Osaka
Japan's boisterous second city and its undisputed food capital, Osaka trades Tokyo's polish for neon canals, century-old markets and a street-food culture — takoyaki, okonomiyaki, kushikatsu — summed up by the local creed kuidaore: eat until you drop.
March–May, October–November
Mixed
Typical cost profile for visitors
- 0 highlighted sights
- 0 recommended stays
- 0 places to eat
Finding Osaka
Reading Osaka
01Where to Stay in Osaka: The Neighbourhoods and the Classic Hotels
Kita or Minami? Beside the castle or on the bay? Osaka's neighbourhoods each make a different promise — here is how to match yours to the right base, with the city's most established hotels as landmarks.
02Osaka, Japan's kitchen: where to eat authentic ramen, takoyaki and more
From Dotonbori's griddles to the kushikatsu counters of Shinsekai, a working eater's guide to the city that invented eating until you drop.
03Osaka early and late: the city before and after the tour groups
Between about ten in the morning and eight at night, Osaka belongs to the itineraries. Before and after, it belongs to itself — and that is the city worth meeting.
04Osaka on a budget: how to do Japan's kitchen for less
Japan's most fun city is also one of its cheapest to enjoy — if you eat where Osakans eat and know which sights cost nothing. The full budget playbook.
05Osaka's Most Beautiful Streets and Public Spaces
Osaka's beauty is loud, lantern-lit and gloriously unpolished. From Dotonbori's neon canyon to the stone-paved hush of Hozenji Yokocho, these are the streets that define Japan's most extroverted city.
Osaka, framed