The area around Osaka, which includes Kobe, Nara and Kyoto, is the cultural center of Japan and where we based ourselves for 5 days. 

We used Osaka as a base and stayed at the Hotel Riva Nankai in the Minami area, which was an excellent location (like Osaka's Times Square), but priced a bit more than we wanted at about US$120 per night.  Luckily, there was a mix-up and we had to change rooms and they gave us a better room for about US$85.  Woo-hoo!

So we kicked around Osaka some.  The aquarium was pretty amazing as it has the largest single indoor tank in the world which contains a whale shark- the world's largest species of fish.

 I really dug the jellyfish.

 Osaka is a bit grungier than the other cities we visited.  The fashoin is a little more urban and people are generally more boisterous.  This made for the best people watching in Japan.  All the rage in Osaka were knee-high black stockings and brightly colored heels:

All the guys have bleached hair worn a bit like the "hair bands" in the 1980s.

 We also saw a baseball game: the Osaka Buffaloes against Yokohama.  First of all... buffaloes?  They couldn't find anything more Japanese than that?  The game on the field was just like any American baseball game, but the crowd was a different story.  Each team had live marching bands in the outfield bleachers that made the most noise as their team's batter was at the plate.  Everyone was seated, even during a homerun, when they beat inflatable bat-things together furiously.  At one point, everyone blew up balllons and let them go at once.  Apparently we didn't get the memo, but it made for a cool spectacle.

 Then of course, the Japanese have invented innovative ways to dispense beer (that is a small keg on her back and a tap  in her hand).  This photo also provides further proof that it is impossible for Japanese girls to be in front of a camera without a "peace sign".

To cap it all off, we had a roto (conveyer belt) sushi joint behind our hotel, where we went twice to enlarge our stomachs.  The sushi just keeps coming.