Best Things to Do in Osaka

Osaka is less about ticking off quiet museums and more about throwing yourself into neighbourhood markets, castle grounds, observation decks and evening food alleys. Here are the ten best experiences on a first visit.

1. Dotonbori Canal and Ebisubashi Bridge after dark. Stand on Ebisubashi Bridge beneath the glowing neon Glico Running Man billboard, watch flat-bottomed river boats pass under the giant mechanical Kani Doraku crab, and duck into Hozenji Yokocho alley to splash water on the moss-covered Fudo Myo-o statue.
2. Morning seafood and wagyu at Kuromon Ichiba Market. Walk the 600-metre covered arcade in Nipponbashi where chefs and visitors snack on grilled king crab legs, sea urchin, Kobe/Miyazaki beef skewers and seasonal white strawberries.
3. Osaka Castle and Nishinomaru Garden. Cross the towering cyclopean granite walls and double water moats built in the 1580s by unifier Toyotomi Hideyoshi to reach the five-tier white-and-gold main keep.
4. Retro Shinsekai and crispy kushikatsu. Explore the 1912 neon neighbourhood beneath Tsutenkaku Tower, play vintage arcade games in Janjan Yokocho alley and order a platter of freshly fried kushikatsu skewers.
5. Sunset from the Umeda Sky Building or Abeno Harukas. Ride the suspended glass escalator linking the twin 40-storey towers of the Umeda Sky Building to its open-air 360-degree rooftop ring (Kuchu Teien Observatory), or ascend Japan's tallest skyscraper-observatory at Harukas 300 in Tennoji.
6. Shitenno-ji Temple. Founded in 593 AD by Prince Shotoku, making it the oldest officially administered Buddhist temple in Japan; climb its five-storey pagoda and browse the lively temple flea market on the 21st and 22nd of each month.
7. Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan. One of the world's largest public aquariums at Tempozan Harbor Village, where a spiral ramp winds down around a massive central Pacific Ocean tank holding whale sharks and manta rays.
8. Kitchen knife shopping on Sennichimae Doguyasuji. Browse the covered arcade between Namba and Nipponbashi where Osaka's restaurant chefs buy hand-forged Sakai carbon-steel kitchen knives, cast-iron takoyaki pans and plastic food-display models.
9. Evening bar-hopping in Ura-Namba or Tenma. Squeeze into the lantern-lit back alleys behind Namba ("Ura-Namba") or around JR Tenma Station in the north for standing tachinomi sake bars and charcoal yakitori counters.
10. A half-day train trip to Nara or Himeji Castle. Ride the Kintetsu Rapid Express 40 minutes east from Osaka-Namba to feed rice crackers to the bowing wild deer of Nara Park and stand beneath the giant bronze Buddha of Todai-ji, or take the Shinkansen west to original 1609 Himeji Castle.