Shinsekai, Tennoji, Kaiyukan Aquarium and Osaka Bay

South and west of central Namba lie three very different sides of Osaka: the nostalgic mid-century neon neighborhood of Shinsekai, the ancient vermilion bridges of Sumiyoshi Taisha, and the family attractions of Osaka Bay (Kaiyukan Aquarium and Universal Studios Japan).

Shinsekai ("New World") and Abeno Harukas

Laid out in 1912 on former exhibition grounds with the northern half modelled vaguely on Paris and the southern half on New York's Coney Island, Shinsekai froze in time during the post-war Showa era. Today it is one of the most photogenic neighborhoods in Japan:

• Tsutenkaku Tower and Billiken: standing at the radial centre of Shinsekai, the 103-metre steel tower (rebuilt in 1956 by the same engineer who designed Tokyo Tower) houses the quirky, pointed-headed good-luck statue of Billiken (visitors rub the soles of his feet for luck) and an outdoor cantilever skywalk.
• Janjan Yokocho (Nanyodori Shotengai): a narrow 180-metre covered lane stretching south from Tsutenkaku to Dobutsuen-mae Station, where elderly locals play shogi (Japanese chess) behind sliding glass doors and cooks fry skewers of kushikatsu to order at long U-shaped counters.
• Tennoji Park and Abeno Harukas: walk ten minutes east through green Tennoji Park (passing Keitakuen Japanese garden) to Abeno Harukas, the 300-metre skyscraper above Tennoji/Osaka-Abenobashi Station, whose 58th-to-60th floor Harukas 300 glass-walled atrium deck looks straight down onto Shinsekai, Osaka Castle and Osaka Bay.

Sumiyoshi Taisha: Osaka's oldest Shinto shrine

From inside Namba or Tennoji, hop the vintage single-car Hankai Tramway (Osaka's last surviving streetcar line) fifteen minutes south to Sumiyoshi Taisha, founded in 211 AD before Buddhist architecture arrived from the Asian mainland. You cross the steep, semicircular vermilion Sorihashi (Taiko-bashi) drum bridge over a lotus pond to reach four wooden main sanctuaries built in the pure, straight-gabled Sumiyoshi-zukuri style.

Osaka Bay: Kaiyukan Aquarium and Universal Studios Japan

Take the green Osaka Metro Chuo Line west to Osakako Station for Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan, where an eight-floor spiral walkway descends from a sunlit Japanese forest habitat down to the ocean floor around a 5,400-cubic-metre Pacific Ocean tank holding whale sharks, hammerheads and reef rays (buy a timed entry slot online a day or two ahead). Across the bay via JR Yumesaki Line (to Universal City Station) sits Universal Studios Japan (USJ); if you want guaranteed entry to Super Nintendo World, either purchase an Express Pass weeks in advance on the official portal or arrive at the park gates an hour before official opening to request a free Area Timed Entry e-Ticket in the USJ smartphone app the moment your ticket is scanned.