places to visit in osaka

* back dated entry*

i heard from my friends that osaka is very similar to tokyo, it's a very industrialised place so there isnt much of sightseeing but more of shopping & food... my sister just came back from there & she seem to like it alot... my lab mate even told me that she preferred shopping in osaka than tokyo!!! i was really shock!!! i am really surprised that there can be better places to shop thank in tokyo!?!??! i shall really see it for myself.... one important is that similar to kobe, there are 2 major stations in osaka: the shin-osaka station which shinkansen stops & osaka station for the normal JR & local lines.... i would say there arent much things in shin-osaka area, most of the exciting things are at osaka area....so let me share what attractions i found online....

1. namba

namba, photo taken from here...

dotonbori, photo taken from here....

shinsaibashi shopping arcade, photo taken from here....

map of namba, photo taken from here...

the first impression that i have of osaka is the glico running guy neon sign board & i never knew that is actually the shopping district, i thought it's more of a clarke quay kind of thing... so apparently namba is like THE shopping place & the famous dotonbori is there... my lab mate said she LOVES the shopping there, means i MUST go there see see... my sister told me the shopping area there is HUGE, shinsaibashi shopping arcade is also situated there... i dont know exactly how HUGE the place is, but i would definitely love to shop there =p not to forget to try out famous okonomiya & takayaki from there

2.osaka castle

osaka castle, photo taken from here....

another common things that you will find in japan is castles, there seem to be castles in all the popular cities... i guess that make them important since emperors stayed there before.... they all look so pretty in pictures & always surrounded by pretty parks so i think it will be nice to take a stroll in the area if you have time

3. shinseikai

shinseikai area, photo taken from here....

tsutenkaku tower, photo taken from here....

 i believed this is another shopping district in osaka but the famous attraction there is the tsutenkaku tower which appeared in many tv & movies.... towers are always so popular in japan, really know how to earn tourists $ wor....


4. umeda area

umeda area map, photo taken from here.......

another shopping area... now i am starting to believe that osaka is very similar to tokyo, everywhere is shopping districts!!!! anyway just fyi, umeda is actually at the same place as JR osaka station... so you can always stop by for a walk or a meal when you reached osaka via JR


5. tennoji

tennoji area map, photo taken from here....

abeno harukas, photo taken from here....

similar to shinseikai there is also an observatory tower at abeno harukas call harukas 300 cause the building is 300m high!!!! sometimes i wonder why japan want to build such a high skyscraper when it always experience earthquake, arent they worry???

6. Tenmangu Shrine 

tenmangu shrine, photo taken from here....

shopping area near tenmangu shrine, photo taken from here....

i think this is one of the most important shrine in osaka & it held the famous tenjin matsuri in july... i guess it would be pretty impressive but sadly i wont get to see anything during winter =( & there is always some sort of shopping district beside important shrines/temples so you can always get some food & souvenirs after praying =)

7. instant ramen museum
my lab mate went there & she seem to enjoy it since you get to DIY your own instant noodle... japan really has a lot of interesting things & DIY instant noodle is really cool... i might consider going there depending on my schedule since it seem abit troublesome to go there.... english site here...

8. mitsui outlet park osaka tsurumi

mitsui outlet park map, photo taken from here...

train direction to mitsui outlet, photo taken from here....

similar to US, japan also has its own outlet malls & there are 2 of them in osaka.... the first 1 is mitsui outlet park osaka tsurumi.... if you have been to outlet malls before then you will know how amazing they can be!!! the items are so much cheaper than what you can find outside!!! of cause you may not find the latest designs there but hey, it's cheap so dont complain.... but like all outlet malls, this mitsui outlet seem abit difficult to go....

9. rinku outlet

rinku outlet, photo taken from here....

last but not least is rinku outlet, this 1 is situated near kansai airport so i bet there will be alot of tourists who will do their last minute shopping over there.... direction can be found here... i read on the website that foreign tourists can get a coupon book from the information counters which entitle them to extra discounts!!!! attractive isnt it!??!?! but again have to depend on my schedule & hubby mood since he doesnt like to go shopping =(

so yup, above are the attractions i found for osaka... i know majority is shopping area but that's what i found, so it's really another shopping paradies especially with 2 outlet malls!!!!!