12 Incredible Places You Must Visit In Osaka
Osaka is the second biggest city in Japan and has many fantastic places for you to visit, these are my 9 best places to visit ranging from ancient sites to best restaurants.
Osaka city is definitely one of the most beautiful and rich cities in Japan. Before arriving at Osaka central station I looked the nightlife district on the map called Shinsaibashi.
Map
Best Places in Osaka
1. Umeda Sky Building
Skyscraper with mesmerizing views of Osaka
2. Osaka Castle
Most famous castle in Japan, a must visit!
3. Shinsaibashi
Popular shopping street area in Osaka
4. Dotonburi
Famous from movies and magazines, great shopping and restaurant district
5. Yodobashi
Gigantic department store next to the Osaka station
6. Toudaiji Temple
Housing the biggest indoor Buddha in the world
It was late and had to take the last subway from the station to downtown. I ordered a burger with fries at Lotteria in the main shopping street because I was tired and wanted to sit down while using my WiMAX internet stick to lookup an hotel.
7. Jinen Sushi
Best sushi in Osaka located across Shinsaibashi station, check map for exact location
8. OPA
Popular department store for Japanese youth and Gyaru
9. Don Quijote
Most insane department store ever! It even has a roller coaster ride
10. Karaoke 804
Sing your heart out! Also a great date spot
11. Grand Cafe
Most fun bar in Osaka where there was a good party every day of the week
12. Club Lunar
Great place to end the night with good trance music and crazy Japanese locals
The damn restaurant was located underneath a traintrack so I had no range but the burger was delicious. Hotels were hard to find but luckily I found this fantastic area next to the subway station in the middle of the clubbing district.
I got myself a sweet room at the Hearton Hotel for a pretty good deal. On the way back from Nagasaki I stayed at an hotel across from the Hearton for an even better deal. It was behind a nice shopping mall called OPA.
Also, Osaka has one of the best sushi restaurants I have ever been too.
My Shinsaibashi highlights: Jinen Sushi restaurant (best to date) near Shinsaibashi station, Hearton Hotel, OPA shopping mall, Umeda Skybuilding, Okonomi-yaki Restaurants, Karaoke 804, Lotteria, Grand Cafe, Club Lunar and Gamebar Continue.
Osaka is the second largest metropolitan area in Japan by population and one of the largest metropolitan areas highly ranked in the world, with nearly 18 million people and by GDP the second largest area in Japan and the seventh largest area in the world.
Historically the commercial center of Japan, Osaka functions as one of the command centers for the Japanese economy. The ratio between daytime and night time population is 141%, the highest in Japan, highlighting its status as an economic center.
Osaka used to be referred to as the "nation's kitchen" in feudal Edo period because it was the centre of trading for rice, creating the first modern futures exchange market in the world.