Must-sees of Osaka. Any insider tips?

Hello all,

I read a lot of articles about Osaka but by now I don't understand why its worth it to visit Osaka? Do you have any insider tips for me? Anything special that other cities in Japan don't have?

Thank you very much and best regards!

Dontonbori! Look it up

It's an area with tons of places to eat and eat. Make sure you go during the day or early evening. Go too late and the stalls begin to close.

Here you can go to the Gilco store, tons of Pocky in various sizes.

I really enjoyed the aquarium a lot, and I like the castle park a lot as well. Osaka is great at night with lots of nightlife and fun things to do.

People visit Osaka because it's a fun, interesting, and vibrant city with lots to do in the area. However many people also visit at the same time as visiting Kyoto. Kyoto is seen as representing traditional Japan, and since Osaka is much more modern-feeling, they make a great contrast to each other.

Also, many people find the nightlife in Kyoto rather boring, so they may stay in Osaka and visit Kyoto as day trips instead of staying in Kyoto. Finally, Osaka makes a good base to explore further into the area, such as Nara, Wakayama, Mie, or Shiga as well.

The easy answer is USJ.

No other city in Japan have Universal Studios theme park.

Kuromon Market, Suntry Yamazaki Distillery, Hanshin Koshien Park, Kongozan

A lot of places I've seen in Osaka in more than twenty visist are here...http://www.soleilrouge.org/osaka-carte-des-lieux-visites

Enjoy Osaka!

Osaka really comes to life at night.
Dotonbori is one of the very best:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COJ_MeXbeow

The Abeno Harukas is nearly a year old and offers a spectacular view of the city:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AyUZmGbW8g

The Umeda Sky Bldg is another wonderful place to see the city lights - although the skyline is quite different from the Abeno Harukas and you can get a rooftop view:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xb1wuyAGgyQ

The best time time to go would be just before sunset to watch the city change from day to night.

I live in Osaka. Apart from USJ, there is nothing here you cannot find in Tokyo, for instance. Basically, I agree that Osaka serves as a hub for travelling around Kansai, as well as having a great nightlife. The city itself is nothing special.