5 Days in Osaka: Eat Your Way Through Japan's Kitchen

Kuromon Ichiba Market

A covered market street with around 150 shops: fresh seafood, produce and ready-to-eat street food. Come hungry and graze.

• Known as Osaka's kitchen, with roughly 150 shops: go in the morning when the fish stalls are liveliest.

Dotonbori

Osaka's famous canal district: giant neon signs, theaters and street-food stalls along the water. Come after dark, when the reflections hit the canal. It dates to 1612, dug by merchant Yasui Doton.

• Start at Ebisubashi bridge for the classic Glico photo, then walk the canal both ways.

Hozenji Yokocho

A stone-paved alley of lantern-lit traditional restaurants beside Hozenji Temple: a pocket of old Osaka in Minami. Come for dinner and pick a counter that smells good.

• Hozenji Yokocho is three minutes off the canal: duck in after the neon for the lantern-lit alley and the temple.

Tenjinbashi-suji Shopping Street

At 2.6 km, Japan's longest covered shopping arcade: everyday Osaka, not the tourist version. Local shops, cheap eats, and covered from the rain.

• At 2.6km it is Japan's longest shopping arcade: walk it end to end for lunch.

Osaka Castle and Osaka Castle Museum

The city's defining landmark: a reconstructed 16th-century castle tower housing a museum of Toyotomi-era history. The current tower is a 1931 concrete rebuild of Hideyoshi's castle: go for the exhibits and the top-floor view.

• The current tower is a 1931 concrete reconstruction of Hideyoshi's castle.

Hokoku Shrine

The shrine to Toyotomi Hideyoshi inside Osaka Castle Park. A two-minute stop that completes the castle story.

Tsutenkaku

Shinsekai's retro-futuristic tower: observation decks, the Billiken good-luck statue and neon night lighting. The 103-meter tower is a 1956 rebuild of the 1912 original.

• General observatory admission is 1,200 yen; open 10:00-20:00 with last entry at 19:30.

Shinsekai streets

Showa-era streets of giant food signs, kushikatsu shops and retro arcades under the Tsutenkaku tower. Come hungry at night, when the signs all light up.

• The tower rises over Shinsekai's streets: walk the giant food signs first, then ride up for the view.

Janjan Yokocho

A narrow retro alley under the railway tracks packed with standing bars, cheap izakaya and old-school eateries. Order standing, eat fast, move on: that is the point.

• Yaekatsu sits in Janjan Yokocho: join the queue of locals for 150-yen skewers under the railway tracks.

Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan

One of the world's largest aquariums: a spiral journey through Pacific Rim habitats crowned by the whale-shark tank. Allow 2-3 hours for the full loop.

• Plan 2-3 hours; go early to avoid crowds and catch feeding times.

Legoland Discovery Center Osaka

An indoor LEGO play center with rides, a 4D cinema and a Miniland Osaka. Aimed at young kids: perfect for a rainy half-day with little ones.

Santa Maria bay cruise

A full-size replica of Columbus's ship doing 50-minute cruises around Osaka Bay. A little cheesy, but the sunset sail is genuinely lovely.

Hankyu Umeda Main Store

The legendary department store above Hankyu Umeda Station, famed for its vast basement food halls. Even if you buy nothing, the depachika is worth the trip downstairs.

Grand Front Osaka

The flagship shopping and dining complex north of Osaka Station. Good for a browse and a basement-food-hall lunch if the weather turns.

Umeda Sky Building and Floating Garden Observatory

Twin towers joined by the Floating Garden: an open-air rooftop deck 173 meters up with 360-degree city views. Go at dusk and watch the city light up.

• The observatory deck sits 173 meters above the city: sunset is the time to go.