Field Card · Alice

Osaka — Whale Shark & Neon

Sunday 28 — Tuesday 30 June 2026 · the last stop
大阪 おおさか Osaka 食い倒れ eat till you drop
Hotel
Sugata HotelShinsaibashi · 2 nights
Per night
£32.71¥14,000 total · booked
FX
¥214 / £1Wise + cash
Fly home
Tue 09:30KIX → LHR · China Eastern
The Kaiyukan whale shark — the moment you'll remember. Glide past it slowly.
¥ → £ Rate ≈ ¥214 / £1 ¥1,000 ≈ £4.67 ¥2,800 ≈ £13.08 (Kaiyukan) ¥1,490 ≈ £6.96 (Rapi:t to KIX) Osaka rules: ICOCA/Suica taps the Midosuji & Chuo metro lines · cash still handy for street stalls · the city eats late, so do dinner late · everything below is walkable or one metro hop from Shinsaibashi · plug type A
Big bag · 宅急便 takkyubin status
Tokyo
forwarded ahead
(skipped Hakone)
Kyoto
passed through
forwarded onward
Osaka · Sugata
ARRIVED Sun 28
collect at check-in
Checked bag
Tue 30 → KIX
umeshu & sake inside
01

Sunday 28 June

Arrive from Nara · settle in · Dotonbori by neon
Sugata Hotel
5 min to the canal
18:00
Check in Sugata Hotel 🍡 Map
Straight off the Yamatoji train from Nara — right in Shinsaibashi, in the thick of it. Drop the overnight bag and freshen up.
Sugata Hotel · Shinsaibashi
—
Booked
18:15
Big bag — en route
The takkyubin bag you sent from Kyoto this morning takes a day, so it lands at the front desk tomorrow. Tonight the overnight bag is all you need.
Front desk · arrives tomorrow
—
19:00
Dotonbori evening walk 🍡 Map
5 minutes from the door and the whole canal lights up — the running Glico Man, the giant moving crab, neon doubled in the water. This is the Osaka postcard. Just walk it first, camera out.
Dotonbori · 道頓堀
Free
Free
20:00
Street-food dinner along the canal
First taste of kuidaore — takoyaki, okonomiyaki, kushikatsu, eaten standing up. See the food map below for the queue-worthy spots. Pace yourself; there's plenty more eating tomorrow.
Dotonbori · stalls
¥1.5–2.5k£7–12
22:00
🏁 F1 Grand Prix — race day
Lights out 22:00 (JST) — the race you wanted. Back at the Sugata after Dōtonbori, feet up; or find a Dōtonbori sports bar for the atmosphere. Stream on F1 TV / DAZN.
Sugata Hotel / sports bar
—
🏁 Race

Dotonbori food map

The landmark stalls within a few minutes of the bridge — queue flags so you know what to expect.
Takoyaki
Wanaka / Kukuru
The benchmark octopus balls — crisp outside, molten in.
Expect a queue
Okonomiyaki
Mizuno
Michelin-listed, cooked on the teppan in front of you.
Long queue
Kushikatsu
Daruma
Deep-fried skewers. One rule: no double-dipping the sauce.
Usually walk-up
Ramen
Kinryu / Ichiran
Tonkotsu, the big green dragon out front. Open very late.
Late / 24h
Crab landmark
Kani Doraku
The giant moving crab sign — a photo more than a meal (pricey).
Landmark
Pork buns
551 Horai
Steaming butaman to take away. Spot the perpetual line.
Takeaway queue

🌙 Osaka runs late

Dotonbori food stalls→ ~01:00
Kinryu / Ichiran ramenlate / 24h
Don Quijote (Ebisu tower)24 hours
Izakaya & bars→ 23:00–01:00
Midosuji metro last train~24:00
Convenience stores24 hours
Don't rush dinner — the city only really warms up after 20:00. Everything here is walkable from Shinsaibashi, so a late finish doesn't mean chasing the last train.
02

Monday 29 June

The shopping run · the whale shark · neon, gachapon & takoyaki
Shinsaibashi shops → Osaka Bay
passport for tax-free
Morning — the Tokyo shopping you saved for Osaka
10:50
Leave Sugata now — walk south
Head toward the Dotonbori area, ~7 min on foot. Ring Onitsuka Namba (06-4708-8791) on the way (~10:55) to check the Nippon Made is in your sizes before you arrive.
Sugata → Dotonbori
—
Call on the way
11:00
⛩️ Hōzen-ji (法善寺) — last temple 🍡 Map
Tiny lantern-lit shrine hidden down Hōzenji Yokocho alley, Dotonbori. The moss-covered Fudō Myō-ō — splash water over the statue as you pray. Outdoor omikuji boxes ¥100 each — grab one per family member. Goshuin from the small office on-site, usually ¥500, for your book. ~3 min walk from Onitsuka Namba.
Hōzen-ji · 法善寺 · Yokocho
¥100–600£0–3
Goshuin · omikuji
11:18
★ Onitsuka Tiger Namba — the big one 🍡 Map
Japan's largest Onitsuka store — deepest stock, with the Nippon Made on the 2nd floor. You're ~18 min past opening but they'll have plenty. Confirm the Nippon Made in 24.5 and 25.0, try both and walk a bit in each (they run narrow — size up if the toe box pinches). Tax-free with your passport. Allow ~45 min.
Onitsuka Tiger Namba · Dotonbori
¥28–45,000£131–210
★ Trainers
12:15
★ Nail Shop TAT Shinsaibashi 🍡 Map
Walk back up Shinsaibashi-suji from Onitsuka (~7 min); open 11:00–19:00. The nail haul you've been saving — Sha-Nail Pro decals, pro colour gels, the Tati brush, chrome/mirror powder, rhinestones, no-wipe top gel. Allow a generous 60–90 min to browse. Tax-free at checkout.
Nail Shop TAT · Shinsaibashi
~£70
★ Nails
13:45
🍵 High-quality matcha — Daimaru depachika 🍡 Map
For serious matcha, skip the tourist tins and head to the basement food hall (depachika) of Daimaru Shinsaibashi — right on Shinsaibashi-suji on your way back. The premium tea counters carry top Uji makers: look for Marukyu Koyamaen, Ippodo or Tsujiri. Ask for ceremonial / usucha grade (or koicha if you want the very top), buy a small 20–30 g sealed tin — it travels light and keeps. Tax-free over ¥5,000 with your passport. (Takashimaya at Namba has the same counters if you'd rather grab it near the hotel.)
Daimaru Shinsaibashi · B1 depachika
¥1,500–4,000£7–19
per tin
★ Matcha
Midday — drop & refuel
14:15
Drop the hauls at Sugata + konbini lunch
Dump the bags at the hotel so you're not lugging trainers and matcha round the aquarium, then grab a quick konbini lunch before heading to the bay.
Sugata Hotel → Dotonbori
~¥800~£4
Afternoon — the whale shark
14:45
Subway Shinsaibashi → Osakako
Chuo Line, ~25 min, ¥240 (or Midosuji + transfer). Leaves you a few minutes' walk to the aquarium for your 15:15 slot.
Chuo Line · ¥240
¥240£1
15:15
★ Kaiyukan — Osaka Aquarium 🍡 Map
Booked: timed entry 15:15 — have the ticket on your phone. Your hero: the whale sharks in the huge central tank. The route spirals down past them — allow ~2 hours at an easy pace so you're out for an early evening.
Osaka Bay · 海遊館
¥2,700£13
~2 hrs
Booked 15:15
17:30
Tempozan Ferris Wheel (optional) 🍡 Map
Right next door — sunset over Osaka Bay from the big wheel, if you fancy it.
Tempozan · 観覧車
¥800£4
Optional
Evening — neon & an early night
18:30
Subway back to Shinsaibashi
~25 min back into town.
Chuo / Midosuji · ¥240
¥240£1
19:00
Light dinner + Smiski hunt 🍡 Map
A light bite, then hunt the gachapon — Loft Shinsaibashi or the animate basement machines. ¥300–500 a spin; do a few for the Smiski toothbrush series.
Loft / animate · Shinsaibashi
¥300–500£1–2
per spin
Gachapon
20:15
Walk Dotonbori — the last takoyaki 🍡 Map
Neon, the Glico Man, one final takoyaki by the canal — then call it.
Dotonbori · 道頓堀
snacks
21:00
Back to the hotel — repack & early night
Early one tonight — you'll want an earlier start than planned tomorrow, so set the alarm earlier and repack now while you've energy: the big bag plus the new hauls, then run the pack-up checklist below. Lights out.
Sugata Hotel
—

Departure prep

do Mon evening 0 / 7
03

Tuesday 30 June

The airport run · KIX → home · the trip closes here
Rapi:t 07:30
fly 09:30
The airport run — tight but simple
06:30
Wake, breakfast, final pack
Travel light up top — long journey via Shanghai ahead. Checklist should already be done from last night.
—
07:00
Check out Sugata Hotel
Sugata Hotel
—
07:15
Walk to Namba Station 🍡 Map
~10 min. The Nankai line to the airport leaves from here.
Namba · 難波
—
07:30
Nankai Rapi:t express → KIX
The retro-futurist blue express straight to Kansai Airport, ~50 min, ¥1,490. (Back-up if you miss it: JR Haruka runs from Tennoji/Shin-Osaka — but Rapi:t from Namba is the clean door-to-gate line.)
Nankai · Rapi:t · ¥1,490
¥1,490£7
08:20
Arrive KIX — check in & last jobs 🍡 Map
China Eastern counter. Tax-free refund desk if you didn't finish it. Through security, then the final souvenir grab — Lululun multi-pack airside.
Kansai Airport · KIX
—
09:30
China Eastern KIX → PVG → LHR
Via Shanghai Pudong — transit lounge on the layover. Lands London 18:40. £408 for the whole journey home.
KIX → LHR · via PVG
£408
whole journey
Booked
18:40
Land London Heathrow
Home the evening before prom. Three weeks, five cities, one continent — done.
LHR · home
—
🎓

Hard deadline: Prom

Land LHR 18:40 Tue 30 Jun → Prom 17:00 Wed 1 Jul. That's ~22 hours to recover, do laundry and glam up. Comfortable buffer — but don't book anything else for Wed daytime.

⛅

Hot, humid, possibly the last of the rain

Late-June Osaka runs 27–31°C and sticky, with the rainy season just trailing off — much like Kyoto, but more concrete and less shade. Carry a fold-up umbrella and water; the aquarium and the metro are blissfully air-conditioned, and the food crawl is mostly after dark when it cools a touch.

Field reference — the small but useful things

Aquamarine for the whale shark and the deep calm of the Kaiyukan tank; one stripe of electric coral for Dotonbori's neon. Two moods, one city — and the last card of the trip. Tap the checklist as you pack; it remembers.

Friend's recommendations

Osaka bars, from a friend who knows

Bars

  • Craftroom
  • Bar K
  • Bar Beso
Weather: Open-Meteo