Osaka Trip Shopping
Sep. 24th, 2025 03:55 pmI don't have many friends in general and even fewer that live in Japan. That 1 person does count for a lot if we're measuring by years. We met up for the aforementioned World Expo and baseball game plus wandered around Osaka in search of shopping and games.
Neither the Nintendo store or the Pokemon store were able to entice me to spend. My quest was to find piano sheet music which was achieved at a music store. That music is still a bit too challenging for my skill level but it gives me something to aspire to.
While riding trains, an impulse purchase was inspired by a mascot for a contactless payment system. Even e-money has mascots in Japan. This one is a platypus name Ico that always seems agitated. The literal translation for platypus is 'duck-billed'. (I wonder now if this is a subtle multi-lingual pun). With a bit of hunting, I was able to get a World Expo mascot + platypus ICOCA mascot combo plush at a gift shop. (Although the special IC card was completely sold out). Sadly, it seems Snoopy was not participating in the World Expo mascot cross-promotions.
We visited few game centers and instead focused in on a pinball arcade. Pinball is a niche western game in Japan and yet a large pinball arcade in Osaka has a great selection. What it was lacking during our visit was a working change machine so we couldn't actually play anything. Pinball machines are prone to failures but I'd never seen a faulted change machine in Japan. I blame the nearby gashapon shop for making 100 yen coins a commodity.
Of course I loaded up on Japanese snacks to bring home as souvenir gifts. Sharing small snacks with people back home is a Japanese custom. On previous trips, my local friends and family didn''t really appreciate the custom or the snacks but I still do.
Neither the Nintendo store or the Pokemon store were able to entice me to spend. My quest was to find piano sheet music which was achieved at a music store. That music is still a bit too challenging for my skill level but it gives me something to aspire to.
While riding trains, an impulse purchase was inspired by a mascot for a contactless payment system. Even e-money has mascots in Japan. This one is a platypus name Ico that always seems agitated. The literal translation for platypus is 'duck-billed'. (I wonder now if this is a subtle multi-lingual pun). With a bit of hunting, I was able to get a World Expo mascot + platypus ICOCA mascot combo plush at a gift shop. (Although the special IC card was completely sold out). Sadly, it seems Snoopy was not participating in the World Expo mascot cross-promotions.
We visited few game centers and instead focused in on a pinball arcade. Pinball is a niche western game in Japan and yet a large pinball arcade in Osaka has a great selection. What it was lacking during our visit was a working change machine so we couldn't actually play anything. Pinball machines are prone to failures but I'd never seen a faulted change machine in Japan. I blame the nearby gashapon shop for making 100 yen coins a commodity.
Of course I loaded up on Japanese snacks to bring home as souvenir gifts. Sharing small snacks with people back home is a Japanese custom. On previous trips, my local friends and family didn''t really appreciate the custom or the snacks but I still do.