawl around.  We had a great time finding our creature and following them around the room.  Stepping on them would cause them to smash briefly before they’d be fine and start crawling around again.

My iguana:

We spent over an hour in the area enjoying the room, its alcoves, and all the activities.

At the back of the Athletics Forest we found the Sketch Aquarium which was like the main room in that you could color a sea creature, scan it in, and watch it come to life.  I loved this room – it made me so happy!

As the kids played in some of the rooms, I went to the main room and realized the floor and walls were responding to me.  As I stood still, the water droplets moved around my feet and a garden started to grow.  Then I sat down and watched a garden grow on my legs.

After a good hour and a half in the Athletics Forest, we decided it was time to go.  On our way out, we walked through one last room and took our last photos.

All of us were blown away by the experience.  None of us wanted to leave, but our legs were tired and we were so hungry.  Plus, we were headed to the onsen next and needed to make sure we had enough time for that.

I really hope this museum comes to the US sometime as all of us would go back in a heartbeat.

One “must do” in Tokyo is to visit a theme restaurant.  There are so many choices from maid cafes to prison themed restaurants to monster cafes.  I settled on visiting the Ninja Restaurant in Shinjuku as it seemed like a cool experience all of us would enjoy.

I booked us one of the 9-course menus so we’d get to experience everything, one 6 course adult meal, and two 6 course kids meals.  We also went at lunch, however, it was still quite expensive.  It was worth it, though!

Upon arrival, we removed our shoes and were lead back to a small, private room.  After receiving our drinks, the meal began.

Our first course arrived in a smoking ship which so visually entertaining.

Then it was onto a sushi course.

The next two courses were some seafood dish served in a large shell and a flaming bowl where we each got charcoal briquettes from the fire.  The charcoal turned out to be chicken covered in a gray, crunchy coating.  It was not only a trick of the eye, but delicious.

The kids then got their main meal.

For our next course, Chuck and I both got a smoking box that we had to unwrap.  After opening it and waiting for the smoke to clear, we were greeted with a really interesting plate of flowers, vegetables, and seafood.

Next up was our main course which was chicken for me and steak for Chuck accompanied by roasted vegetables.  They came with a side of spices that elevated the meat to another level.

Finally it was time for the grand finale: Dessert!  I made sure not to tell the kids about this part as I wanted them to be surprised.

Yes, that is an edible bonsai tree in edible dirt.  I can’t even describe what it tasted like, but suffice it to say that it was delicious and hands down one of the coolest desserts I’ve ever had in my life!

After the meal was over, we were joined by a close-up magician who performed many tricks at the table right in front of us.  We were asked not to take pictures so I don’t have any to share.  The magic was amazing though and we were stunned to watch all the tricks happen in front of our noses.   I still have no idea how he did it!  As if the meal wasn’t enough, this was the icing on the cake.

Once the show was over, it was time to leave.  We were there for a good 3 hours, but left happy and delighted with the whole experience.