Central Osaka is roughly divided into downtown and uptown areas known as Kita (“north”) and Minami (“south”). Kita is home to the Umeda district and its immediate surrounding neighborhoods, a major business and retail hub that plays host to Osaka Station City and a large subterranean network of shopping arcades. Kita and nearby Nakanoshima contain a prominent portion of the city’s skyscrapers and are often featured in photographs of Osaka’s skyline. Minami, though meaning “south”, is essentially in Chūō Ward, and geographically central within the city. Well known districts here include Namba and Shinsaibashi shopping areas, the Dōtonbori canal entertainment area, Nipponbashi Den Den Town, as well as arts and fashion culture-oriented areas such as Amerikamura and Horie. The business districts between Kita and Minami such as Honmachi and Yodoyabashi, called Semba, house the regional headquarters of many large-scale banks and corporations. The Midōsuji boulevard runs through Semba and connects Kita and Minami. Further south of Minami are neighborhoods such as Shinsekai (with its Tsūtenkaku tower), Tennoji and Abeno (with Tennoji Zoo, Shitennō-ji and Abeno Harukas), and the Kamagasaki slum, the largest slum in Japan.
The city’s west side is a prominent bay area which serves as its main port as well as a tourist destination with attractions such as Kyocera Dome, Universal Studios Japan and the Tempozan Harbour Village. East Osaka is zoned as a separate city, although the east side of Osaka city proper contains numerous residential neighborhoods including Tsuruhashi Korea Town, as well as the Osaka Castle Park, Osaka Business Park and the hub Kyōbashi Station. Osaka contains numerous urban canals and bridges, many of which serve as the namesake for their surrounding neighbourhoods. The phrase “808 bridges of Naniwa” was an expression in old Japan used to indicate impressiveness and the “uncountable”. Osaka numbered roughly 200 bridges by the Edo period and 1629 bridges by 1925. As many of the city’s canals were gradually filled in, the number dropped to 872, of which 760 are currently managed by Osaka City.
Osaka has a large number of wholesalers and retail shops: 25,228 and 34,707 respectively in 2004, according to the city statistics. Many of them are concentrated in the wards of Chuō (10,468 shops) and Kita (6,335 shops). Types of shops vary from malls to conventional shōtengai shopping arcades, built both above- and underground. Shōtengai are seen across Japan, and Osaka has the longest one in the country. The Tenjinbashi-suji arcade stretches from the road approaching the Tenmangū shrine and continues for 2.6 km (1.6 miles) going north to south. The stores along the arcade include commodities, clothing, and catering outlets. Other shopping areas include Den Den Town, the electronic and manga/anime district, which is comparable to Akihabara; the Umeda district, which has the Hankyu Sanbangai shopping mall and Yodobashi Camera, a huge electrical appliance store that offers a vast range of fashion stores, restaurants, and a Shonen Jump store. Other shopping districts include:
Umeda – theaters, boutiques, and department stores near the train station
Osaka is known for its food, in Japan and abroad. Author Michael Booth and food critic François Simon of Le Figaro have suggested that Osaka is the food capital of the world. Osakans’ love for the culinary is made apparent in the old saying “Kyotoites are financially ruined by overspending on clothing, Osakans are ruined by spending on food.” Regional cuisine includes okonomiyaki (pan-fried batter cake), takoyaki (octopus in fried batter), udon (a noodle dish), as well as the traditional oshizushi (pressed sushi), particularly battera. Osaka is known for its fine sake, which is made with fresh water from the prefecture’s mountains. Osaka’s culinary prevalence is the result of a location that has provided access to high quality ingredients, a high population of merchants, and proximity to the ocean and waterway trade. In recent years, Osaka has started to garner more attention from foreigners with the increased popularity of cooking and dining in popular culture.
[responsivevoice_button voice="Deutsch Female" buttontext="Diesen Beitrag vorlesen"](Latest update: 9 March 2020) From May 23 to 26, 2019, the European elections took place. By far the biggest surprise is that, despite Brexit, the United Kingdom took part in the elections because the country voted to leave the EU by a very small majority, but ultimately was not able to find the exit in time. The motto "Brexit means Brexit" is obviously not as easy to implement as the Brexiteers falsely propagated before the referendum, because the political camps define the exit very differently, making the in...
