Skip to main content
Missions101 is part of the Adventures In Missions network.

Osaka, Japan

Safety

Safety in Osaka, Japan
What do other Racers need to know in order to be safe? Current safety protocols/precautions in place? Any relevant issues/concerns? Any precautionary suggestions?

People’s Opinions

  1. We always felt safe in Japan. There were a few nights where we were out fairly late and felt comfortable walking and biking home. Just remember to bring your headlamp if you bike home in the dark!
  2. Downtown Osaka is very safe place. You can actually leave your stuff at the tables in a restaurant and not have to worry about your stuff being stolen. Friday nights gets a little loud and wild but we never felt unsafe.

Ministry Summary

Ministry Summary in Osaka, Japan
Breakthroughs? Suggestions? Concerns? On a scale of 1-4 (1 being not at all, 4 being absolutely) how strongly would you recommend another World Race team go to this ministry location & why?

People’s Opinions

  1. We were also the Ashiya team, working with the Ashiya Family Center and the preschool. Definitely recommend “English Cafe” with the preschool moms – great fellowship while experiencing fun cultural experiences with them…bible study, learning to cook traditional Japanese food, lessons in calligraphy, trying on kimonos, etc. Highly recommending pouring into these women..they go all out to “host”, but need to be poured into and hear about living for Him.For the preschool, we had two racers in there each day. They are big on consistency, so would recommend doing the same two for the week and then switching after a week..or some variation like that. They teaching staff did not do well when we switched it up on them. Adorable children and fun to observe their way of teaching.Also with the Ashiya Family Center, there were additional contacts who had us doing various things in the afternoons such as “speaking English with kids who came in to play video games” or “speaking to a karate class”, etc. Would definitely not recommend this part of the ministry, as there are other places you will find ministry more productive.
  2. Our teams other ministry for the month was a start-up after school program called LIFEkids. We helped them teach some of their English classes and did a lot of working passing out flyers and just trying to help bring in more kids to their program. I would say the normative important part of our ministry though was just spending time ministering to the people who owned the business, Haruki and Aya and her children. They are incredibly sweet people and although they are not yet believers they have such an openness to learn and a desire to know you and your purpose for the trip. Share with then as much as you can about your trip and let the way you live be a testimony to them, they will see it I promise and they will most likely ask you questions about it because they want to learn about Jesus.
  3. Our team also stayed in Ashiya and worked at the Ashiya Family Center. We absolutely loved it. We worked a lot with the preschool moms, doing “English Cafe” in the morning where they taught us some part of Japanese culture as we spoke to them in English so they could practice. These women are incredible and between spending time with them at AFC and them having us to their homes for dinner or to spend time with their families, these women were our main ministry. For teams going here in the future, I would suggest really being intentional about speaking life into these women. Tell them openly about your trip and your experiences. They are under a lot of stress all day. They need a laugh and they need encouragement and mostly they need Jesus.
  4. Also for people working at the preschool, I would recommend investing in the preschool moms. They are super sweet and love to get to know new people. Maybe host some events for the moms and get to know them!
  5. We were the Ashiya team which mean we worked at the Ashiya Family Center. This preschool is AMAZING and we loved working there. The teachers are awesome and have such a heart for the gospel. We had two people work in the preschool everyday while the rest of us did ATL or Treasure hunts. For ATL we often just walked to the surrounding area or we biked to Kobe University. On Wednesdays there is an english corner at lunch. The university is about 30 minute bike ride away. We also lived with non Christian families which became a huge part of our ministry. Invest in them, love on them and spend a lot of time with them because they want to get to know you!
  6. 4 – Downtown Osaka in the Shisaibashi station area. We did a lot of ATL or Treasure Hunts, and we also worked with the Church Be One they are great people and really feed into everyone they come into contact with.
  7. 4 – Go back to Sanda and work with the Thomsons! They loved and cared for us so well while we were there and accepted us into their family. They gave us a well balanced schedule, but be prepared for not a lot of downtime. We lived in the middle of their house with their family. You may not got a lot of rest, but you will have a lot of fun!

Lodging

Lodging in Osaka, Japan
Where did you stay? What were the accommodations (sleeping arrangements, toilets, showers, etc.)? Cost (per person per night in USD), Contact info.

People’s Opinions

  1. Our team was split between different host families. 3 of my teammates and I lived in the business we were doing ministry at called LIFEkids. We slept if futon pads on the wooden floor of a yoga studio/exercise facility they have there (I would suggest still putting a sleeping pad underneath them for some extra support, the futons are pretty thin). The woman who owns the business and get to children slept in the office as we’ll most nights to be with us, so there was not always a ton of privacy but such a great opportunity to bond with the family and minister to them. Hot showers and a small kitchen. We cooked our own food for the month mostly (sometimes the business owners cooked for us of preschool moms would have us for dinner). Just keep in mind the fridge is small so you can only buy cold food a day or so in advance. There is a stove and a microwave but no oven.
  2. If you are living with host families make sure to invest a lot of time with them. My team stayed with all non-Christian families that really wanted to love on us and get to know us. We were able to have many cool conversations about Christianity and get them connected with Jef. Let them serve you because they want to love on you and show you some true hospitality. Just look for ways to serve like cleaning or buying them gifts

Food / Meals

Food / Meals in Osaka, Japan
What did you eat? Where did you get the food? Cost (per person per day in USD)? Contact info (if applicable).

People’s Opinions

  1. Our team stayed in pairs with host homes, and they provided breakfast and dinner everyday. My host mom always made us a huge breakfast and dinner, and it was usually way more food than we would normally eat but delicious! We were on our own for lunch, so we would usually stop at a bakery near our home or the 7/11 on our way to ministry each day and pick up lunch. Our food budget was $5 per person per day, so we would take $2 for lunch and offer the rest of our food money to our host family to help cover the cost of the food they provided.We had one day per week designated as our free day spent with our host families, so those days they provided all of our meals. They would usually take us to really nice restaurants that were way out of our budget but they never let us pay for anything. All of the host families were super generous and enjoyed treating us!We also had one free day with our team each week, so we would usually go out to eat at restaurants wherever we could find. We always had to use some of our personal money because $5 a day doesn’t get you much in Japan. We were in the town of Ashiya, and there was a Starbucks that was about a 15 minute bike ride from the preschool where we did ministry, so we went there often during free time.
  2. Most of our team members were in host homes where food was provided and there was plenty of it, but for Derek and I (TL’s) and the SQL’s we were responsible to shop/cook for ourselves. While Japan is expensive and food wasn’t cheap, our food budget absolutely covered our needs and we were able to eat really well.Cheap lunch ideas are raman (way better than raman in the states!) and rice with curry packets and maybe a fried egg for some protein.

    Ask your host where the best places to shop are – as in the States, not all grocery stores are created equal!
  3. We were given so much food from our church that we didn’t need to touch our food budget much, but it wasn’t like that for many teams. Please find ways to bless Sirata Sensei and Masahiro and the church. We made them a special meal once of Mexican food. They crave prayer, so find ways to pray over them and over the people of the church. Do prayer walks.Back to the topic: Food.7-11 is awesome! Everything is awesome in Japan!They took us to the most amazing restaurant : Yakiniku. GOOOOOO! You won’t regret it! And be sure to make your own cotton candy while you’re at it.
  4. there are a lot of really good restaurants area the area but they are all out of budget. One restaurant that you need to try especially if you have someone on your team from Canada is Slices. The owner is from Canada and the food is so good, but again very much out of budget range. If you live at BeOne church it’s only about three blocks away from the apartment building.

Transportation

Transportation in Osaka, Japan
What transportation did you use to enter the country? Where were you coming from? What transportation was used to move throughout the country? Be sure to include the cost per person in USD and contact info if applicable.

People’s Opinions

  1. If you find yourself serving in Ashiya, it’s likely you’ll live with a host family in the area and either bike or walk to ministry. Biking is the better option so if you have access to one take advantage. (most families have them available)
    A train ride into Osaka or Kobe is about 270 Yen each way.
  2. Public transport in Osaka is quite expensive (over 2 USD for a single bus ride and about 1 and a half UsD for train), so we walked basically everywhere we went or got rides from our host families.

Medical

Medical in Osaka, Japan
Information on local hospitals / doctors / pharmacies. Where would someone go in a medical emergency? (addresses and contact info).

People’s Opinions

  1. Comment

Communication

Communication in Osaka, Japan
Did you have cell reception / Internet service? Where? Carrier / Provider, where did you get phones / SIM cards, cost? Country code?

People’s Opinions

  1. We did not have team phones in Japan because the SIM cards were too expensive. Instead, we used messaging via wifi. That worked well because most had internet in the host homes…if not (which was the case for where I lived because they did not have the password for us), you can use internet at the pre-school if you are located in Ashiya. 7/11 has wifi spots but unless you register, nothing will really open. You can also register for Starbucks and that had decent wifi.
  2. You can get free wifi at the subway stations, There you can sign up for Wifi at starbucks there. Then once you are signed up for the wifi you can get it at any Starbucks. And there are a lot of Starbucks in Osaka

Financial

Financial in Osaka, Japan
Location of banks or ATMs, notes about transaction fees, best places to exchange money, and other money related advice.

People’s Opinions

  1. The only ATMs we found that worked with our credit/debit cards were at 7/11. There are a ton of 7/11s in Japan, so you shouldn’t have any problem finding one. You can’t take out less than 10,000 yen (roughly $100 USD) so be careful! Some of my teammates accidentally took out several hundred dollars unknowingly because they were confused about the conversion rate.

Translators

Translators in Osaka, Japan
List any local translators – name and contact information, languages spoken

People’s Opinions

  1. If Shirata Sensei is your main contact, make sure you befriend Kyna and Gordon and their three lovely children. They will bless you with translating, but they really need fellowship with English Speakers. They rarely get that. We babysat their kids for them so they could have a date night because they only get about one per year here. They are really great and would really value any time spent with them and their family.

Off Days / Fun Activities

Off Days / Fun Activities in Osaka, Japan
What activities did your team experience? Recommendations? List locations/contact info. Any locations to be avoided? Any extra safety tips for off days?

People’s Opinions

  1. Kyoto: A fun day trip with options. Train: $5 each way. Bamboo forest is here and beautiful (and free!). At monkey mountain you can feed monkeys ($5 to get in). There are temples galore and lots of things to see, you can count on most things having a $5 entry fee though.Osaka: the Castle is impressive, and you can walk right up to it for free. Getting in is $5 and not necessarily worth it. There is a TON of shopping (Umeda has a lot, so does Nishinomiya Gardens).Kobe: another cool city, the China Town here is fun to walk through. We heard Harborland is awesome although we didn’t personally make it there.
  2. There are a lot of cool things to do in the surrounding area. If you are living with a host family I would recommend doing fun things with them if they offer because its really nice to go with people that know the area and speak the language. But some cool places to go is Kyoto. Its about 1040 yen round trip by train and there is a lot to see there. There are many traditional temples, shrines and a castle which are all really beautiful. I would highly recommend going there but be warned food is very expensive in Kyoto. Maybe pack a lunch. Another place is Kobe which is about 600 yen. There is a beautiful harbor that you can see as well as China town which is cool to see. You can obviously get Kobe beef which is great! Those are two place which are really fun to go to around Osaka.

Other Important Contacts

Other Important Contacts in Osaka, Japan
Additional ministry opportunities, local pastors, etc. Relationship & follow up suggestions

People’s Opinions

  1. If you’re in Osaka and want to go to Sunday church, check out Life Church (www.lifechurch.jp) for a great worship service that will leave you feeling refreshed. And say hi to Pastor Joel!
  2. If are living in the Shisaibashi area of Osaka go visit A-pon at toy roll. My team met her during our ATL and She was interested in Christ.As Hang out with Daryl from Be One church. He is super cool and speaks English Cleary and fluentely

Tips

People’s Opinions

  1. 100 yen stores are a racers dream! They are the Japanese version of dollar stores and have great stuff. You can get clothing (socks, gloves, scarves), toiletries (make up, soap), stationary, and even a souvenir pair of chopsticks!
  2. The only ATM we could get to work with our Charles Schwab cards was JP Bank. These can be found at most post offices, but not at all malls and other areas. Be sure to plan ahead, so you don’t get caught without money!

Additional Info

Additional Info in Osaka, Japan
Anything we’ve left out? Any additional suggestions to make travel easier for others?

People’s Opinions

  1. Any girls looking to get hair done (especially blondes!) – GREAT studio that has experience with not only Westerners but many famous people back in the states. Depending what you’re used to, prices are reasonable – roughly $100 USD for highlights but they are very good…better than my people in the states. Prices, good map, etc on website.K Studio New York – downtown Osaka.http://www.ksny.jp/en/Ask for Keiro or Hiroshi (married, owners)Awesome experience!