Osaka

If Tokyo is Japan's polished corporate capital and Kyoto its quiet imperial shrine, Osaka is the loud, warm-hearted merchant city where people talk to strangers at bar counters and organize their entire day around what to eat next. Divided between the northern business and shopping hub of Kita (Umeda) and the neon entertainment canals of Minami (Namba and Shinsaibashi), the city is tied together by the vertical spine of the red Midosuji subway line.

By day you can walk the massive granite ramparts of Osaka Castle and Japan's oldest Buddhist temple at Shitenno-ji. After dark, the city belongs to Dotonbori, Kuromon Market and the retro lanes of Shinsekai, where giant mechanical crabs and blowfish lanterns hang above sizzling cast-iron griddles. Start with our first-timer guide.

Kansai International Airport (KIX) sits on an artificial island in Osaka Bay, linked directly to Namba (Minami) by Nankai Electric Railway and to Tennoji, Osaka Station (Umeda) and Shin-Osaka by the JR Haruka Express. Bullet trains (Shinkansen) from Tokyo and Hiroshima stop at Shin-Osaka Station, just four minutes by subway north of Umeda. Read how to get to Osaka.

Base yourself in Namba or Shinsaibashi if you want evening street food, canal lights and a single-seat train to KIX Airport and Nara. Choose Umeda (Osaka Station) or Honmachi for larger hotel rooms and direct 30-minute commuter trains to Kyoto and Kobe. We compare the six best districts in where to stay in Osaka.

Eat your way along Dotonbori Canal and Kuromon Ichiba Market, walk the moats of Osaka Castle and take in the sunset skyline from the Umeda Sky Building, explore retro Shinsekai and the giant whale shark tank at Kaiyukan Aquarium, and ride 40 minutes east to Nara. See the full list in things to do in Osaka.

Osaka's civic motto is kuidaore (literally eating oneself into bankruptcy). Must-order specialities include molten-centred takoyaki octopus batter balls brushed with tangy sauce, cabbage-packed okonomiyaki savoury pancakes griddled at your table, crisp golden kushikatsu skewers in Shinsekai (never double-dip in the shared sauce), and pressed battera mackerel sushi. Read where to eat in our street food guide.

During the Edo period, when feudal lords across Japan shipped their rice harvests through Osaka's network of canals to be traded at the Dojima Rice Exchange, the city became known as "the Nation's Kitchen" (Tenka no Daidokoro). Run by merchants rather than samurai, it developed its own distinct dialect (Osaka-ben), puppet theatre (Bunraku) and stand-up comedy tradition (Manzai).