Osaka is Japan's second-largest metropolitan area (19 million people) and the country's culinary capital — the city where the phrase kuidaore (食い倒れ — "eat until you drop") originated, and where Japanese popular culture is at its most exuberant. While Kyoto refined, Osaka indulged: takoyaki (octopus balls), okonomiyaki (savory pancakes), kushikatsu (deep-fried skewers), ramen with rich tonkotsu broth, and the most competitive street food scene in Japan. Add to this the Dotonbori canal (the neon-lit embodiment of Japanese kitsch), Osaka Castle (one of Japan's finest), the Tsutenkaku tower in retro Shinsekai, and easy day trips to Nara (the ancient capital with wild deer). Osaka is louder, cheaper, friendlier and more fun than Tokyo.
Dotonbori (道頓堀) is the entertainment and dining district along the canal of the same name — the Glico Man running sign, the giant moving Kani Doraku crab, the massive puffer fish on the fugu restaurant, and a hundred restaurant signs competing for the most theatrical presentation. The walk from the Ebisu Bridge to Shinsaibashi is the most visually overwhelming 500m in Japan.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideTakoyaki (たこ焼き — octopus balls: wheat batter with a piece of octopus, tenkasu, pickled ginger and green onion, cooked in a special round-holed pan, topped with okonomiyaki sauce, mayonnaise and bonito flakes) is Osaka's most famous food. At Wanaka (Dotonbori — the most famous takoyaki in Osaka, queue expected) or Aizuya (1933 — the oldest takoyaki shop in Japan).
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideKuromon Ichiba (黒門市場 — Black Gate Market, 580 stalls, operating since 1822) is Osaka's wholesale food market open to the public — whole tuna sections, live crab tanks, fresh uni (sea urchin), Kobe beef at butcher stalls (eat on the spot), wagyu skewers and the freshest fish in western Japan. The professional chefs of Osaka's restaurants shop here every morning.
Shinsaibashi-suji (心斎橋筋 — the longest covered shopping arcade in Osaka, 600m) leads into Amerika-Mura (America Village — Osaka's street fashion district, where Japanese youth fashion started in the 1970s with imported American clothing). The Triangle Park at the centre of Amerika-Mura is the best people-watching spot in Osaka.
Okonomiyaki (お好み焼き — "as you like it" savory pancake: batter, shredded cabbage, egg, and your choice of pork belly, seafood, cheese, mochi — all grilled on a teppan griddle at the table, topped with okonomiyaki sauce, Kewpie mayonnaise, bonito flakes and aonori seaweed) is Osaka's national dish. Mizuno (Dotonbori, since 1945) is the most famous okonomiyaki restaurant in the city.
Dotonbori at night (after 10pm) is the most visually intense street in Japan — all the competing neon signs, the canal reflections, the street food vendors, and the crowds at their most electric. The mechanical crab moves its claws. The Glico Man runs. The most concentrated entertainment experience in Japan.
Osaka-jo (Osaka Castle, originally 1583 by Toyotomi Hideyoshi, current tower rebuilt 1931, surrounding walls 17th-century original) — the 8-story tower (now a museum of Hideyoshi's life and the Sengoku period) surrounded by the finest castle park in Japan: the massive moat walls, the plum and cherry orchards, and the view of modern Osaka from the tower top. The Nishinomaru Garden for matcha and view.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideShinsekai (新世界 — "New World," built 1912 as an amusement district modeled on Paris and New York — the lower half on Coney Island, the upper half on Paris with the Tsutenkaku tower as the Eiffel Tower) is Osaka's most atmospheric retro district — the unchanged 1950s-style restaurants serving kushikatsu, the billiard halls, the vintage pachinko parlors and the sense of a Japan that never made it to the tourist guides.
Kushikatsu (串カツ — deep-fried skewers: meat, vegetable, seafood and tofu on bamboo skewers, battered in panko and fried in oil, dipped once in the shared sauce — NEVER double-dip, this is the single most important rule in Shinsekai) at Daruma (since 1929 — the most famous kushikatsu restaurant in Japan, with branches across Osaka but the Shinsekai original is the place).
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideTsutenkaku (通天閣 — "Tower Reaching the Sky," 1912, rebuilt 1956 after WWII bombing, 103m) is the symbol of Shinsekai and of retro Osaka — the observation deck and the Billiken statue (the God of Things as They Ought to Be — rub his feet for luck) are visited more by Japanese tourists than foreign visitors, which makes the experience even more authentic.
Osaka ramen: not the famous tonkotsu of Fukuoka (though available here), but the lighter chintan chicken broth ramen of the local style, with thin straight noodles and chashu pork. Kinryu Ramen (Dragon Ramen, Dotonbori — open 24 hours) or Ichiran (the individual booth ramen chain where you order by form and eat alone in a cubicle, facing a bamboo curtain — a uniquely Japanese experience).
Namba has the densest concentration of bars in western Japan — cocktail bars, whisky bars, beer bars and izakayas on every floor of every building. Kitashinchi (North Osaka) is the more expensive hostess club and fine bar district. The Bar Nayuta (American Bar style) or whisky bars in the basement floors of Shinsaibashi.
Nara (奈良 — Japan's capital 710–794 AD, 45 min by Kintetsu express from Osaka Namba, ¥680) was Japan's first permanent capital — the Nara Period saw the introduction of Buddhism as the state religion and the construction of the Todai-ji, then the largest wooden building in the world. 1,200 wild sika deer (considered sacred messengers of the gods) roam freely through the park and bow to visitors who hold deer crackers (shika-senbei, ¥200).
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideTodai-ji (東大寺 — Great Eastern Temple, 752 AD, UNESCO) houses the Daibutsu (Great Buddha) — a 15-metre bronze Buddha (the largest in Japan) in the Daibutsuden hall (the largest wooden building in the world, though rebuilt at 2/3 of its original 8th-century size). The bronze was cast in 743 AD using the entire bronze production of Japan at the time.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideKasuga Taisha (春日大社, 768 AD, UNESCO) in the Nara cedar forest has 3,000 bronze and stone lanterns donated by worshippers since the Heian period — lit twice a year (February 3 and August 14-15) for the Lantern Festival. The Primeval Forest (Kasugayama Primeval Forest, UNESCO) behind the shrine is the most ancient protected woodland in Japan.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideKakinoha-zushi (persimmon leaf pressed sushi — mackerel or salmon over vinegared rice, wrapped in a persimmon leaf and pressed for 24 hours, the persimmon having natural antibacterial properties) is Nara's most famous food — sold at Hiraso (the most traditional shop, since 1921) or takeaway from the station shops for a picnic in the deer park.
Return from Nara to Osaka (45 min, Kintetsu) in the late afternoon — the Dotonbori area in the evening for the most atmospheric dinner return, or Umeda (Osaka's north commercial district — the Sky Building observation deck for the sunset view of Osaka and the Rokko mountains).
Yakiniku (焼肉 — Korean-origin BBQ where you grill your own wagyu and pork on a tabletop charcoal grill) is Osaka's most social dinner format — wagyu short ribs (kalbi), beef tongue (tan), pork belly (samgyeopsal) and vegetables. At Yakiniku Jumbo (Shinsaibashi) or Osaka Yakiniku Futago (the chain, consistent quality). With Korean side dishes (kimchi, namul) and draft Asahi.