ibaraki city, osaka?

[pinstripeprincess]

i want to go visit the church of light in osaka and am wondering if there's anything in the vicinity that might be remarkable foodwise?

also, is there any way i can get a schedule of the Kintetsu-bus to Kasugaoka-koen bus stop so i know how frequently the bus shows up? i unfortunately can't read japanese and there is no english site for the kintetsu bus.

[helenjp]

That's the Kasugaoka Church a little to the north of Expo Park, isn't it? Designed by Tadao Ando?

Transport: Sounds as if the bus service from JR Ibaraki is pretty regular, it just says to get off at the Kasugaoka Koen stop. Or 10 mins by taxi. Seems that you either need to attend 10:30 Sunday service, or phone/e-mail ahead if you want to view the church.

I think it would be a similar distance by taxi from the monorail Handai Byouin-mae station, and it is also possible to catch a taxi from Expo Park, it seems.

There are several restaurants in Expo Park. I haven't been there for a long time, but imagine they are probably OK but not startling. If you are coming north from Osaka, you might consider taking the monorail and visiting the ethnic history museum in the Expo Park and then moving on to the church.

An-na Foo-na is an Asian knick-knack shop right by JR Ibaraki station, which also serves "Asian" foods. It has the advantages of being open for lunch, and being easy to find, but I don't know anything about the food.

The area near the church was pretty much undeveloped when I lived in north Osaka, and I'm sure it's not very urban even now. Probably the JR Ibaraki station is still the center of the area.

Special products of the region are listed as "udo", which is certainly in season now - crunchy shoots with a characteristic herbal fragrance.