Brief stay in Osaka area

Check with your friend what part of Osaka they live in, as this will affect which train you get into Osaka, but suffice to say there are a number of train services headed from Kansai airport to Osaka.

There are a lot of travel options from Osaka. Nara, Kyoto, Kobe and Himeji are all close enough to get to easily, and worth the trip. I'm not a huge fan of Osaka itself, but there is plenty to do there as well.

Same as #1 I would go to Kyoto and Nara. There is a nice and real castle in Himeji (those of Osaka is more or less concreate...). Otherwise, the camera shops are amazing, I don't know for Osaka (I am in Tokyo) but you can find, try all what exists... Usually the biggest are Yodobashi and Bic.
Enjoy

Agree with the previous posters, spend most of your time in Kyoto and Nara.

You might want to hook up with the immediately previous poster as it sounds like he's doing the same thing.

There's a second-hand camera shop that was stacked with cool looking camera gear - but was closed every time I chance by it. I'm horrible with street names but go to Yodoyabashi subway station (mido-suji line) and when you get out you'll be near the river (tosabori-gawa). The bridge that goes over the water is north-south. There is a main street that runs east-west and is parallel to the water. Walk east from the station on this road (it's closest to the river) and you'll see a smaller bridge going north (2-3mins). Keep walking past this bridge for another 1-2min and you'll see the camera shop on the north side of the street on the ground floor.

There's another good store at the Shinsaibashi subway station (also midosuji line) a few stops south of Yodoyabashi (or you can walk straight south). At the station you can find the OPA Building (department store). There's a smaller east-west street that follows the north wall of the OPA building. Walk east along this street, and almost immediately past the covered shopping arcade (running north-south) is another camera/electronics store. On the north side of hte street is the used section and on the south side is new stuff. Both are open to the street and the south part has upper floors. I bought a nice lens in the used section.

Another used shop is in the tunnel underground shopping areas that run beneath Umeda. You can get access through most large buildings or through staircases on the streets. I forget the exact location, but if you're in the area with nothing better to do, you could explore the underground. In the summer it's wonderfully cool too.

A larger store is Yodoyabashi Camera just north and across the street from Osaka Station in Umeda (Umeda subway station, mido-suji line, north of Yodoyabasi station). There's also a region "den den town" of electronics shops just south-east of Namba rail/subway station (mido suji line, south of Shinsaibashi).

Check my post in the FAQ for NOrth-East Asia and there's some info about galleries. Some have photo exhibits occasionally.

p.s.

If you go to the shop just east of the OPA building - and you're feeling hungry - continue walking east past the shop about 2 minutes until you reach an intersection with a convenience store (7-11?) on the north west corner. Turn south and you'll immediately see one of the better Indian restaurants (Bombay Kitchen) on the west side of the street (ground level). They have a good all-you-can-eat lunch deal for about 1000Y (vegetarian, non-veg is a bit more expensive). They have wonderful naan bread - something most other indian food places in Osaka have difficulty with. The lunch prices are the best value.

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Thanks for the advice folks, sounds like it should be interesting time

cheers

Jesse