t/s osaka vs tokyo

Feels stupid to recommend something so niche & unapproachable but who knows who else is reading this.

ended up finding some good places to chill out in Kyobashi - BE GLAD and J'S BAR were really funky, and the mandatory social at GARB DRESSING was pretty good. Too much work, not enough time to fuck around and check the place out. Osaka is way more my style than Tokyo though - much more relaxed and outgoing

like you really can just find a dim storefront bar at 22:50 and wander in and some businesswomen who are all half in the bag will be like OH HEY WHERE YOU FROM? and a big dog will woof at you. One round later you're all practicing language skills on each other, the dog is smelling your butt while you check out the whisky selection, and you're allowed to just grab a cold one out of the fridge and use the bottle opener hanging off the side as if you were at the house of a friend's friend. Except the bathroom is really clean and the aforementioned cold one is actually cold!

sounds like heaven ...

Copy dat
If I had any balls I’d move to NRT

By that I mean the airport !

fukuoka sounds like my kind of jam

The Tower of the Sun in Expo Park reopened, I forgot how psychedelic the interior is:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPe4QDdJMlk

Hoping to head to Japan for the first time (COVID-dependent) at the end of February. Traveling with my partner and our 5-year-old son. Two weeks, and thinking of maybe splitting it 50/50 between Tokyo and Osaka. Plus maybe one night in the countryside? Is it foolish to just choose a couple places? Will we regret having so much time in Osaka (vs Kyoto or Hiroshima or more Tokyo)?

Really we just like wandering around and random cultural stuff and food and nature, but we have to rein in our ambitions given the involvement of a very active kid. A lot of travellers do one night each in a whole string of wonderful-sounding places, but I feel like it's probably not worth the travel time and frenzy?

the cutural contrast is starkest between Tokyo and Osaka (rather than say Tokyo and Kyoto) so those two places make sense. Esp if you're into the more current, 'funky' side of Japanese culture, Osaka makes sense over Kyoto, which has more history...

You won't regret staying in Osaka too long as it's a great springboard for day trips to Kyoto or Nara - Nara would be a great place to take the kid (if they like Deers) :-)