Jaunted Embedded Travel Guides: Getting Out of Osaka || Jaunted

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Jaunted Embedded Travel Guides: Getting Out of Osaka

Where: Osaka, Japan

9/28/2007 at 3:00 PM
Tags: Embedded Travel Guides, Japan Travel, Osaka Travel Guide, Osaka-Embed-Map, Photo Galleries (all tags)

Embedded Travel Guides: We are searching the world for folks who can take you on a field trip of their "backyard." When we find these folks, we then stealthy embed them into their local travel scene and ask them to be our eyes and ears out in the field.

We are expecting the same sort of grainy video, choppy sentences and snapshot photos that you are use to seeing from other sorts of embeds. At the end of the day we should be left with a backyard travel guidebook like no other.

Our man in Osaka is AJ McGuire, and, wow, does he have stories to tell.

I dig a mob scene as much as the next guy, probably more. Having spent a good chunk of my upbringing out in the woods and in the decidedly roomy American suburbs, there's a certain surreal element to being wrapped up in an absolutely ludicrous number of bodies. You know, like you find on any Osaka street.

However, there comes a time--usually the morning after a particularly savage assault on the liver--when the energy of that buzzing crowd becomes intolerable, and I've got to get the hell away from people. It's not an easy task on such a densely populated island, but it can be done.

Head for the hills:
Or technically, the mountains. Ikoma-san and Rouko-san (in Japan, mountains rate being called "Mister") are both a short train ride away from Osaka and are sparsely traveled enough to give you some reprieve from the crowds. For seeking solitude, I prefer Ikoma's pleasant mix of nature, weirdness and spiritual calm. Weirdness? When you get off at Ikoma station, you transfer to a dog-shaped cable car that scales the mountain. Once at the top you'll find a fairly large amusement park, which, given its mountain-top location, typically leaves it deserted.

You can also head down one of the hiking trails that lead past several mountain shrines devoid of the typical crush of tourists and school field trips. They're very peaceful and very soothing to a city-shocked head.

Work on your Second Life:
For a more local getaway, do as the otaku do and hole up in an internet cafe. The Japanese version offers far more than the row of grimy boxes you may have frequented back in the '90s or while backpacking through Vietnam. Expect plush seats, free drinks, games, comics and most importantly, privacy screens so you can doze at the low, low rate of about seven bucks an hour. You can upgrade to booths with a massage chair or couch and many offer shower access. A good bet is the MediaCafe Popeye chain, conspicuous all over downtown and outlying areas. I have no idea why its called Popeye, but that's Japan for you.

Stairways to heaven:
For less serious bouts of agoraphobia, there are plenty of small quiet cafes that are virtually deserted for hours during the unpopular daylight hours. Just wander through a trendy part of town and look for signs for upstairs cafes. (A good rule of thumb is the more stairs it takes to get up there, the less crowded it's going to be.) I'm partial to the Time Machine Cafe in AmeMura with its cheap tea and beer, light snacks and movies projected on the wall. Best of all, I've never seen anyone else in there before 4 pm.

My snaps of the best places to get away: