February 2, 2013

Hostel in Osaka, Japan: J-hoppers hostel @ Fukushima Osaka

AuthorMin

I have one more hostel to blog about in Tokyo, but today I feel like blogging about this one! 🙂

As usual I only booked it a day or 2 prior to my arrival in Osaka. My travels in Japan went smoothly enough though I traveled solo without much of a plan. Staying in hostels helped tremendously as I made great friends and the backpackers I met are so liberal with their helpful tips/advice. In fact, just be friendly, mingle around and you’ll be pleasantly surprised at the people you meet.
I found out about the Willer Express (a blogpost on booking a seat at a discounted rate later!) though Bruce, a Canadian I met in Sakura Hostel and I was given reliable recommendations for food, accommodation and places to sight-see by many others.
So really, Japan is prefect for solo travelers and backpacking expeditions.

For most online bookings, it helps to have a credit card. While google, I came across J-Hopper Hostel. The site http://osaka.j-hoppers.com/ offers many pictures and clear information of what it has to offer. I was particularly interested in their complimentary city tours and its great location.

Here’s my confirmation form.

It is Yen 2500 (RM100) per night for a dormitory bed. By now I have realized a reliable hostel with the convenience of a nearby train station are about that price. And in Osaka, there are actually dorms from 1800 Yen but slightly further from a train station.
Overall accommodation and food are lower in Osaka compared to Tokyo.

Upon arrival at 8.00am after a 12 hours coach ride on the Willer Express, I came down from the Osaka station and took the 15 minutes walk to J-hoppers Hostel. Another option was to take the train to Fukushima station which would then be a mere 3 minute walk to J-Hoppers but after a long train ride I had wanted to stretch my legs a little and what’s a 15 mins walk in the cool crisp air in Japan right?

I found it easily enough as I followed the directions given on the site. When in doubt, I asked around for Fukushima Station and just headed towards its direction.

Fukushima-ku turned out to be one of 24 wards of Osaka city, Japan.

“A ward is a subdivision of the cities of Japan that are large enough to have been designated by government ordinance.
Wards are local entities directly controlled by the municipal government. – Wikipedia.”

In this area, eateries, bars and convenience stores are aplenty. I was given an “area map” upon check-in and the map detailed almost every restaurant and shop in the area!

Shopping. Banks. Restaurants. Bars. Just refer to this map! 😀

In addition to its proximity to all places of culinary interest, the Fukushima area is close to the main areas of attraction in Osaka such as the Osaka Museum, Osaka Station City (which is a station where buildings on the north and south sides of the station provide travelers with a wide array of shopping, dining, entertainment and recreation fun), and the main areas of Umeda, Tenma and Namba where even more attractions and shopping opportunities awaits.

Traveling in Japan is not that hard. Just like how the train map was really helpful in Tokyo, in Osaka be sure to grab a copy of the train map too!

J-Hoppers Hostel gave me that cheery, spacious feel the moment I stepped in. Unfortunately I can’t seem to find my pictures of the lobby and kitchen so these 2 images below are from their website.

The lobby. I hang around here a lot. Just writing and using the WIFI. The WIFI doesn’t work/extremely slow most of the time but I have my Softbank mobile data device so I wasn’t too agitated.

Kitchen. Just like Sakura Hostel and Khaosan Tokyo Original; stove, microwave, oven, electric kettle, eating utensils, fridge and etc are available for guests’ use. Just be sure to keep everything clean and back to where it belongs after usage. The same goes for the fridge too. Name and check-out dates are the commonly required label.

There’s no lift here so carrying my huge 20kg luggage up the stairs was a real workout!

Below: From the top of ONE flight of stairs looking down. Yes, it’s that steep!

The upper levels showed the same narrow corridors just like the other hostels I stayed in previously except that this one feels more homely with gay colours here and there.

Cleanliness is a priority in all hostels and garbage are usually separated.

I was showed my female dormitory and I was so happy that it’s spacious and well-lit.

Security is via a normal key system.

As usual lockers are provided.

Here’s an “aerial” view of the room, taken by standing on a chair.

Clean bedsheets and a nice thick blanket. Super! 🙂

Again both top and bottom beds has a curtain for privacy sake.

And some actually use it.

I went up on one of the top bunk and took this picture to show the room from the most inner corner to the entrance.

View from the dorm to the outside lane below.

Each bed has its own light and powerpoint.

One of the beds has this so I chose this bed immediately!

This is the shared table for the dorm which no one ever use. On top is the modem. Each floor has its own WIFI group but connection was still sucky anyways. I tried almost every floor since the password for each can be obtained easily from the reception.

Since I only booked for a night, I did my usual last minute extension of stay upon arrival. Luckily for me there were beds available for the next few nights but I had to change to another dorm. It turned out to be a 3 bed dorm which was on the 5th floor but I liked it so much better so I was glad for the change.

As illustrated below, there are 2 large windows so it was sunny and bright during daytime! And I had 2 very nice room mates too, not to mention more space and tranquility.

Moving on to the shared utilities, the vanity basins, showers and toilet rooms are nicely clustered together.

Hairdryers are provided as well as storage space for your amenities and with the convenience of a wastebasket just right next to it.

The same high tech toilet found everywhere in Japan; with temperature, water pressure and speed controls, not to mention warmed bidet seat and attached sink.

A large shower room with a changing area just outside, equipped with a heater system and complimentary shower and body wash. I really do like J-Hoppers Hostel!

The lights here turned on/off by itself, detection via sensor. So cool! 😀

Similarly to other hostels, coin operated washing machines and a dedicated drying area are much appreciated utilities.

In comparison to Khaosan Tokyo Original, this hostel felt like a mansion! It has 5 floors in total with a basement where’s there a pool table, common PCs and a TV lounge.

This is one of the many friends I had the good fortune to meet in this hostel. He’s a superbly spunky fella and we were partners in crime in seeking out fugu – the dangerous puffer fish during our stay here. You can view the fugu meal we had HERE.

All in all I loved J-Hoppers. I would definitely recommend this hostel to anyone on a budget trip to Osaka. The management team is young, friendly and very helpful. They are cheerily chatty too, and would try to find the answers to any of your queries. I wish I had taken a picture with all of them! I hope to see them again when I’m in Japan again this year. 🙂

Here’s the brochure for J-Hoppers group of hostels in Japan.

J-Hoppers Kyoto.

J-Hoppers Hida Takayama.

For more information and rates: http://osaka.j-hoppers.com/e_rate.html

For more travel adventures: https://www.rebeccasaw.com/travel/

Here’s the Osaka rail map – an absolute essential.

Pictures in this post:

This Post Has 2 Comments

Fizbiscuit 2 Feb 2013 Reply

Thanks a lot for write-up for J-Hopper.. will most likely end up there! 🙂
Sean Eat Drink KL 3 Feb 2013 Reply

this looks like quite a bright, cheerful place of accommodation! some of the areas almost have the feel of a kindergarten area or a hangout for children. would be nice to come back here after a long day of sightseeing 😀

Hostel in Osaka, Japan: J-hoppers hostel @ Fukushima Osaka

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