bay in Western Japan
Asia > East Asia > Japan > Kansai > Osaka (prefecture) > Osaka > Osaka/Bay Area

The Bay Area is the westernmost district of Osaka city. Largely built on reclaimed land, it has large-scale facilities for shopping and entertainment, and has become popular among young people in particular.

Get in

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The Bay Area's top attraction, Universal Studios Japan, is covered in its own article.

Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan
  • 1 Tempozan Harbor Village (天保山ハーバービレッジ), +81 665765501. Plaza and shopping centre, which houses an aquarium, ferris wheel, an art gallery, Legoland and a cruise terminal. On the weekend, musicians and street performers offer additional entertainment to people outside the aquarium.
    • 2 Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan (海遊館), 1-1-10 Kaigan-dori Minato-ku (5 minutes walk from Osakako (Osaka Port) station on Osaka municipal subway Chuo Line or Techno Port Line), +81 6-6576-5501, . 10:00-20:00 (last admission is 19:00). This is one of the world's largest aquariums, with 11,000 tons of water and plenty of sharks (including a whale shark), dolphins, otters, seals, and other sea creatures. The largest tank, representing the Pacific Ocean with 5,400 tons is nothing but overwhelming. Can get intensely crowded, but the aquarium is a spiral featuring the same tanks, and crowds thin out as you get to deeper views of each tank. Back Stage Viewing is available for an additional fee. ¥2700 adults (16 and over, high school), ¥1400 child (7-15, elementary school and junior high-school), infant (4-6) ¥700. Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan (Q1191885) on Wikidata Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan on Wikipedia
    • 3 Tempozan Ferris Wheel (天保山大観覧車) (next to Kaiyukan). One of the largest ferris wheels, overlooking Osaka Bay and surrounding areas such as Mount Ikoma to the east, Akashi Kaikyō Bridge to the west, Kansai International Airport to the south, and the Rokko Mountains to the north. 17-minute ride. There is an option of a gondola with a see-through floor for no additional cost, but lines for these gondolas tend to be dramatically longer as they are fewer and in greater demand (most report a fairly underwhelming experience too). ¥800. Tempozan Ferris Wheel (Q548263) on Wikidata Tempozan Ferris Wheel on Wikipedia
    • 4 Legoland Discovery Center Osaka (レゴランド・ディスカバリー・センター大阪), +81 800-100-5346. ¥2200 online, ¥3000 in-person. Legoland Discovery Center Osaka (Q30934192) on Wikidata
    • Tempozan Gallery (Floor 3 of the Tempozan Marketplace), +81 665765621.
    • Naniwa Kuishinbo Yokocho (なにわ食いしんぼ横丁) (Second floor of the Tempozan Marketplace.). Food theme park (or food court, depending on who you ask), with an aesthetic and theme of nostalgia for the 1960s streets of Osaka. Various Osaka delicacies are available here, including Takoyaki, Okonomiyaki, Kushikatsu, and Ikayaki.
Universal Studios Japan
Maishima Incineration Plant
  • Maishima Sludge Center and Maishima Incineration Plant, 2 Chome-2-7 Hokukoshiratsu, Konohana Ward (from Nishikujo Station on the JR Loop Line, take the hourly #81 bus to the Amity Maishima bus stop (23 min) outside the Sports Centre for People with Disabilities; from there you can see the sludge centre and the incineration plant). Without a doubt, the best sludge center you've ever seen. The incineration plant makes other waste facilities look like dumps. These two buildings were designed by eccentric Austrian architect Friedensreich Hundertwasser. They are fantastical works that have to be seen to be believed. There are display panels in the lobby of the sludge centre. Tours are available if you contact the facilities in advance, but Hundertwasser's work is on the outside: inside, these are functioning waste treatment facilities. When you arrive, make sure to check the bus schedule to find out when you can leave.
Universal Studios Japan
  • 1 Universal Studios Japan (at Universal-City Station on the JR Yumesaki Line, 10 minutes from Osaka). Japan's second-largest theme park. Expect much Japanese dubbing over your favorite characters and movies. (If you are coming here on a side trip from Tokyo Disney Resort, see that article's Go next section for information on how to get here and return to Tokyo that same day.). One-day ticket for adults ¥6,980, children ¥4,880.
  • Maishima Pottery Village (舞洲陶芸館), 2-2-98 Hokuko-Ryokuchi Konohana-ku. Maishima Pottery Village opened in Osaka’s manmade island in 1998 for the education and promotion of naniwazuyaki, made from the vast amounts of unwanted marine clay which resulted from the construction of Kansai International Airport. The main building has studios with electric and momentum potter’s wheels, rooms for preparing clay and glazes, a gallery, a noborigama climbing kiln and an anagama tunnel kiln. There are also studios for visitors to experience hand-building and painting. 1-day workshop for hand forming ¥500–3500. Additional charge for shipping your work. Booking required..
  • Boat Race Suminoe (ボートレース住之江), 1-1-71 Izumi, Suminoe-ku (3 minute walk from Suminoekōen station on the Yotsubashi Subway line and Nankō Port Town Line). There's no "bettor" place to see one of Japan's unique gambling sports, hydroplane boat racing, than the race course that typically helps crown the sport's champion every December. If you're interested in placing a bet, you might want to do some research at the official multilingual site of the sport, as there is practically no English guidance available once you arrive. General admission ¥100, reserved seating for additional charge.
  • Takopa (Takoyaki Park), 4F 6-2-61 Shimaya Konohana-ku (1 minutes walk from JR Universal City Sta.). Visitors can sample fare from six leading takoyaki shops that Osakans, famously particular about their takoyaki, unreservedly recommend. Admission free, Octopus dumpling ball available for sale at 6 stores.
  • If you are visiting Boat Race Suminoe for the boat races, you will find several cheap eats available throughout the facility.

Drink

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Sleep

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Mid-range

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Splurge

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Connect

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Go next

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Routes through Bay Area
Motomachi KoshienDekijima  W  E  Osaka Nanba
Nanba Shin Imamiya  N  S  SakaiKansai International Airport Wakayamashi
Ebisucho Tenjinnomori  N  S  Goryō mae Hamaderaekimae
Nishi Umeda NanbaKishinosato  N  S  END
END  W  E  HonmachiTanimachi 4-chome Nagata
END  W  E  ShinsaibashiMorinomiya Kadoma Minami
in to  E  W  Ohiraki in to
in to  N  S  Ohama → into Kansai International Airport
Rokko island KoshienhamaNakajima  W  S  in to


This district travel guide to Bay Area is a usable article. It has information for getting in as well as some complete entries for restaurants and hotels. An adventurous person could use this article, but please feel free to improve it by editing the page.