Arrival in Japan and first steps in Osaka

We arrive in the Land of the Rising Sun at Kansai International Airport (Osaka) at 9 am local time (2 am in France and Belgium). Our flight lasted a little more than 12 hours, which is slightly longer than usual because Russia is currently completely bypassed due to the war in Ukraine. Despite our efforts to try to sleep during the flight in order to not suffer too much from jet lag, we will only manage to let go for a few hours and fatigue is very present upon arrival.

We take advantage of being at the airport to pick up our JR pass and buy an IC card.
We don’t activate our JR pass yet because travel on the JR line is limited in Osaka and Kyoto. So, we purchase our first train ticket and board the Nankai Line which connects the airport to the center of Osaka. We find it easily and the trains are very frequent: we have almost no waiting time. For this first journey, we are lucky because we go all the way to the terminus, and we have no stress about stopping at the wrong stop. But we are also reassured for all the next times: we notice that the stops are written in Japanese but also in the Latin alphabet.

We enjoy the sea view during the journey. At the moment, we don’t feel too disoriented: the buildings and other infrastructures are quite similar to those we could encounter at home, except for the power lines. This immediately catches Nicolas’s attention, and it’s true that the horizon is striped with black cables. A quick internet search will tell us that Japan would have most of its electrical network not buried for economic reasons, explaining this abundance of visible power lines. The subject is regularly discussed there for safety and sustainability reasons.

Once we arrived in the center of Osaka, we got rid of our big bags in a coin locker, Kévin will feel like he’s at the swimming pool every time will have to use them (everyone has their traumas). These lockers are super practical: there are all sizes and they are literally everywhere. It allows us to not unnecessarily carry 10kg on our shoulders every time we transition between our accommodations.

Then comes the time to do what will be the most arduous task of this journey: eating. Between the gluten-free diet required for Eva (see a guide on how to travel gluten-free in Japan here) and the fact that Kévin dislikes both rice and seafood, the choices are very limited. Fortunately, Nicolas has no dietary restrictions and has very diverse tastes.
After a good hour of research, we stop at the Okonomiyaki Chibo restaurant, which offers Okonomiyaki that can be adapted to a gluten-free diet. This marks our first experience in a Japanese restaurant, and we quickly understand that making ourselves understood will not be simple. They speak little English, and some information sheets, such as the allergens list, are only written in Japanese. Fortunately, we have Google Translate, and the restaurant staff are extremely patient: even though it takes time to understand each other, they take the time to ensure that the message is well received. Despite the efforts from everyone, there will still be some loss of information, and Kévin and Nicolas will end up with sake (at 17% luckily) instead of the beers they thought they were ordering. We were very hungry, and the Okonomiyaki are very welcomed: they are very generous, and we find the dish to be good with flavors that we wouldn’t find at home, but we don’t find it incredible either. It’s a complex blend of various ingredients (I have included an explanatory drawing of the composition of an Okonomiyaki in the slideshow below), and it’s difficult for us to identify some of the flavors.
As we continue to stroll through the streets, Kévin and Nicolas try out drinks from the vending machines. They let fate decide and do not try to figure out the type of drinks they are purchasing. Nicolas will come across the best drink we will find during the whole trip and that we will desperately try to find again. It will only be during the last days that we will rediscover this famous aloe vera drink, specifically in Ueno at Tokyo. As for Kévin, he receives a grape drink.

We return to the train station to pick up our bags and decide to walk the 3 kilometers separating us from our accommodation. Unfortunately, we do not take advantage of the charms of the city as we head towards the suburbs, but this allows us to see that the city remains human-sized, the roads are not saturated, and large sidewalks are always present. However, we are beginning to realize the importance of bicycles in Japan. Many people get around this way. We also see many mothers carrying their children on their bikes (one in the front, the other in the back). They move almost exclusively on the sidewalks, and you have to stay vigilant – here, the bike is king, and it’s up to you to move aside. In Kyoto, we will narrowly miss colliding with bikes on several occasions.

After struggling to find our accommodation on a small street not referenced on Google maps, we go shopping. We find a Japanese supermarket a few steps away from our accommodation. It’s a total change of scenery, and the products we find are very different from the ones we would find at home (except for fruits and vegetables). Eva starts hunting for labels, coupled with the use of Google translation. It will end up with mushroom onigiri for her. Kévin and Nicolas find different dishes: yakitoris, udons, karaage… They even find a melon pan that is a perfect trompe l’œil. We also take advantage of a 20% discount on almost all the products we purchase. Coming late (around 6 – 7pm) is a good habit to adopt to take advantage of these discounts on quickly perishable products.

We return to the apartment with our arms full and take the opportunity during the meal to prepare our day for tomorrow, which will be at Universal Studio Japan.

Then we go to bed around 10 pm completely exhausted.

Universal Studios Japan (USJ)

For the second day, we are heading to the Universal studio (USJ) located in Osaka.
We have purchased express passes that allow us to have priority access to certain attractions at designated times.

We start the day in the Harry Potter area. As soon as we enter the park, we are mesmerized by the scenery and we are not disappointed with the Harry Potter area, which features a very successful reproduction of Hogwarts and Hogsmeade. We find Ollivander’s shop, Butterbeer stands, the Three Broomsticks pub, and many more. Here, everyone is dressed up, and you really feel the cosplay culture.
We kick off the day with the Forbidden Journey attraction. The wait stands in the replica of Hogwarts, and the decoration is truly immersive: from moving portraits to animated newspapers, to the magical sorting hat. The little wait we have to endure is quickly forgotten under these conditions. Then we board a gondola to follow Harry Potter and company through various adventures. It’s rich in sensation: the seats move, we get bursts of air to give us the sensation of speed, and we receive drops when the spiders spit on us. It’s very immersive and we are pleasantly surprised. We come out a little queasy but we quickly get over it.
We then move on to the Flight of the Hippogriff. It’s a very short roller coaster. It allows Kevin to experience « thrills » again: he comes out of the attraction empty and with a hoarse voice. We are happy that we only had a few minutes to wait for this one because the ride is really short.

We continue our visit with the Jujutsu Kaisen 4D cinema. It’s not included in our pass, but there’s hardly any wait, so we take advantage of it. We can experience the 3D effect, but we don’t really get into the story. The fact that everything is in Japanese surely didn’t help, and neither did the quality of the image.

During the Halloween period, the park takes advantage of opening haunted mansions and other thrilling attractions. We will visit one of them. It is again very immersive and I would say that this is really the impression we will have throughout the day. The actors are very well made up and know perfectly how to jump at the right moment to create surprise and fear.

We then head to the 3rd attraction of our pass: Hollywood Ride Back-drop. It is the attraction we have been waiting for the most because they alternate the wagons in the normal direction of the ride and the wagons backwards. Kévin will end up losing his voice on this ride. Despite Nicolas and Eva gently make fun of Kévin, they must admit that the ride shook them up: riding a roller coaster backwards is not the best for the stomach.

All of this opens our appetite and we head towards the Jurassic Park area to eat. Eva thought it would be easy for her to eat at this restaurant that offers bowls. Unfortunately, this is not the case and Eva only eats a tray of fries. It’s enough to refuel a bit. The advantage is the presence of allergen sheets for each dish, which allows for a serene dining experience.

We will then see the Waterworld show and also take the Jaws ride. These are two outdoor attractions, with water and explosions everywhere. It’s a change from what we’ve seen in the morning, and it feels good to be outside, especially since the weather is great.

We continue with the Spider-man 4D cinema. We go there with no expectations and come out with lots of praises. It is probably the attraction we enjoyed the most among all of those we have done. It is in the same vein as A Forbidden Journey but even more immersive. It also moves less, which gives less of a sensation of nausea upon exiting the attraction.

Our pass ends in apotheosis with the world of Nintendo. This is the moment Nicolas and Eva have been waiting for since the beginning of the day. The immersion is total!
We enter the world through a green pipe with that famous music that has rocked our childhood. On the other side of the pipe, it feels like we’ve been sucked into a Mario game. The decors are all more beautiful than the others, the sound effects are very impressive. What may not be apparent in the photos is the size of the decors. It’s huge, and it really feels like being in a small village.
Our first attraction is Mario Kart: Koopa’s challenge. The wait takes in Bowser’s castle, and once again, time flies by. The attraction is hyper-interactive: we are in a Mario Kart circuit. We steer our virtual kart with a steering wheel and launch the typical Mario Kart objects in the direction we are looking. Once again, this is different from anything we have done so far, and for all Mario Kart fans, go for it without hesitation.
After the attraction, we head to a shop where Kevin and Eva stop by. It’s Nicolas’ birthday today, and they have to buy him accessories to make this moment unforgettable. He gladly accepts to wear the Yoshi hoop he received until the end of the day. He will get many compliments from the Japanese: they all have accessories, whether they are girls, boys, women, or men, and they seem enthusiastic to see foreigners in the same excitement as them. We complete the birthday with 2-3 other goodies and a Luigi cap that will have its own little success among the Japanese.
We continue exploring the world of Nintendo with Yoshi’s adventure. We ride Yoshis that take us through the Nintendo area. Here, there are no thrills, but we still appreciate observing all these decors even more with the night that has fallen, and we rediscover the places that are now illuminated.
We conclude the adventure with dinner at the Kinopio’s café. This is probably where we had the longest wait, but now that we have done everything we absolutely wanted to do, we don’t care anymore. Eva can have a full meal there, a curry. Nicolas and Kevin eat dishes with Mario’s effigy. The atmosphere is incredible, and we leave the experience happy.

At nightfall, during the Halloween period, zombies, werewolves, Chuckys, and others, invade the park. However, they do not go to the areas (Harry Potter, Nintendo, and the Minions), and Eva dreads going out from Super Nintendo world.
It’s only 8pm, and the park is still full of children.. We therefore think that it will remain mild, but far from it. The music has changed, giving way to a horror movie ambiance. The park is intentionally very poorly lit, and agents are positioned everywhere to signal us where to go with green and red light sticks. At every turn, monsters jump on us. They dare little with us as they must be hesitant about our reactions, they are much more confident with the Japanese, especially the Japanese women, whose screams can be heard from everywhere in the park.

We then take a break from the horror atmosphere by heading to the Minions area. There’s no one at the Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem attraction so we take advantage of it. It’s in the same style as A Forbidden Journey or Spiderman, but we probably preferred the previous ones probably because the element of surprise is no longer there.

The attractions are closing gradually and it is now time to leave the park.
On the way to the exit, we get caught up in the parade of zombies and others, and we will stay there until the park closes: we will never tired of discovering the costumes and how the actors seamlessly become one with the character.

It will cost us to find ourselves packed in the crowd at closing time. Nicolas is the most aware of this, as he stands at 1.85m and overlooks most Japanese people. In the end, we manage to join a train carriage without any difficulty or pushing. This is so pleasant !

Tomorrow it will be time to leave Osaka. Our stay there was brief and we only saw very little of the city but it’s a very good excuse to come back!