Shinsekai Osaka: Exploring the Retro Heart of the City

Visiting the Shinsekai District in Osaka is like visiting a movie set filming a village fair scene with a carnival kind of feel!

Everything here looks like a prop...colourful neon signs literally popping out of street corners with giant masks staring down at you, retro video game arcades, street food vendors serving typical Japanese delights like the Takoyaki, small go-karts zipping past on open streets, cheap bars, funfair attractions like shooting galleries...all of this with the Tsutenkaku Tower looming over the top!

If this description doesn't catch your fancy, then maybe these pictures will...

This is Osaka at its liveliest, especially in the evening. You can aimlessly wander around these lanes; that's what everyone seems to be doing!

Shinsekai District is only about 2 km from the city centre, Namba. You can walk and explore the city, and if you're not keen on walking, then you can take the Midosuji Line to Dobusuen-mae Station, from where you'll have to walk for 6 minutes to reach Shinsekai.

The hotspot in Shinsekai is the Tsutenkaku Tower. There is a lot of activity around it. The tower has three main attractions: the Observatory, the Tower Slider, and dive-and-walk on the rooftop.

We were short on time, so we opted for the Tower Slider only.

Tower Slider is a 60-metre-long transparent slide wrapped around the outside of the tower, which takes you from the third floor of Tsutenkaku Tower to the basement, dropping you 22 metres in just 10 seconds.

The preparation for the ride is more exciting than the 10-second ride itself. You're made to wear a helmet and a sack to put your feet into. You will then be led through a maze of staircases to the top and made to sit on an open metallic pipe with your hands crossed across your chest. You will smile into the camera fitted over the chute and be pushed into the metallic chute.

Sounds great, but the ride is simply too short to even experience the adrenaline rush.

On the fifth floor of the tower is the Billiken Statue; rubbing the feet of this smiling deity is believed to bring good fortune.

Once you're done with the Tower, you can savour many authentic Japanese dishes at the many food outlets.

Osaka Shinsekai is a great place to spend a fun-filled evening in Osaka and savour local cuisine at very reasonable prices with the retro charm of Osaka as the background!