Experience the gourmet town Osaka at its markets
Joined 2024
The town development that continues to this day in Osaka began with the construction of Osaka Castle and the castle town in the 17th century. Osaka had a well-developed waterway network, and local specialties were brought to the city by ship from all over the country. To sell these products, the Osaka people set up markets for each item. The interactions between shop owners and customers at the market nurtured Osaka’s rich diet and strictness in terms of prices.
Itinerary
This itinerary can be customized to meet your needs and preferences. Send me a message with your requests!
Meeting Point
At your hotel or any convenient place in Osaka City center.
Osaka Castle Park (105ha/260 acres)
#Osaka Castle Main Tower/built in 1585,1624, and 1931 with 55m
#Garden of former Kisyu Palace/relocated from Wakayama Castle, the Tower is reflected in the pond
#Hokoku Jinja Shrine /dedicated to the founder of the original Osaka Castle
Temma-ichiba & Tenjinbashi-suji
#Temma-ichiba/original market was settled on the Okawa River in the 17th century
#Tenjinbashi-suji/ 2.6km (1.6 miles) long shopping street on the approach to the Osaka Temman-gu Shrine
Osaka Temman-gu Shrine & Nakanoshima Park
#Osaka Temman-gu Shrine/dedicated to a great intellectual in the 9th century, who referred to the Tenjin (God of Thunder/Sky), the guardian deity of local merchants
#Nakanoshima Park/ Osaka's first modern urban park with rose garden, sandwiched between two rivers
Kuromon-Ichiba & Doguya-suji
#Kuromon-Ichiba/fresh seafood market around the site of a temple with black gate (Kuromon)
#Doguya-suji (literally means tools)/sells cooking utensils, advertising signs, etc. to professionals
Dotonbori & Shinsaibashi-suji
#Dotonbori (named after the man who dug the canal)/former drama theater district on the canal, bustling day and night
#Shinsaibashi-suji (named after the man who built the bridge)/approach to the former nightlife, and has been the trendsetter in fashion
Ending Point
At your hotel or any convenient place in Osaka City center
Want to personalize this tour?
This tour can be customized to meet your needs and preferences. Click below to send me a message with your requests.
Inclusions & Exclusions
>Guide fee, hotel pick-up in Osaka city center
>Transportation fee (for you and your guide)/Subway and Train (approx. 1500 yen per person)
>Admission fee (for you and your guide)/Osaka Castle Tower (1200 yen per person)
>Break/Lunch/Dinner
Tour Important Information
>Please wear comfortable shoes
>There are stairs to climb and descend at the Osaka Castle Tower
>The above fees will be paid locally in cash (SUICA is ok for trains), so please bring some Japanese yen
>This tour is not insured, so I hope you get travel insurance.
Important message from the supplier
>I can work only during the day, from about 9:30am to 7:00 pm.
>If you want a listed/customized tour, please message me in advance. I will confirm facility availability in the itinerary dates: opening dates/hours, need a reservation or not.
>Please note that my tours are leisurely, on foot and by public transport.
>My tour schedule may change if transport or tourist spots are crowded.
Cancellation Policy
- Free cancellation - 8 days prior to meeting time
- 50% Refund - 3 to 7 days prior to meeting time
- No Refund - Within 2 day(s) prior to meeting time
Joined 2024
About Tour Guide Yosshi S.
Thank you for visiting my page.
I will guide you to the ancient capital cities with 1000 years of urban development and 100 years of filming and screening history.
I grew up in Osaka, studied in Kyoto, and worked for 20 years as an urban planning expert for the national and local governments. During this time, I surveyed many community development sites throughout Japan. I welcomed business leaders to encourage investment in the cities.
After quitting my career, I became a film-loving professional engineer. I visited unique cities in foreign countries to see urban planning and locations that appeared in picturesque film scenes and posted photos on social media (90 cities in 30 countries up to now). The more I saw foreign cities, the more I loved my hometown. I wanted to know about the travel industry and got a national license as a Guide-Interpreter and Travel Service Manager. I have started guiding based in the old capital cities.
The entire area of old Osaka, Kyoto, and Nara has been a Metropolitan area centered on the Imperial Palace, and the actual location of the Palace has changed 15 times since the 7th century. This area has many historical spots and hidden attractions in different times and places: the townscape, temples, shrines, landscaped gardens, and historical drama locations (SAMURAI drama).
I will create your favorite tour using my list, and guide you leisurely. I look forward to hearing from you.
Reviews
Chuck Y.
“A very nice day in Osaka”
Yoshi was knowledgeable and happy to show the city to us at a leisurely pace. A very nice man who did a great job of speaking at a loud enough level so we could all hear him which was appreciated. He was very hospitable and we appreciated that.
Yosshi S.
Dear Chuck Thank you for sending me such a warm review. Osaka is a commercial city, so Osaka citizens are interactive and talkative. We looked at citizens' lives while strolling to the bustling shopping streets and the OKONOMIYAKI place. At the Rose Garden, we could see the harmony with roses, the rivers, and the skyscrapers. Thank you for including me as one of your close friends during the tour and for the topics we shared. I hope Osaka will be one of your friends' fond memories. Regards Yosshi
John M.
“Kyoto visit to Imperial Palace gardens and tour of Palace State Guest House, with a special tour of the guest house. Also, Philosopher’s Walk, national Treasure Silver Palace, and Kyoto Aqueduct. ”
We had a very high quality time with Yosshi S for our visit in Kyoto. He was well prepared from both experience and study, and gave us rich background into each site to result in a strong connection with Kyoto’s history, its rich spiritual traditions and its very special people living and working in Kyoto. We are grateful for this day and would recommend Yosshi S. with our highest regard.
Yosshi S.
Dear John, thank you for your review. We had the experience of seeing how to treat guests at the state guesthouse and having a lunch of Kyoto pickled sushi at a shopping street where ordinary people shop. The Philosopher's Path is a course where I often walked with friends during my student years. Walking with John on the tour, I got back the feeling of being a student. Unfortunately, I could not become a philosopher, but I learned the philosophy of "going my way" and became a guide. Thank you very much. Yosshi
John M.
“Mixed scenery with towns, temples, and National Museum of Nara”
Yosshi S provided us with a joyful life adventure for our day with him in Nara. He was helpful in finding our ways to Nara’s treasures, gardens, temple grounds, and shrines as well as an English audio-guided tour of the National Museum of Nara, containing unique treasures on special exhibition for the period of our visit. We would recommend others for Yosshi’s informative, well-researched, and personalized tours, aimed to give us a full appreciation of a place, its people, and what is special about both.
Yosshi S.
Dear John, Thank you for your valuable review. The day of our planned tour was the opening day of the National Treasures Exhibition at the Nara National Museum, so I decided to take you to the museum and let you fully appreciate the national treasure Buddha statues. The city of Nara has a long history of more than 1,300 years since Heijo-kyo. The citizens of Nara enjoy this long history through the deer relaxing in Nara Park, crawling through the pillar hole of the Great Buddha Hall, and the Karakuri Toy Museum. Those are appealing and attract both domestic and international tourists. I am happy to have conveyed this to you through this tour. Thank you. Yosshi
$286/ per group
More tours by Yosshi S.
Spiritual Tour in Temple Town, Osaka
Visit an image of paradise in this world and the afterlife. Osaka began around the 7th century when the Imperial Palace and the Temple were built on the hill. In the Middle Ages, aristocrats believed that the paradise (Pure Land of Buddha) of the afterlife was beyond the setting sun, and built hermitages for Sunset Meditation. Time passed, and merchants enjoyed the performing arts in a paradise-like entertainment zone below the hill. Movie Palace was also built, and the slopes became locations.
Mixed Scenery with Towns and Temples, Nara
Enjoy the beauty of the temples in rural scenery and old townscapes. Ikaruga is Japan's oldest temple town, dating back to the 7th century. Even today, the pagodas from that time rise and create a beautiful rural landscape surrounded by mountains. Naramachi is within the grounds of a temple built near the Imperial Palace in the 8th century. Commercial and industrial houses lined its grounds from the Middle Ages, and the temples blended into the traditional townscape.
Experience the Birth and Growth of Osaka
Visit the temple and castle on the hill. Osaka began around the 7th century when the Shitennoji Temple was built on the hill. In the Middle Ages, aristocrats believed that the paradise (Pure Land of Buddha) of the afterlife was beyond the setting sun, and Shitennoji Temple was regarded as the east gate of the paradise. Osaka Castle and large-scale Castletown were built 1000 years later. Osaka Castle and Castle Park with cherry blossoms have been popular with locals and tourists.
Short Hike in a Peaceful Temple and Forest in Eastern Kyoto
Experience the charm of tranquility in a mountain temple. Seikanji is a temple in Mt. Kiyomizu (242m high), which enables us to look down a fan-shaped view of the Kyoto area from the temple grounds covered with green moss. The temple retains such anecdotes as the emperor’s tragic love and the Waka poem composed by the incarnation of Buddha. We hike along a path at the mountain's edge from the less crowded tiny Seikanji temple to the heavily crowded huge Kiyomizu-Dera temple.
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