Things to do in Osaka

Nightlife · Minami, southern central Osaka

The canal-side neon strip with the Glico running man, and the dense grid of eating and drinking streets behind it.

Local tip: Dotonbori itself is where you photograph the signs. The actual eating is one street back in Hozenji Yokocho, a stone-paved lane of tiny old restaurants that survived the war, and in the arcades running south toward Namba.

Landmark · Central, east of Umeda

A reconstructed keep on the original stone base, in a large park that is the city's best cherry blossom and running ground.

Local tip: The keep interior is a museum and lift, which disappoints people expecting an original castle. The stonework and the moats are the genuinely astonishing part — some single blocks weigh over a hundred tonnes — and walking the perimeter is free.

Neighborhood · South, near Tennoji

A 1912 vision of the future frozen in place — a tower modelled on the Eiffel, and streets of kushikatsu restaurants beneath it.

Local tip: The rule at a kushikatsu counter is absolute: never double-dip the shared sauce. Every restaurant has a sign about it. The area is rougher than most of Osaka and entirely fine in the evening.

Neighborhood · Just south of Umeda

A pocket of pre-war wooden houses that escaped the bombing, now full of small cafés, vintage shops and galleries.

Local tip: Ten minutes' walk from Umeda's towers and almost nobody makes the trip. The streets are too narrow for cars, which is why it feels like a different city. Best on a weekday afternoon.

Food · Nipponbashi

A 600-metre covered market that has fed central Osaka since the nineteenth century, now half local grocers and half street food.

Local tip: The eastern end is still where restaurants buy their fish and where prices are normal. The western end is priced for visitors. Go before nine in the morning to see it working rather than performing.

Nature · 40 minutes north by train

A 33-metre waterfall at the end of a wooded gorge walk, on the edge of the metropolitan area.

Local tip: A short train from Umeda puts you at the trailhead, and the walk up the valley takes under an hour on a paved path. In November the maples are as good as anything in Kyoto and with a fraction of the crowd — and the tempura-fried maple leaves sold along the path are a genuine local speciality rather than a gimmick.