From Den Den Town to Dontobori

Hi, I would like to explore Minami area within 1 day. My first stop is Nippombashi station as I would like to take bunch at Kuromon Ichiban. Can someone kindly advise the best way to move around that area (den den town, Dontobori, Namba parks, Shinsaibashi, etc, etc) instead of jumping here and there wasting a lot of time and energy ? Or should I take subway train to save time?
Travelling next week to Osaka.

Thanks.

Hi there, all of the places you want to go are all in walking distance of each other. Starting from Nipponbashi Station, exit out the station to Kuromon Ichiba, from the start of the Ichiba to the end, you can exit and still be on Nipponbashi street and will be the start of Den Den Town. Walking straight on Nipponbashi Street, you can walk to the end of Den Den Town, which would be around Ebisucho Station, making a u-turn and take a walk on the back streets of Den Den Town, known as Otaku Road, from there you could head to Namba Parks and Takashimaya Department Store (Namba Station). The best way from there to Shinsaibashi/Dotonbori, is to find the zebra crossing infront of Takashimaya Dept. Store. You'l see 0101 Kyoto Marui Store and head into the shopping arcade (Sinsaibashi). Walking for about 10 mintues, you'll find the area of Dotonbori River, Tsutaya, Starbucks, Kanidoraku and Don quijote. From there, you could walk the whole Shinsaibashi arcade. Note there is the Midousuji Blvd that runs parallel with the arcade and there you can find the name brand shops and in the back streets close to OPA, Amemura (American Village). Shopping place mostly for young people.

*If you had the time, close to Takashimaya Dept. Store is the Yoshimoto Theater and Doguyasuji street (cooking supplies).
From there you could find the way to Shinsaibashi too.

Depending on what you wanted to do, it could be 3-5 hours or even the whole day.

Sorry for the long reply. I hope you find this helpful.
Have fun and welcome to Osaka!

Hi, KlyoSaka, Thank you very much. The info you provided is highly appreciated. I believe it is also very useful for other tourists who want to explore these areas.

How about Kita-Umeda areas, any suggestion for me to explore (move around the area) these areas? Will go there (Osaka station) after Osaka Castle trip in the morning.

ph

Hello ph, I'm glad that you found the info. helpful. It was my first time to post. Kita Umeda are is the main hub of Umeda. But first, from the JR Osakakoen Station, it will be a 20 minute walk to the castle, depends which gate you enter, there is a plum tree garden (which some might be in bloom by the time you are here) that is free to walk in. It's my favorite place to take pictures of the Plum flowers. From there you can find your way to the castle. Close to the castle is another garden called, Nishinomaru Garden, it's not free though. Maybe some of the Sakura might be in bloom, you can ask the staff before you pay to get in. Heading to Kita Umeda, I would suggest to find your way back to the JR Osakakoen Station, so you can catch the loopline train to Osaka Station, which is a 10 minute ride. There are other train lines that run close to the castle, but that's where it gets difficult for visitors, because you have to transfer or you might get lost. It would be faster to head back to the JR station and not transfer and get to JR Osaka Station (Kita Umeda).

Kita Umeda is mostly a shopping, eating & drinking area for me. Depending on what you wanted to do, you can go shopping or find some of the hole in the wall restaurants on the back streets. For example, from Osaka Station, you can go to Daimaru and exit out to Hanshin Department store. A little walk away from Hanshin Dept. is an area called Kitasinchi, for lunch it's a great place to eat for the price, at night it's a little different. Within this radius, you can find your way back to Osaka Station and go to the opposite side and find Isetan and Lucua Dept. Stores and Osaka Grandfront (there is an outside skating rink during the winter)and Yodobashi Camera. You might see a odd looking tall building behind the Grandfront, which is the Umeda Sky Building. The Sky building has an observation deck on the top, you will need to pay, but on a clear day or night, the view is awesome and romantic. Next to Yodobashi Camera, you will see the Hankyu Umeda Station, many shopping areas are around and in that station too, for example, Hep 5, Hankyu Department, New Chayamachi shopping area. There are many things to see and it will keep you busy for hours.

Just a side note, all of the department stores have the food & pastry shops on the basement levels underground and the restaurants on the top level floors. The food & pastry shops are a fun place to find gifts for friends and family.

You might seem overwelmed with all the people and buildings, find a nice place to sit and take a break. Umeda is a fun and great place. Hope this helps. Kita Umeda is like Namba, everything is in walking distance and a lot of backtracking.

Have fun!