Osaka is just under an hour from Kyoto via the train lines. It has a major international airport is a popular destination for families as it is home to well known attractions like Universal Studios and a Legoland. Neither of these were on our itinerary but we thought the girls may like the Osaka Kids Plaza and the Aquarium, so a day trip was an ideal approach.
You can take a Shinkansen (bullet train ) from Kyoto to Osaka but it was quite expensive for a such a short amount of time and it would have meant changing trains a few times to get the to right Shinkansen station in Kyoto. We found that the Keihan line from Demachiyanagi Station was cheaper with less changes, although a little more slower.
OSAKA KIDS PLAZA
The Osaka Kids Plaza was a wonderful education experience for the kids! It’s an interactive museum designed especially for children to learn in a very hands on way. There was a huge indoor playground in the centre of the building that resembled more of a cave village with lots of maze like rooms and bridges, the girls loved running around and cllimbing in it. Then there was lots of activities, similar to what you find in a science museum ( like Sparklab in Brisbane, Scienceworks in Melbourne, Questacon in Canberra ). There were areas to learn about the human body, world music, geography, speed and motion, bubbles and moving images.
Purchasing tickets - we arrived around 10am ( Osaka Kids Plaza opens at 9:30am ) and we were able to purchase tickets from the front vending machines and go straight in, no line or waiting time.
Adult tickets were 1400 yen, kids over 6 years of age were 800 yen, kids 6 and under were 500 yen
We also treated the girls to their first Gacha, which is essentially a vending machine with a huge range of random things, mostly little collectable figurines. They are everywhere in Japan and were especially hard to avoid in the foyer of the Osaka Kids Plaza. The girls chose one that had five different little finch type bird toys and thankfully they got a different one each. We haven’t been buying many toys or souvenirs, which the girls have been quite good about. The gacha machines are around 200 - 300 yen ( roughly $2 - $3 AUD ) and they have been treasuring their little birds, but I’m sure we’ll do another gacha before we leave.
OSAKA AQUARIUM KAYIUKAN
After the Osaka Kids Plaza, we headed to the Osaka Aquarium Kayiukan. The Aquarium is one of the largest in the world and is based on the Pacific Rim, featuring animals from all the different habitats around the pacific ring of fire - otters & giant crabs from Japan, puffins from the Aleutian Islands, sea lions from Monterey Bay in the USA, dolphins from the Tasman sea, penguins from Antartica. ( there was a Great Barrier Reef section that was closed for renovations )
The centrepiece of the aquarium is the huge 9m deep tank that contains two whale sharks, hammerhead sharks, manta rays and many other fish. This section represents the pacific ocean as a whole - the whale sharks are impressive! While I do question the ethics behind keeping sharks of that size in a big indoor tank, I’m also guilty of taking my kids to any zoo I can. I do believe that zoos and aquariums can be great educational experiences, provided the animals are treated well.
The aquarium as a whole was really well set out, you start at the top and corridors wind their was down around the central whale shark tank. This gives you plenty of opportunities to see the animals, you can see the seals and dolphins from both above and below the surface. The girls have always had an interest in aquatic animals and ocean life so the Aquarium was very worthwhile and I’m sure they absorbed some information about the Pacific Ocean so it was kind of counts as a geography lesson too, haha!
Purchasing tickets - I booked online the night before, directly via the Aquarium’s website. There are timed entry times ( we entered between 1pm - 1:15pm ) and again didn’t have to wait long to enter. When I booked online, all the morning time slots were sold out but afternoon slots were still available. But I’d probably recommend booking a couple of days in advance if you want to go in the morning.
Adults tickets were 2700 yen, kids over 6 were 1400 yen and kids 6 and under were 700 yen
