Osaka Weekend Trip

Tower of the Sun by Taro Okamoto

Saturday

We went to the The Expo Commemoration Park or Expo '70 Commemorative Park (万博記念公園, Bampaku kinen kōen) north of Osaka. It's called Expo '70 because there was a World Fair held there in 1970. We saw the Tower of the Sun (太陽の塔, Taiyō no Tō) sculpture by Taro Okamoto. It was created for the Expo in 1970 with the theme of "Progress and Harmony for Mankind" and it can still be visited today. It has 2 faces in front and one in the back. The Face of the Sun at the center symbolizes the present times; the Golden Mask at the top, the future; and the Black Sun at the back of the statue symbolizes the past.

 

 

The National Museum of Ethnology

 

There's even a museum inside the Tower that you can visit! But you have to make a reservation in advance to be able to go inside the tower. We did not know that was an option so maybe next time we can do that. There was another museum in the park that we wanted to visit, the National Museum of Ethnology. It's a well-done museum that partners with various universities for cultural anthropology and ethnology research.

 

Dotonbori Area in Osaka

 

For dinner we went to the Dotonbori area and found an okonomiyaki restaurant called Mizuno. It has been in business for 65 years and has been listed in the Michelin guide since 2016. It was delicious and a good way to end the day!

Sunday

We visited the Namba Yasaka Shrine. It is one of the more unique shrines in the city due to the giant lion head that provides protection from evil spirits. The origin of the shrine is not well-known since there was an air attack in the area in 1945. After walking around the shrine, we found out there was a Pokémon Center not too far from where we were. We, of course, had to check it out! We walked towards its location and soon after started to make our trip back to Himeji.