Osaka is often overlooked as a tourist destination in favour of Tokyo or surrounding Kyoto or Nara. Or people Just visit the Osaka castle and leave town. Turns out there is a lot to do in Osaka so I'll spend two days here when I come back. There is a maritime museum, aquarium, universal studios. floating rooftop garden about 70 stories, more temples, shopping, nightlife, so enough to keep me busy. 

Also there is a place called spaworld where they have bathing of different nations and have turkish baths . (Spas and Saunas from around the world, this looks fun! http://www.spaworld.co.jp/english/service.html). A short train ride away is Himeji castle. Tennoji also has something like the Blackpool Tower.

Osaka station is a large complex connecting Osaka and Umeda stations. A bit like Waterloo and Charing Cross connected in central London. Underneath are several metro lines and a massive shopping councourse, a bit like the TD centre, First Canadian Place, and Royal Bank Plaza all combined. I had to ask in the tourist office for directions of which exit to get out from, otheriwise its a maze.

video : JR Kobe to Osaka Express
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yQZkz1FnwA

Took the semi express from Osaka station to Kansai Airport. This is actualy built on an island connected by a road and train bridge. The terminal entrance hall was an ugly pink. Internet terminals are free but ridiculously slow and keeps kicking me out of facebook . I can only type one sentence at a time and it freezes. The lady in the tourist office was also kind enough to tell me the Kansai express train cars seperate at a certain station so be sure to be in cars 1-4.
 
Everything is so clean and polished in Japan I dont feel like going back. I'm surprised everyones english level is much higher than I'd have thought, or compared to korea for that matter. The tourist offices speak fluent english. The JR train offices will speak some or try, and are always able to assist me. Even in restaurants they can describe menu items in english. Will do a seperate entry just on the hotels with summaries and pics

The flight from Osaka was in the middle of a heavy downpour so couldnt see any of Osaka from the windows and some turbulence. Landing at Busan Airport lots of military craft on the tarmac again. The bus to Daegu runs every 1hr40mins and I just missed it by 10 minutes. Bit of an anti-climax having just been spoilt by Japan transport. Odd that Koreas third largest city and second largest airport outside Seoul has such slow connections . They have completed a light rail line that connects the airport to the Busan Metro but its still in the testing stage. (See Later Entry on Busan Gimhae Airport for more Details and Pics)

At Daegu took a cab all the way home as too tired to take an hour long bus. The cab driver wanted to know if I was Russian and told me the correct name of the bridge that I had wanted to take for a faster route. 

Things I will remember about Japan
- Super clean cities 
- excellent train transportation system in all directions, rapid, and very frequent
- communal bathing and relaxing spas
- heated toilets with spray jets and electronic control pads to flush
- free soft drinks, ice cream, and unlimited refills in internet cafes
- extremely friendly people for such an overpopulated country

Smoking was an issue. Public transit and public places are smoke free, but restaurants are a choke pit and you can smell cigarettes on your clothes for the rest of the day . Even internet cafes that give you the 'non smoking section' have no physical separation from the smoking section and the whole interior is choked with tobacco smoke.   

Toilets were also strange. The first thing you notice when you sit is they are heated on max setting and your instinct is to jump up!. The other thing you have trouble with is figuring out how to flush. The entire unit is smooth with no handles. After a while you notice a control panel on the wall which you would have thought was the light switch but you notice picture diagrams and japanese writing.   Not every toilet is the same model so its always a struggle figuring out how to flush. Koreans seem terrified of toilet paper in comparison!
 
Japanese men seem taller than Korean, more European features, and nobody spits on the ground. Korean women tend to look more prettier, they have a beauty parlor on every block (I counted 6 on my 8 min walk to school!), whereas I didnt really notice them that common in Japan. In both countries obesity is rare due to healthier diets and active lifestyles, and japanese are famous for their longevity. 

Korean is by far the easiest of the asian language scripts to learn, I wouldnt even know where to start with Japanese or Chinese!. Also they like to bow a lot more than koreans. At restaurants when you enter and leave, on the trains as conductors enter and leave each carriage, vendors as you walk by their stores. For an overcrowded country, everyone is extremely polite and friendly, even in busy Tokyo crowds. 
 
So I'm surprised I did Japan as its something I never seriously thought I would do until the korean teaching thing came about. It was surprisingly easy to navigate. Korean society and culture actually seems more foreign in comparison.
 
Japan wins cleanest country award knocking Sweden, Netherlands, and Austria from that spot. Already planning my return trip back in September starting from Osaka and working my way down thru more castles, floating temples, hot springs, european outposts, and war memorials. In view of the recent earthquake tragedy it will also be a good way to help them rebuild by spending my tourism dollars later in the year after things settle.