Top Things to Do in Osaka 🇯🇵 Katsuoji Temple, Osaka Castle & Universal Studios Japan

Top Things to Do in Osaka 🇯🇵 Katsuoji Temple, Osaka Castle & Universal Studios Japan

Hello from Osaka. In this video, we’ll be visiting some of the city’s top attractions. We’ll begin at the Daruma filled hills of the Katsioji Temple, then enjoy views from the top of Osaka Castle. We’ll make a quick stop highlighting the foods at Doto Bori and end with a full day of adventure at Universal Studios Japan. We have lots to see. Let’s get started. Our first stop in this video is the Katsuji Temple, known for its Daruma statues. The journey takes about 1 hour starting on the train and then transferring onto the bus. The entrance fee at the temple was 500 yen. Here we are at Katsuoji Temple. Right behind us there are so many dauma and there’s also little data scattered all throughout the temple. Very cool. Come explore with us. We were given a blank postcard for the stamp stations around the park that when completed forms a Daruma image. The Daruma dolls symbolize resilience and perseverance tied to the Japanese proverb fall down seven times get up eight. One of the daruma’s eyes are painted when someone sets a goal and the other eyes filled in when the goal is completed and then returned to the temple. All of these daruma represent someone’s completed goal to be burned in a ceremonial fire. It was quite amazing to see all of these vibrant red daruma of varying size all in one place. All right. So, we got our daimma umikuji. There’s a fortune inside. So, we’re going to open it and then tie the fortune to one of the strings over there. And we get to place the daima wherever we want throughout the temple. All right. This is my duruma. And if I was a duruma, I’d be wanting to look at the view. So, I’m going to face mine this way. Here we go. If I was a duma, I’d be sitting in the shade right next to Sean. Inspired by everyone’s goals, we bought our own daruma for ourselves. We wrote down our goal, filled in one eye, and placed it over the incense. We made our way back, spotting countless Duma along the way. Last one. We reached the final stamp station and completed the image. We look forward to returning once our goal is completed to return at Derduma. The next stop was Osaka Castle. Behind me is Osaka Joe. It’s Osaka Castle. Going to walk around the grounds and we’re going to go inside all the way to the top. Let’s go. The castle grounds include a moat and large stone walls to protect the surrounding area. We made our way across the bridge to catch our first glimpse of the castle. Osaka Joe was originally built in 1583 and had many periods of destruction and restoration. To the left of the entrance is a pond that makes for our favorite photo opportunity. On a still morning, the reflection of the castle can be seen against the pond, and the surrounding trees adds to the backdrop. Spotted on the castle are these creatures that are half fish and half tiger. It is said that these mythical creatures control rain and water and protect the castle from fire. After exploring the castle grounds, we made our way inside to view the museum and viewing platform. Inside, we learned about the building process and the battles that have taken place in the area. We climbed several flights of stairs and finally made it to the viewing platform. Here we enjoyed views of the modern city from such a historical overlook. Hello from the top of Osaka Joe on the eighth floor observation deck. Very beautiful views. So pretty hot day today. Arguably one of the most famous areas of Osaka is the bustling streets of Doburi. Known for the larger and light food signs, this is the place to enjoy all of Osaka’s famous dishes. Don’t forget to take a picture at the iconic GO Running Man sign. Along the way, sample some takoyaki, okonomiyaki, crab buns, and rico’s fluffy cheesecake. We made a whole video dedicated to Osaka food, so check it out in the bio. Lastly, Osaka is home to Universal Studios Japan. Join us as we explore some of the parks areas such as Super Nintendo World, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, while eating some unique foods along the way. In anticipation for a line at the opening gates, we made sure to get on the early train to wait in the queue. Here we are immediately out of the tree. Universal Osaka. While the official opening is listed at 9:00, Universal is known for opening the gates a little earlier. On the day that we visited, the gates opened at 8:30. Once the gates opened, the energy was so high and it seemed like everyone was making a mad dash towards Super Nintendo World. Main Street. Main Street. Everyone’s running. I’m ready. Here we go. Here we go. Everyone’s booking it tomorrow. Look at this. Look at this guy. Damn. Look on the back, man. Look. Here we go. Getting transported in the Super Nintendo world. Here we go. We’re going in the tube. Once we made our way through the green tube, we felt like we were transported into the video game. The most popular ride here is Mario Kart Bowser’s Challenge Ride. The queue was modeled after the Bowser’s Castle map and had many familiar references from the game. Here, riders wear 3D glasses while collecting coins and different items. Got to go on the Mario Kart. I’m ready. This is my dream. All right, here we are in Super Mario World. We got off of the Bowser Mario Kart, right? That’s great. You have like 3D glasses on and you look around and you aim and you shoot at different things with the red shells and the blue shells. It was so cool. And you collect coins and then you hit the players and you hit the carts and everything and Bowser and there was a boss level. It was so fun. Very interactive. It wasn’t what we thought it was going to be. And we came here first and now the line is 100 minutes. 100 minute wait. And we only have to wait like 10 minutes. Hello from Wardiumsa. We are welcomed into the wizarding world surrounded by pine trees and audio from the movie soundtrack. Please respect the spell limiter. Oh, look. That’s so cool. Passing Honey Dukes, we made our way towards Hogwarts Castle, home of the Harry Potter Forbidden Journey ride. You’re a wizard, Ary. I’m a what? You’re a You’re a wizard. This ride is a flight simulator that takes riders through different iconic scenes from the movie. The queue was very detailed with rooms such as Dumbledore’s library, talking paintings, and the sorting hat. Then we boarded our cart and took flight. Following the ride, we walk through the park to use our interactive ones. Each station has a one pattern that can cast spells triggering different effects in the wizarding world. Some of us had more magic than others. Bam. There it is. Got it a little bit. Oh, I’m so sad. I’m so sad. Your magic doesn’t work. I don’t have any magic. Uhoh. We’re doing again. We’re doing it again. I know. This is going to be the first date. Sisterio’s practiced. This is her moment. Oh, there it is. They did it. I’m happy. I’m a wizard. Up next, we headed to the California themed area of the park to try some new foods. Now we have this is a pizza danish. Specifically teriyaki chicken flavored pizza danish. This is boardwalk snacks here in Japan. Yeah. This is what the California Boardwalk is like if you didn’t know. Yes. I love eating teriyak chicken pizza danishes at the Santa Monica Pier. They also have tuna mayo flavored pizza danishes. We are going to San Francisco next. Yes. Close to home. Let’s go see how it is. We’re going to the fisherman’s war. Yes, we are. Bubblegum shrimp. Bubble gum. We were trying to get the Minion burger and the cream puffs. Minion cream puffs. For lunch, we tried this Minion fried chicken, which was very crispy with a side of vegetables and Minion rice. Ary got the Minion burger with a Minion bun and a side of fries and onion rings. We also got the Minion Cream Puff. The rest of the day, we walked around the Hollywood and New York areas of the park. New York was home to the Spider-Man ride and Hollywood had our favorite roller coaster of the day, Hollywood Dream. After our exciting day, we wrapped it up and headed back to the hotel to rest up for our next day of travel. We’ll see you in the next video. Thanks for watching.

Join us as we explore some of Osaka’s top attractions in this travel vlog! 🇯🇵
Our journey begins at the daruma-filled Katsuoji Temple, where we explore the temple grounds and were amazed with all of the daruma statues. Next, we head to the historic Osaka Castle, one of Japan’s most iconic landmarks, to enjoy the views and learn about its history. Then, we highlight some of the top foods at Dontonbori. Finally, we wrap up our adventure at Universal Studios Japan, exploring Super Nintendo World and the Wizarding World of Harry Potter!

✨ Whether you’re planning your first trip to Japan or just love Japanese culture and theme parks, this video is your perfect Osaka travel guide!

📍 Places Featured:
Katsuoji Temple (Daruma Temple)
Osaka Castle
Dotonbori Food Highlights
Universal Studios Japan (Super Nintendo World & Harry Potter World)

🎥 Watch next: Osaka Food Vlog!

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