Centered around mini-city Osaka Station, Umeda throbs with department stores, miles-long underground shopping venues, museums, theaters, teen-hangout arcades, and upscale hotels offering top dining.
East: Osaka-jo
Tourist must-see Osaka Castle, its surrounding park, and the Ogawa and Neyagawa riversides draw joggers, week-ending families, and youth dressed in identical clothing. Business parks hum with activity on the weekdays.
West: Osaka Bay/Tempozan Harbor Village
Far from the city center, Osaka’s leisure play-land attracts young and old with its art and maritime museums, Universal Studios Japan, and one of the world’s largest aquariums.
South: Namba
Gothics, lollipop girls, and teens with dreadlocks parade in trendy “America-mura” designer-brands and lighten their Louis Vuitton wallets on elegant Midosuji Boulevard. Dine along Dotonburi Street, take in a Kabuki show, and go clubbing.
Doguya-suji and Den Den Town
East of Nankai Namba Station, the Doguya-suji arcade supplies designer kitchen items, from expensive lacquer-ware to plastic sushi, while Den Den Town offers electronics and anime figurines, games, and costumes.
South-end: Tennoji
Shitennoji Temple attracts tourists and worshippers, a zoological park draws families, and the hot-springs bathhouse Spa World admits all but the tattooed (associated with Japanese mafia).
