One last day in Osaka and crammed in three more things. First off, Osaka castle. If you’re watching the Shogun series, this is the castle they refer to (although in the old 80’s Shogun series they filmed at Himeji castle instead). Two big moats surround the castle and the grounds are expansive.

Then some time for relaxation at Spa World Osaka, one of the largest spa complexes in the world. They have a European and an Asian floor separated by gender (no swimwear) and a common pool (with swimwear) with slides for kids, plus a floor for stone saunas. I was in the European, while Terry was in the Asian section. Each has several country themed baths like Finland, Spain, Atlantis (?), Singapore, Bali… No pictures naturally…

After sunset, I had booked a A5 Kobe beef staircase in… Kobe, of course. Half an hour outside Osaka we wandered the streets for a little while before sitting down at our yakiniku restaurant, Charcoal Grilled Kobe Beef Kobe Horumon Sannomiya. The course lets you compare eight different types of selected meat. The restaurant is designed with stone walls and lampposts like those found in the old settlement area of Kobe and is full of Kobe style. We absolutely loved the dinner. You grill it right there at your table. Of course, we also made unashamedly good use of the all you can drink package.

With the drink package under our belt we ventured on to a karaoke room and belted out a few songs before calling it a night.