Our road trip route. We pass Kyoto - don't worry Kyoto, we'll come visit you soon.
Osaka is the 3rd largest city in Japan, after Tokyo and Yokohama (Nagoya is now the 4th largest), and has a population of ~2.9 million people.
Fun facts about Osaka:
- The word "Osaka" means 'large hill' or large slope'.
- Osaka served as Capital of Japan many times through Japan history.
- Almost all of Osaka's historical monuments were destroyed in WWII bombing raids.
- Osaka has several key attractions including the first Universal Studios outside US and one of the largest aquarium in the world
- AND....
That's right - the highway PASSES THROUGH the building. This is the first building in Japan to have a highway pass through it. This is as a result of an unusual compromise between the land owner and the highway owner, aka Japanese government, to allow the unified development of highways and buildings in the same space. This was the only way to resolve the property owner's refusal to sell their land to the government to build the highway. So now the Hanshin Expressway owns the building's 5th, 6th, and 7th floors and its construction was completed in 1992.
There are many many bridges in Osaka. It used to be called the city with 808 bridges. Though I don't know if there are that many that exists today, I can tell you Osaka has a lot of bridges. Check out the one we crossed over on our way to Ikea.
The bridge is called the Namihaya Ohashi Bridge. It is 1573 metres long and sweeps around in a curve along its length. The bridge connects the Taisho Ward to the Minato Ward and serves as an evacuation route for the harbor district in times of disaster. When we were driving on it, it felt like a roller coaster ride as we drove to its peak, then suddenly as we were driving down the slope, we could feel our ears popping.
We also saw this double decker red cantilevered steel-trussed bridge called the Minato-bashi bridge. Not sure of its specs, but it sure looks pretty neat.
Anyway, after 2.5 hrs drive, 4300 yen of tolls, and $$$ spent at Ikea later, we were tired and were ready to go to bed.
But not before having a beer!
We walked around our hotel and found the tiniest little pub I have ever been to. It was at the second storey of a rowhouse. Inside this room was the bar which used up 3/4 of the space and the rest was occupied by 7 stools. Sorry no pictures. Another interesting thing, look how much foam there is on an Osaka beer pour. Most I have seen anywhere.
All in all, a good travel/first day in Osaka.
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