[samurai007]

Tokyo is over 10 million people as I recall, which is huge, sprawling as far as the eye can see. Osaka though has 2.6 million people, still a huge city. It has subways, all night discos, a smaller version of Akihabara called Den Den town, and most everything you'd find in any other big city. I'd say that Tokyo had more western restaurants than Osaka, but that's about it. Osaka is IMO in a part of Japan that is surrounded by history and nature, more so than Tokyo. A short train ride can take you to the beaches of Wakayama, the temples of Kyoto, Nara park, Himeji castle, Mt. Koya, Lake Biwa, and many other places. Maybe it's because I lived near Osaka and so I knew about all those things, while I was more of a stranger to the Tokyo area, but aside from Nikko, or heading into the Japan Alps, or climbing Mt. Fuji, (all of which are at least twice as far from Tokyo as the places I mentioned near Osaka), there just didn't seem to be much near Tokyo.