Seoul, Kyoto, & Osaka Journal. June 5th, 2026
Morning in Osaka and on to Seoul, Fraser Place Hotel
In the morning, Ubigi was working. The breakfast buffet at the hotel was very good. Because it was early, and our flight wasn’t until the afternoon we decided to explore the area. I sometimes have frustrating dreams where I’m on a short layover at an airport in Japan but I can’t get out of the airport either because of time or other technicalities. This time my attempt to get out of the airport was not frustrated. We walked over to the Nankai line which was adjacent to the hotel and caught a train for Izumosano (泉佐野市). From the station, we went past the Tsubasa shopping arcade, and through narrow paths and alleyways to get to the Edo era former Niigawa merchant house. It wasn’t open yet, but we enjoyed the atmosphere of the neighborhood.
 |
| A 7100 series electric multiple unit (EMU) train operated by Nankai Electric Railway pulls out of the station |
 |
| Ginko leaf and nut themed storm drain cover. |
 |
| Narrow alleyways of Izumosano. |
We followed a path up the Endagawa River (遠陀川) up to the Kasuga Shrine (春日神社) then crossed the street to Eifukuyama Myojo Temple (榮福山 妙浄寺). It was still early, and as we came through the temple gate, the priest’s kids were coming out of the residence and heading to school. At this temple is a famous bell that was almost melted down during the war.
 |
| Kasuga Shrine entrance. |
 |
| Purification pavilion filled with hydrangea blossoms. |
 |
| Myojo-ji Temple Bell (妙浄寺梵鐘) |
 |
| Cycads at Myojoji Temple |
We headed back to Tsubasa shopping arcade where some of the shops, including a place selling various types of freshly deep fried tempura, were opening up. Just off of the Tsubasa shopping arcade we visited Jōzenji Temple (上善寺) with its Black Buddha statue. It looked like they were midway through a landscaping project as pruning tools were scattered here and there, probably left last night and now waiting to finish the project in the morning.
 |
| Black Buddha |
 |
| Unique Kannon statue, said to be contemplating the best way to save humanity. |
We went back to the train station to ride one station in the direction of the airport for Link-Town Station (りんくうタウン駅). We had to be careful here because not every train that stops here is going to the airport. From the station we walked to Link Park, crossing Taiko Bridge, to get a view of Osaka Bay.
 |
| Link Park |
We headed back to the hotel at the airport. Along this part of the line, we could take either a Nankai or JR train. With the Suica app, it didn’t matter. We checked out and had to take a bendy bus (べんりバス？) (sorry, that’s a play on the word for “convenient” which sounds like bendy) from Terminal 1 to Terminal 2. Terminal 2 is pretty spartan compared to other terminals in the airport. We found pasta for lunch at “Pronto”. I was able to get some $9 sunscreen at the duty free pharmacy. When the Peach Airlines counter opened we checked in. After walking through a long gauntlet of duty free shops, we found that everyone waits in a common area. There were some restaurants and some gachapon machines to keep people amused. When your flight is called, you walk down a long industrial looking corridor to your plane. Peach Aviation is a true discount carrier - the only thing served is a peach-flavored hard candy! As we approached Seoul Gimpo airport the crew announced that it’s not permitted to take photos from the plane. That kind of surprised me.
On arrival, the crew says “ookinni” - “much obliged” in Osaka dialect. A nice touch since Peach is an Osaka based airline. It’s a convenient airline with good fares.
We get out of the airport and head for the taxi stand. There are three rows of cars, and we’re not sure which row to select. There’s a man waving from one taxi, and a woman waving from another. We went with the woman and she turned out to be very nice. Using the Papago translation app, we were able to have some kind of conversation on the one hour commute time trip to the hotel. She told us Koreans love Hawaii, and I told her that people in Hawaii love Korean TV dramas. Fare was about $30.
On arrival my first order of business was to find water for my CPAP machine. The front desk made three phone calls until they found a pharmacy that had something close to distilled water. Then they called me a taxi to get me there. I got to the pharmacy, and interestingly the pharmacist was talking to the lady in front of me in Japanese. I got two bottles - they weren’t sealed or anything, but I gave them the benefit of the doubt. Then I had a crazy taxi ride back to the hotel with a few illegal turns and lots of horn honking.
For dinner we went to the closest place to the hotel. I had noodles on ice. They were so stringy, you had to cut them with scissors. It wasn’t really to my taste.
The hotel room was super big and nice. It was four times bigger than our usual Japanese hotel room. There was a living room and a kitchen with a dishwasher and laundry machine. The washing machine/drier took us a while to figure out!
 |
| Our Hotel in Seoul. |