Osaka Trip Part 13: National Museum of Ethnology and NIFREL

[Introduction]

I traveled to Osaka in late September. This was my first visit to Osaka except for business trips. There are several things I missed doing, so I would like to revisit Osaka in the future. In this article, I will write about National Museum of Ethnology and NIFREL as part of Day 4.

[Visit Places (series of articles)]
* Day 1: Umeda
* Day 1: Nakanoshima
* Day 1: Nakanoshima (Light-up)
* Day 2: Osaka Castle
* Day 2: Abeno Harukas
* Day 2: Shinsekai
* Day 2: Abeno Harukas (Light-up)
* Day 3: Sumiyoshi Shrine
* Day 3: Namba
* Day 3: Amerikamura and Namba
* Day 3: Namba (Light-up)
* Day 4: Expo’70 Commemorative Park
* Day 4: Expo’70 Commemorative Park [This article]
* Day 4: Umeda
* Day 4: Umeda (Light-up)
* Day 5: Kaiyukan
* Day 5: Tempozan Marketplace
* Day 5: GLION MUSEUM & Return Home

[Travel Date]
2018.09.22-26

[Main Part]

National Museum of Ethnology

Following the previous post, I will go around Expo’70 Commemorative Park. I came to “National Museum of Ethnology”.

“National Museum of Ethnology” is one of the world largest Ethnology museum located in Expo’70 Commemorative Park. The museum houses 345,000 of ethnic clothes and domestic utensils showing the lifestyles of different ethnic groups. The exhibits are on display by region. Here are some snaps.

Oceania.

The Americas.

Europe.

Africa.

West Asia.

South Asia.

Southeast Asia.

Central and North Asia.

Ainu.

And Japan.

I just posted a small part of photos I took due to the volume of the article, and other exhibits that were not included in this article were also impressive.

EXPOCITY

I moved to “EXPOCITY”, which was located on the other side of the station.

“EXPOCITY” is a commercial complex in Expo’70 Commemorative Park. There are several large-scale entertainment facilities as well as “LaLaport EXPOCITY”, a shopping mall.

For example, “GUNDAM SQUARE” (Note: “GUNDAM” is a popular Japanese anime).

Eggs ‘n Things

I will have lunch in “EXPOCITY”. When I travel, I try to eat local cuisine as much as possible. However, there were few such restaurants in “EXPOCITY”, so I decided to eat something I don’t usually have.

Then, I chose “Eggs ‘n Things”.

“Eggs ‘n Things” is a casual restaurant that was established in Hawai in 1974. It has expanded its business to Japan since 2010 and now there are 17 restaurants in Japan.

In the restaurant.

I ordered a a pancake with strawberry, blueberry and whip cream.

In Japan, “Eggs ‘n Things” is famous as a trigger of pancake boom. I was satisfied with its food and service.

NIFREL

After lunch, I visited “NIFREL” in “EXPOCITY”.

“NIFREL” is a combined museum including aquarium, zoo and art museum. The museum is produced by “Osaka Aquarium KAIYUKAN”, which I am going to the next day.

The museum was two-storied and the first floor had aquarium zone.

“NIFREL” was filled with artistic atmosphere.

In addition, there was installation art zone called “Wonder Moments”.

It was similar to “Digital Light Canvas” in Marina Bay Sands in Singapore.

“Revisit Singapore Part 13: Marina Bay Sands and Gardens by the Bay”

“Revisit Singapore Part 16: Evening Scenes of Marina Area (Marina Bay Sands etc.)”

The second floor was zoo area.

Then, I left “NIFREL” and “Expo’70 Commemorative Park” and returned to Umeda area.

[Closing]

That’s it for the article about National Museum of Ethnology and NIFREL as part of Day 4.

There were lots of attractive places in “Expo’70 Commemorative Park” including “Tower of the Sun” and “Expo’70 Pavilion” (see the previous article), so it would be a good idea to spend an entire day in “Expo’70 Commemorative Park”. Although the park is a little bit distant from other major tourist spots in Osaka, it is easily accessible, so “Expo’70 Commemorative Park” is worth a visit 🙂

In the next article, I will write about Umeda as part of Day 4.

[Map]

1 National Museum of Ethnology
2 Eggs ‘n Things
3 NIFREL