10 Things to do in Osaka, Japan
Osaka is a bustling neon-lit city with lots of delicious food - it’s even known as ‘Japan’s Kitchen’.
This guide is for first timers, including must-see attractions and our favourite experiences in Osaka. We’d recommend spending at least 2-3 days, especially if you want to visit Universal Studios and Katsuoji Temple, which take up more time.
1. Explore Dotonbori
Dotonbori is a must-visit if you’re in Osaka. It’s a popular spot featuring the famous Glico Running Man, and we’d recommend going at night when all the neon lights turn on - it looks super cool!
There’s also lots of shops, street food, and local food specialities like takoyaki and okonomiyaki. It will definitely be crowded, but it’s such a fun and lively area to explore.
2. Shinsekai & Tsutenkaku Tower
Shinsekai is a historic, retro district in Osaka, featuring the iconic Tsutenkaku Tower (and you can visit the observation deck or even go down a slide!).
Shinsekai also has lots of carnival-style games, retro arcades with old-school video games, plus lots of shops and food spots, so it’s a fun spot to visit.
3. Harukas 300 Observatory Deck
For amazing panoramic views, check out the Harukas 300 Observatory Deck.
It’s located on levels 58-60 of ABENO HARUKAS, and there’s a 360° glass-enclosed deck so the views are amazing. Even the toilets have a good view! We’d also highly recommend getting their matcha ice cream when you’re there 🍦
⏰ Opening Hours: 9:00am – 10:00pm (Last admission: 9:30pm)
🎟️ Tickets: Get up to 10% off via Klook.com with code FEASTONITKLOOK
4. Shopping
If you’re looking for places to shop, check out the below:
🛍️ Shinsaibashi-suji Shopping Street is a 600m shopping arcade with a variety of clothes and cosmetics. It’s one of Osaka’s busiest shopping areas, so there will be lots of crowds!
👜 America Mura has lots of vintage shops and American-influenced streetwear.
🕹️ Nipponbashi's Den Den Town has lots of electronics and gaming-related shops. It’s often compared to Tokyo’s Akihabara district.
5. Custom Souvenir
At Object Osaka, you can make your own personalised souvenir with patches. They have a range of items to choose from (such as pouches and key chains), then you choose your patches, create your own design, and they iron it on for you. It’s such a fun and cute activity. We chose a coin purse so that we could use it on our trip.
🎥 You can see our video of the experience here.
✍️ Note: It can start to get expensive based on what item and design you choose, so try not to get too overexcited unless you want to spend a lot. Ours was a pretty simple design and was 2500 yen.
6. Sumo Show
Enjoy watching a fun Sumo show - THE SUMO HALL HIRAKUZA OSAKA. It’s not an official sumo event, but an experiential sumo-themed entertainment show and we had such a good time!
They explain the basic techniques and rules of sumo through a comedic performance and you get to watch former professional sumo wrestlers compete against each other whilst cheering them on, so the atmosphere is really fun - especially if you have a good crowd.
When you enter the show, you’re also given a lottery number. If your number is called, you get to dress up in a sumo outfit and compete against one of them. We didn’t get chosen, but it was very entertaining to watch the ones who did!
7. Universal Studios
For a fun day out, head to Universal Studios. There’s so many different worlds to explore with lots of rides and cute merch.
Below are some of our favourites:
Super Nintendo World – this was so cool to see in real life! However, we didn’t like the Mario Kart: Kooper’s Challenge ride. You have to wear Augmented Reality (AR) visors, which didn’t really fit well and made us feel a bit dizzy.
Donkey Kong Country (inside Super Nintendo World) - we loved this world and the Minecart Madness roller coaster ride was our absolute favourite!
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter - if you’re a Harry Potter fan (like us!), you definitely can’t skip this. It felt so nostalgic seeing the Hogwarts Castle, Ollivanders, Honeydukes with the iconic Chocolate Frogs and Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, and even getting a butterbeer. There’s so many cool shops to explore and we had the BEST time. The Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey ride is also fun! (But not recommended if you get motion sickness).
Snoopy World - we love Snoopy and this whole area was SO cool, with lots of cute photo opportunities and merch!
Minion Park – this area was small, but we loved all of the cute merch and accessories.
8. Katsuoji Temple
Katsuoji Temple was one of our favourite spots to visit. It’s located in the northern part of Osaka, so you may need to set aside at least half a day for this, and we’d recommend combining it with Minoh Falls and Minoh Park, which are nearby too.
How to get there?
🚃 Train to Minoh-Kayano Station then head downstairs to the main road.
🚌 There’s a direct bus to Katsuoji, but we heard it was infrequent and sometimes full, so we didn’t want to wait and risk it. So instead, we caught a taxi from there to Katsuoji (around 20-25 mins).
Katsuoji Temple is a Buddhist temple with thousands of Daruma dolls in all different sizes. The temple grounds are also beautiful to explore, with lush gardens, Koi ponds, water features, bridges and picturesque views 🍂
When you pay for your entrance ticket, you’ll also receive a blank postcard. There will be 6 different stations around the grounds where you can stamp your paper to slowly fill in the complete picture. It’s a fun activity to do whilst you walk around and it makes for the perfect souvenir to take home!
9. Minoh Falls & Park
Near Katsuoji Temple, you can also visit Minoh Falls and Minoh Park. We caught a taxi to Minoh Falls from Katsuoji Temple (~6 minute taxi ride).
The waterfall was stunning, and then we continued to walk through Minoh Park until we reached Minoh Station. It’s a peaceful and relaxing walk, but quite long (~1 hour) so only do this if you have time! We went during Autumn and there were some stalls selling fried maple leaves, so we also got these too 🍁
10. Go Karting
One of our favourite things to do! If you’re looking for a fun and thrilling way to see Osaka, go-karting around the city is an absolute must. You get to dress up in different character onesie costumes and it feels like a real-life version of Mario Kart. The go-karts also go pretty fast, so it’s a really exhilarating feeling and we loved it!
Things to know about Go-Karting:
🪪 You need an international drivers licence to participate in this experience
If you want to try this, but you’re a bit nervous, we’d recommend you:
Choose the shorter time (e.g. 1 hour) so that you won’t have to drive as long but can still experience it
Choose a route with less traffic
Buy insurance when they offer it as an option on the day (which is cheaper than if you damage the go-kart and have to cop the $$ costs)
Do this experience during the day, not at night
❌ If you’re NOT a confident driver, we do not recommend this experience. You’ll be driving in a low go-kart on the actual streets of Tokyo (i.e. lots of traffic) so the cars feel much taller and bigger next to you, compared to driving in a normal car. You’ll also need to keep up with your group as much as possible, which can be stressful and dangerous if you are not a confident driver.
Japan Discount Code:
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