We're back home at last, trying to recover from the jetlag that wakes us up from 2-5 every morning and has us feeling drugged all day. Osaka was the last stop on our itinerary. Japan's third largest city, Osaka was nice - maybe underrated, since most people would probably stay in Kyoto and just do a day trip to Osaka, only a half hour away by train. We had a Moroccan friend who lived in Osaka, and when I was planning the trip a few months ago, we were thinking we would catch up with him there and had thought a few days in Osaka would be just the right amount of time. Unfortunately, when we started trying to track him down, we found out he was very sick, and he passed away from cancer a few weeks ago. So our stay in Osaka was probably about one day longer than it needed to be, and everywhere we went, we thought about him and wondered what his life in Japan must have been like, as a Moroccan immigrant married to a Japanese woman. He had lived in Japan for many years and then moved back to Fes, where I knew him from 2000-02, but then he returned again to Japan for the last eight years or so. His English was excellent, too, and he was a real character.
Also, our time in Osaka coincided with people gearing up for New Year's celebrations, so most of the tourist sites were closed. We went to the Osaka castle (yet another example of something destroyed and rebuilt, this time in 1923!) and after a very long walk up the hill to get there, discovered it was closed.
A museum I had wanted to see was also closed. What was open was this tremendous shopping district - a covered arcade that stretched on and on for kilometers. It was constantly packed with people from about 10 am on, and great for people watching. 
People from Osaka seemed a little more brash and outgoing than people in Tokyo, and they sported all kinds of out-there fashions. We must have seen a million young women in high, spiky heels, tripping along like little colts and seeming as if they might fall over at any minute.
There was also an electronics/anime district, where you could browse the latest technology or buy small replicas of your favorite cartoon characters. The latest technology also included $350 rice cookers and $400 toilet seats - the self-heating kinds that were in all our hotels and sported various other functions.
New foods sampled included potatoes sold on the street that had a crunchy, caramelized coating, and more baked goods - there were crepe stands everywhere in Tokyo and Osaka, and finally we decided to try one that consistently had long lines in front of it. We paid literally about ten dollars for two crepes that took so long to spread with cream, fruit, and brown sugar, that by the time we ate them, they were cold. There was also a stand that sold eclairs that were excellent, and those were only about $2 each. One of our most memorable meals was at this little underground pub that specialized in yakitori - basically kabobs. They put them on a warm grill in front of you, and you have to keep ordering more and more skewers because they are so good but also such tantalizingly small bites. We also had grilled onigiri, these rice triangles that they sell at all convenience stores with various fillings. These businessmen were having a great time after work as well, drinking beer and sake.
And finally, we went to one of those sushi places where the sushi sails by on a conveyor belt, and you just reach for whatever you want. I think I was scared to try one for fear I'd choose, say, an expensive cut of tuna belly and then wind up with a staggeringly high bill. But this was much easier than I thought - prices were clearly listed next to each dish of sushi, and the waitress scanned the dishes with a scanner when you were done, adding up all that you'd ordered.
After two full days in Osaka, it was finally time to come home. A cab ride to the train station at 5 am, a 40 minute train ride to the Osaka airport at 5:30, an 8:45 flight to Tokyo, followed by an 11:45 flight to Chicago, then a 10:45 am flight to Orlando. Sofia did a lot better coming back, but we were all exhausted.
One of many random observations to follow: everything works so impressively well in Japan. Have you ever been in a bathroom in the States, for example, where you couldn't get the automatic sensor in the spigot to work and actually give you water to wash your hands? Things like this routinely worked perfectly in Japan. Also, it was a very child friendly place - even in train stations and other public spots, you could find diaper changing stations. And the coolest invention of all - in the Osaka airport bathroom, there were these fold-down seats in the bathroom where you could sit your baby. Sofia loved it and didn't want to get out.
More thoughts and photos to follow...
