Japan Day 2: Shopping, Rainy Weather, and Osaka Aquarium

Our second day in Japan was mostly about practical things. We had a few errands to run before jumping into sightseeing, and honestly, those everyday moments are part of what makes traveling fun too.

Our first stop was Bic Camera, where we bought a SIM card for Kid 2’s phone. Since she was carrying an older 4G-only phone, we weren’t sure what we’d find, but the staff were incredibly helpful and found the right SIM card for us. It was reassuring to know that Kid 2 would have data in case we ever got separated.

On the way to Daiso, we spotted a shop selling fresh fruit mochi. We couldn’t resist trying some! I chose watermelon, Kid 2 picked grape, and Kid 1 went with mango. The fruit was incredibly fresh, wrapped in soft mochi, and absolutely delicious. They felt like a little luxury, but they were worth trying.

Although it wasn’t my first visit to a Japanese Daiso, it was the first one for Kid 1 and Kid 2. Like many visitors, they quickly discovered how dangerous the store can be! We picked up a foldable fan, cute socks, hair clips, and a few other little necessities. The prices were fantastic, and it’s one of those stores where you keep finding useful things you didn’t even know you needed.

Our main destination that morning was Uniqlo and GU, which were conveniently located in the same building. We had intentionally packed fewer clothes from Canada because we had planned to buy some once we arrived in Japan. We ended up buying clothes for all three of us, making sure we had enough for the rest of the trip.

Both stores had great prices compared to Canada, and GU seemed even more affordable than Uniqlo, although I’m not sure if that’s generally the case. Uniqlo was definitely cheaper than Uniqlo Canada, though. Our plan worked out well: we didn’t have to bring as many clothes from home, and we found what we needed at good prices.

We headed back to our Airbnb to drop off our shopping bags and have lunch before leaving for the aquarium. One reason I chose Airbnbs instead of hotel rooms for this trip was the extra space. Traveling with two teenagers is much more comfortable when everyone has a little room to spread out. Having a kitchen also meant we could prepare some of our own meals, and a washing machine made packing fewer clothes much easier.

In the afternoon, we headed to Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan. It was a rainy day, but we had brought lightweight ponchos from Canada. They turned out to be much more practical than umbrellas for us. We could keep our hands free, and we didn’t have to worry about carrying wet umbrellas around every time we went indoors.

The aquarium was nice, but all three of us agreed that we actually preferred Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada in Toronto. The tanks in Osaka felt quite minimalist, and we found ourselves wondering whether the fish might have been happier in environments that looked a little more natural.

There was one tunnel where we could see the fish swimming above and around us, which was really nice. But the Toronto aquarium has several areas like this, and we remembered feeling much more immersed there.

That’s not to say we didn’t enjoy the Osaka Aquarium. We did. It just wasn’t one of those places where we walked out thinking, “Wow, that was incredible!” Not every famous attraction is going to become a favorite, and that’s part of traveling too. Sometimes you discover that something you have back home is actually pretty great.

By the end of the day, my phone told me we had walked about 10 km. We hadn’t even realized we’d covered that much ground!

Between shopping, eating fresh fruit mochi, getting ourselves properly equipped for the rest of the trip, and spending a rainy afternoon at the aquarium, it had been a pretty full second day in Japan.

Coming Next

Our next day in Osaka would be a very different kind of day—and a much longer one. Let’s just say we were about to put both our feet and our tolerance for the summer heat to the test!