Osaka, Japan. Very few historical monuments preserved in Osaka

Among tourists, it is assumed that Osaka is a boring, criminal (by Japanese standards, of course) multi-million hole, suitable only for the role of a staging post for studying historically more significant neighborhoods.

Located in the center of a huge park, Osaka Castle, as if tearing the canvas of time, simultaneously exists both in the past and in the present. Being once the largest building in the city, it visually diminished over time against the background of rebuilt office skyscrapers. But its beauty does not detract from it at all, and perhaps even emphasizes once again: living history is in the heart of an industrial metropolis.

Temple Shitennoji, which was founded in the 6th century, is quite laconic and is not in the center of the city, there are very few people there. But thanks to this, he has a unique feature: visitors can climb inside the 5-tier pagoda and find out what is there. Tourists can dozens of such pagodas in Japan, but rarely where you will be allowed to enter inside. Inside is a narrow staircase, hundreds of small buddhas on 5 levels and a full feeling of touching something holy. You can not take pictures inside.

A pile of skyscrapers scraped the sky with their peaks with helicopter pads. Tourists can look at the city from above and take a ride on the most intimidating escalator by visiting the Umeda Sky Building near Osaka Station. At the top of the skyscraper is the viewing platform Floating Garden Observatory. The site is spectacular and paid. On a high hill in Osaka located Osaka Castle replicated on all postcards.

Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan is world famous. Tourists are happy to spend an hour and a half there. Several levels, huge aquariums, quiet benches for "sea meditation" and observing the movement of huge fish, feeding dolphins and much more - a complete set of essential elements to realize and wonder how people in a concrete city still strive for nature.

For several days spent in Osaka, tourists understand that this city is absolutely not by chance called the culinary capital of Japan. Osaka even has a suitable nickname: "The Kitchen of the Nation", which came, however, from feudal times, when the city was considered the center of rice sales. However, the nickname has not lost its relevance so far, but already because of the incredible choice of gastronomic delights. Dotonbori area is famous for its restaurants, many of which offer food around the clock. The most famous place is called "Kani Doraku" and attracts tourists with a multi-meter figure of a crab moving its paws. As you might guess, "Kani Doraku" specializes in crabs. This is a real crab empire, spreading its restaurant claws on many Japanese cities. However, the main temple of eating crabs (i.e. a 7-story restaurant) is located in Datonbori.

The number of restaurants in Osaka is not transferred to the calculus, there are about 95 of the Michelin stars alone (for comparison, there are only 66 in London). The competition is serious, so the owners of institutions have to lure buyers causing outdoor advertising. Nowhere else in Japan will a tourist see such a variety of unusual restaurant advertisements as in Osaka, from multimeter sushi to ubiquitous octopuses, fire-breathing dragons and other mythological kitchen characters.

The historical birthplace of kushikatsu is the Shinsekai district, a curious place with a high concentration of restaurants per square meter. From here also went the famous restaurant chain "Zuboraya", specializing in poisonous Fugu fish. The distinctive sign of the restaurant is a huge ball-shaped paper fish hovering above the entrance. In the local Osaka dialect, fugu are called "tessa", which can be translated as a gun. The analogy is clear, eating a Fugu fish is akin to playing with a gun. Nevertheless, it is believed that 70% of all Japanese consumption of this poisonous fish falls on Osaka.

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