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Welcome to Osaka

Welcome to Osaka

TENJINBASHI-SUJI SHOTENGAI

This covered shopping arcade, popular among locals, runs for 2.6km, making it the longest of its kind in Japan – it’ll take about 40 minutes for you to walk from one end to the other. There really is everything here, from fashion and accessories to kitchen goods and daily necessities. It’s easy to lose track of time, so good thing the arcade is also packed with izakaya, restaurants, cafés and bars, serving as pit stops to fuel your retail outing.

à 1-7 Tenjinbashi, Kita (Ogimachi, Tenjinbashi 6-chome, Minami-morimachi, Temma stations). tenjin123.com. Opening hours vary by store.

Nintendo Osaka

Only its second official store in Japan, Nintendo Osaka is stocked to the brim with its official games and merchandise from Super Mario and Legend of Zelda to Animal Crossing and Splatoon. Note that on busy days (primarily weekends and holidays), entry to the store is limited to those with numbered tickets, which will be distributed in front of Daimaru Umeda Store’s water clock (first floor) before the store opens and in front of the store after that.

à Daimaru Umeda Store 13F, 3-1-1 Umeda, Kita (Osaka, Umeda, Higashi-Umeda, Nishi-Umeda stations). 0570 088 210. nintendo.co.jp/officialstore. 10am-8pm daily.

Kids Plaza Osaka

A full-fledged museum for children, Kids

Plaza Osaka offers interactive exhibits for the little ones to learn while they play. Aside from participating in creative workshops, kids can also discover the wonders of science as well as cultures from around the world. There’s even a mini Kids Town designed by the late Austrian architect Friedensreich Hundertwasser, where kids can meander around curvy corridors, climb walls and go down slides.

KITA, WHICH INCLUDES the evolving Umeda area, is Osaka’s northern downtown. It’s a lively business district served by two of Osaka’s busiest transport hubs: the sprawling, all-encompassing complexes of Osaka and Umeda stations.

Recent redevelopments have bestowed Kita with new energy and excitement, and these urbanisation projects are set to continue until 2028. The focal point of these new projects is the Grand Green Osaka initiative, which seeks to transform a former freight rail yard into a cutting-edge multipurpose complex consisting of parks, offices, retail and even Time Out Market Osaka, our very first editorially-curated food and cultural market in Asia.

Even now, it’s easy to be overwhelmed by the abundance of shopping, dining, hotels and sightseeing options in Kita. There’s the modern architectural marvel Umeda Sky Building with its rooftop observation deck, department stores and shopping centres galore (Daimaru, Links, Hankyu, Hanshin, HEP Five, etc) as well as a network of underground malls.

For a completely different vibe, the historical Osaka Temmangu Shrine offers a tranquil escape from the bustling city while the artsy Nakazakicho neighbourhood beckons with its laidback lifestyle, craft shops, vintage stores and cool cafés.

Top At Tractions

à 2-1-7 Ogimachi, Kita (Ogimachi, Temma stations). 06 6311 6601. kidsplaza.or.jp. 9.30am-4.30pm (last entry 3.45pm), closed 2nd & 3rd Mon (Tue if Mon is hol). Check website for other closed days.

Kuchu Teien Observatory At Umeda Sky Building

It’s impossible not to notice the towering Umeda Sky Building when walking around Umeda. This landmark, which looks like a spaceship, is arguably the city’s most unique work of architecture. It’s home to one of Osaka’s top attractions, the Kuchu Teien Observatory, which offers breathtaking views of the city skyline from the 40th floor and has an open-air rooftop. The trippy, vertiginous elevator tunnel leading to the observatory is an experience in itself. Umeda Sky Building also houses a restaurant floor in the basement inspired by Showa-era (1926-1989) aesthetics.

à 2-1-8 Tenjinbashi, Kita (Minami-morimachi, Osakatemmangu stations). 06 6353 0025. osakatemmangu.or.jp. 9am-5pm daily.

Osaka Temmangu Shrine

Established in year 949, the famous Osaka Temmangu Shrine is dedicated to the Heian period (794-1185) scholar and poet Sugawarano-Michizane, to whom students often come and pay respects ahead of exam season. Even if you’re no longer in school, this longstanding shrine is worth a visit for its beautiful architecture and tranquil atmosphere, accentuated by a pretty plum garden of roughly 100 trees. Swing by in late July and you’ll be able to catch the annual Tenjin Matsuri – one of the region’s largest festivals – which features a parade of over 3,000 people dressed in traditional costumes carrying portable shrines.

à 2-1-8 Tenjinbashi, Kita (Minami-morimachi, Osakatemmangu stations). 06 6353 0025. osakatemmangu.or.jp. 9am-5pm daily.

Osaka Museum Of Housing And Living

The main feature in the Osaka Museum of Housing and Living is the replica of an Osaka neighbourhood from the 1830s to the late twentieth century. You’ll travel back in time to the end of the Edo period (1603-1867) in the life-sized Osakacho 3-chome, whose streets are lined with traditional machiya townhouses. It’s an immersive experience as you get to walk around, touch and interact with the exhibits.

Aside from depicting the city and its architecture, the museum also explores home life during Osaka’s modernisation in the Meiji (1868-1912) and Showa (1926-1989) eras, with dioramas and images reproducing the living conditions of yesteryear.

à Sumai Joho Centre Bldg 8F, 6-4-20 Tenjinbashi, Kita (Tenjinbashisuji 6-chome Station). 06 6242 1170. osaka-angenet.jp/konjyakukan. 10am-5pm (last entry 4.30pm), closed Tue.

Osaka’s museum island: Nakanoshima

A sliver of land between two rivers – Dojimagawa and Tosaborigawa –Nakanoshima was a bustling trading hub during the Edo period (16031867). Today this scenic waterfront postcode is the city’s financial, administration and cultural centre. Here you’ll find some of Osaka’s best art museums and cultural attractions, which is why many consider Nakanoshima to be the (unofficial) museum island of Osaka.

NAKANOSHIMA CHILDREN’S BOOK FOREST

NATIONAL MUSEUM OF ART, OSAKA

Architecturally one of the most interesting museums in Japan, the National Museum of Art, Osaka is designed by famed architect César Pelli. The avant-garde metal structure looks like an art installation in itself, whose sail-like formation is inspired by the movements of bamboo. The museum space proper sits largely underground.

The museum has one of the country’s largest collections of Japanese and international contemporary art, with most of the pieces from the 1950s onwards. These works – which cover a range of influential artists including Christian Boltanski, Chiharu Shiota, O Jun and Michio Fukuoka – are showcased on a rotating basis at the Collection Exhibition. Supplementing this is a programme of thematic temporary exhibitions.

à 4-2-55 Nakanoshima, Kita (Watanabebashi, Higobashi, Fukushima stations). 06 6447 4680. nmao.go.jp. Tue-Thu, Sun 10am-5pm (last entry 4.30pm), Fri-Sat 10am-8pm (7.30pm), closed on Mon(Tue if Mon is hol), year-end and New Year holidays, during exhibition changeover.

NAKANOSHIMA MUSEUM OF ART, OSAKA

CAPI à Kitashinchi Place Bldg 6F, 1-10-2 Sonezakishinchi, Kita (Kita-Shinchi Station). 050 3138 6188. capi-osaka.com. Simultaneous start at 6pm and 8.45pm, closed on Sun & hols. Lunch service on Sat from 12noon. à 1-1-28 Nakanoshima, Kita (Naniwabashi, Yodoyabashi stations). 06 6204 0808. kodomohonnomori.osaka. 9.30am-5pm, closed Mon (Tue if Mon is hol). à 4-3-1 Nakanoshima, Kita (Watanabebashi, Higobashi, Fukushima stations). nakka-art.jp. 10am-5pm (last entry 4.30pm), closed Mon (Tue if Mon is hol).

A refined, modern fusion restaurant with roots in Italian cuisine, Capi operates solely on a reservation basis, serving courses of innovative dishes amid a sleek interior that seats only eight guests along a stylish counter. Chef Daiki Ogawa relentlessly explores new ingredient combinations to deliver exceptional food experiences. While traditional Western cuisine tends to layer ingredients to create a deep, complex flavour, Ogawa prefers to celebrate the natural essence and freshness of seasonal ingredients.

Trust star architect Tadao Ando to design one of the most stylish children’s libraries around. Located in Nakanoshima Park, the Children’s Book Forest offers three levels of dramatic, ceiling-high gridded shelves full of books, with smaller, more intimate areas defined by sloping ceilings. Unusually, books here are neither organised by genre or age range. With picture books sitting happily next to art books and short stories, the aim is to encourage free exploration.

The majority of the library’s collection is in Japanese, but it has a small number of English-language books, which the staff will be happy to guide you and the kids to. Entry is free, but by prior reservation only.

The newest museum on Nakanoshima took almost 40 years to complete. The arduous undertaking paid off, as the Nakanoshima Museum of Art now holds one of Japan’s most extensive and diverse collections of art, totalling around 6,000 pieces and counting.

The jet-black, cube-like architecture makes for an imposing sight, with a cheeky ‘Ship’s Cat (Muse)’ sculpture by Kenji Yanabo standing guard at its doorsteps. Inside, the pristine space features picture windows overlooking the river and surrounding cityscape as well as lofty ceilings that lend themselves to large-scale exhibitions. Here you’ll find another captivating sculpture by Kenji Yanabo, titled ‘Giant Torayan’, whose height stretches across the museum’s top two floors.

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