What's happening in Osaka this week?

For what's probably my last business trip this year, I left today for Osaka. As it was a last minute decision, I had a hard time finding a hotel. I managed to have a place to stay for each night, but a different place each night. I'll be hoping from one hotel to the other for four nights. 

When I asked my Japanese colleagues what was happening in Osaka they had no idea.

Tonight when I arrived at immigration, I had a chock when I saw the queue. It took me one hour and 15 minutes to go through immigration instead of the 15-20min usually. It seemed like five planes just landed from China at once with lots of Chinese tourists. The custom officers were simply overwhelmed by the number of people. A little over an hour on the queue they finally opened two more counters. I couldn't help but wondering where was the legendary Japanese efficiency. It was also fascinating to see how clueless they were when they had to manage Chinese people queuing. They don't nicely stand in line one behind the other. They pack at every counter and push their way through. 

As a consequence, I missed the direct bus to the hotel. I also missed the following three to Kobe and only managed to get into the last bus at 00:05. That was two and a half hours after I landed. Lucky that I made the last bus at least. Otherwise I would have had to take a taxi which costs a fortune in Japan. Airport to Osaka station in taxi cost 200-300$, so I don't want to imagine how it costs to go to Kobe.

My journey was not yet over. From Kobe station, I then had to take a taxi. By 2am, I was finally in bed. 

It was a long journey this time.