Osaka ~ Travel

A panoramic view over the city from Ritz Carlton Hotel in Umeda

Osaka (大阪, Ōsaka?) is a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshū, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe. Located at the mouth of the Yodo River on Osaka Bay, Osaka is the third largest city by population after Tokyo and Yokohama.

Tsūtenkaku is a symbol of Osaka's post-WWII rebuilding.

Keihanshin is the second largest 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 capital 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. Its nighttime population is 2.6 million, the third in the country, but in daytime the population surges to 3.7 million, second only after Tokyo. Osaka used to be referred to as the "nation's kitchen" (天下の台所, tenka no daidokoro?) in feudal Edo period because it was the centre of trading for rice, creating the first modern future exchange market in the world.

Climate

Osaka belongs to the humid subtropical climate zone (Köppen Cfa), with four distinct seasons. Its winters are generally mild, with January being the coldest month having an average high of 9.3 °C (49 °F). The city rarely sees snowfall during the winter. Spring in Osaka starts off mild, but ends up being hot and humid. It also tends to be Osaka’s wettest season, with the Tsuyu or rainy season occurring between late May to early July. Summers are very hot and humid. In the months of July and August, the average daily high temperature approaches 35 °C (95 °F), while average nighttime temperatures typically hover around 25 °C (77 °F). Fall in Osaka sees a cooling trend, with the early part of the season resembling summer while the latter part of fall resembling winter.

Hideyoshi's Osaka Castle (大阪城), destroyed in 1868 and rebuilt in 1931.

Culture and lifestyle

Shopping and culinary

Osaka has a large number of wholesalers and retail shops: 25,228 and 34,707 respectively in 2004, according to the city statistics. A lot of them are concentrated in the wards of Chuō (10,468 shops) and Kita (6,335 shops). Types of shops varies from malls to conventional shōtengai shopping arcades, built both above- and underground. Shōtengai are seen across Japan, and Osaka has the longest one in the country. The Tenjinbashi-suji arcade stretches from the road approaching the Temmangu shrine and continues for 2.6 km going north to south. The type of stores along the arcade includes commodities, clothing, and catering outlets.

Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan

Other shopping areas are Den Den Town, the electronic and manga/anime district, which is comparable to Akihabara; and the Umeda district, which has the Hankyu Sanbangai shopping mall and Yodobashi Camera, a huge electrical appliance store that offers a vast range of fashion stores, restaurants, and a Shonen Jump store.

Universal Studios Japan

Osaka is known for its food, as supported by the saying "Dress (in kimonos) till you drop in Kyoto, eat till you drop in Osaka" (京の着倒れ、大阪の食い倒れ) – more literally, "Kyoto (residents) are (financially) ruined by (overspending on) clothing, Osakans are ruined by spending on food".[48] Regional cuisine includes okonomiyaki (pan-fried batter cake), takoyaki (octopus dumplings), udon (a noodle dish), as well as the traditional oshizushi (pressed sushi), particularly battera (バッテラ?, pressed mackerel sushi).

21st century Osaka

Other shopping districts include:

² American Village (Amerika-mura or "Ame-mura") – fashion for young people

² Dōtonbori – part of Namba district and considered heart of the city

² Namba – main shopping, sightseeing, and restaurant area

² Shinsaibashi – luxury goods and department stores

² Umeda – theaters, boutiques, and department stores near the train station

Osaka Securities Exchange in the Kitahama district of Osaka

Entertainment and performing arts

See also: Kamigata

² Osaka is home to the National Bunraku Theatre,[49] where traditional puppet plays, bunraku, are performed.

² At Osaka Shouchiku-za, close to Namba station, kabuki can be enjoyed as well as manzai. Nearby is the Shin-kabuki-za, where enka concerts and Japanese dramas are performed.

² Yoshimoto, a Japanese entertainment conglomarate operates two halls in the city for manzai and other comedy shows: the Namba Grand Kagetsu and the Kyōbashi Kagetsu halls.

² The Hanjō-tei opened in 2006, dedicated to rakugo. The theatre is in the Temmangū area.

² Umeda Arts Theater opened in 2005 after relocating from its former 46-year-old Umeda Koma Theater. The theater has a main hall with 1,905 seats and a smaller theater-drama hall with 898 seats. Umeda Arts Theatre stages various type of performances including musicals, music concerts, dramas, rakugo, and others.

² The Symphony Hall, built in 1982, is the first hall in Japan designed specially for classical music concerts. The Hall was opened with a concert by the Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra, which is based in the city. Orchestras such as the Berlin Philharmonic and Vienna Philharmonic have played here during their world tours as well.

² Osaka-jō Hall is a multi-purpose arena in Osaka-jō park with a capacity for up to 16,000 people. The hall has hosted numerous events and concerts including both Japanese and international artists.

² Near City Hall in Nakanoshima, is Osaka Central Public Hall, a Neo-Renaissance-style building first opened in 1918. Re-opened in 2002 after major restoration, it serves as a multi-purpose rental facility for citizen events.

² The Osaka Shiki Theatre[is one of the nine private halls operated nationwide by the Shiki Theatre, staging straight plays and musicals.

² Festival Hall was a hall hosting various performances including noh, kyogen, kabuki, ballets as well as classic concerts. The Bolshoi Ballet and the Philharmonia are among the many that were welcomed on stage in the past. The hall has closed at the end of 2008, planned to re-open in 2013 in a new facility.

The Osaka Dome hosts home games of Orix Buffaloes and Hanshin Tigers

Places of interest

21st century Osaka

Kansai, the name being used for Osaka is transforming itself with high rise skyscrapers that define the 21st century Japan in social and economic standards.

Osaka Maritime Museum

Amusement parks

Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan (海遊館) – an aquarium located in Osaka Bay, containing 35,000 aquatic animals in 14 tanks, the largest of which holds 5,400 tons of water and houses a variety of sea animals including whale sharks. This tank is the world's second-largest aquarium tank, behind the Georgia Aquarium, whose largest tank holds approximately 29,000 tons of water.

² Tempozan Ferris Wheel, located next to the aquarium

² Tennōji Zoo

² Universal Studios Japan

² Umeda Joypolis Sega

² Shin-Umeda city – an innovative structure that has the floating garden observatory 170 m from the ground, which offers a 360-degree panoramic view of Osaka, popular for photographs, a structure that also houses an underground mall with restaurants and is styled in the early Showa period in the 1920s.

Tenji Matsuri

Parks

² Nakanoshima Park: About 10.6 ha. In the vicinity of the City Hall

² Osaka Castle Park: About 106 ha. Includes Osaka-jō Hall, a Japanese apricot garden, and more

² Sumiyoshi Park

² Tennōji Park: About 28 ha. Includes Tennōji Zoo; an art museum (established by contribution from Sumitomo family in 1936); and a Japanese garden, Keitaku-en (慶沢園). Keitaku-en was constructed in 1908 by Jihei Ogawa (小川治兵衛), an illustrious gardener in Japan. This was originally one of Sumitomo family's gardens until 1921.

² Utsubo Park

² Nagai Park The 2007 IAAF World Championships in Athletics were held at Nagai Stadium, located in this park.

² Tsurumi-Ryokuchi Park with the Sakuya Konohana Kan was the site of the flower expo in 1990.