Following on from my post about Umeda, I’ll now talk about Namba, Osaka’s main shopping and entertainment district, located in the south of the city. Namba is home to most of the major stores that you’ll find in any large city (for example Tsutaya, Book-off, Tower Records etc.) There are various large shopping malls and department stores dotted around the area, as well as an underground shopping mall (For some reason in the Kansai region, especially in Osaka, underground shopping malls are very popular. I really don’t know why they’re so common in Kansai, I think I found just one in Kanto but there are loads in Kansai!) The most famous area of Osaka is located here- Dotonbori. Along Dotonbori you’ll find the famous Glico man and there also used to be some drummer doll which was used by a store. Whilst I was there the store that used the drummer had closed down and as a result it’s no longer possible to see the drummer dude anymore. Ah well…You can still actually buy his key-ring at some of the souvenir stores there!
Very close to Namba is Shinsaibashi, which is probably my favourite area of Osaka. Running down Shinsaibashi is a traditional Japanese style shopping arcade but it’s pretty chic and hip compared with others that you might come across in Japan. Maybe it’s best described as the Harajuku of Osaka, although most of the fashion isn’t really as extreme as what you might find in Harajuku. Anyway, I seem to be rambling now, check out the pics, I really should have taken more. Oh yeah and also near Shinsaibashi is another popular area called Amerika Mura (Amemura for short, otherwise meaning America village. Over here you’ll find tons of clothes stores, actually this is also very much like Harajuku). Anyway, time for the pics!
