About the day (4th Mar)
Today, the first thing I did is to go to Kuromon Market for breakfast. Afterwards, I went to a retro video game shop called Super Potato Retro Kan. Then, I went to explore the Nihonbashi Den-Den Town, which is Osaka's Akihabara. Lastly, I went to Shinsekai before lunch.
In the afternoon after lunch, I went to the Shinsaibashi & Dotonbori area for shopping before heading back to my hotel and calling it a day.
Namba station
From Namba Station, to get to Kuromon market, take the Osaka Metro's Sennichimae Line towards Minami-Tatsumi. Alight 1 stop later at Nippon Bashi Station. Then find the signs around Nippon Bashi Station and exit to Kuromon Market via exit 10.
Kintetsu's Hinotori Limited Express advertisement at Namba Station concourse.
Osaka Metro's Nippon Bashi Station, closest subway to Kuromon Market
Advertising poster for the Imazato Liner BRT Line
Kuromon Market
https://www.deliciouslogy.com/2016/08/kuromon-market-kuromon-ichiba-namba.html
Upon reaching Kuromon Market, I went around to look for breakfast options. Then, I had yakisoba at one of the stalls that I stumbled upon. Afterwards, I went around and explore the Kuromon Market for the myriad of shops, where each shop sells a certain product.
Entrance to Sennichimae Chuo-dori
Alleyways of different shops at Kuromon Market
While at Kuromon Market, I found out there are Super Mario themed gummy candy for sale at the Sundrug Drugstore, which is a Drugstore franchise in Japan. As Japan is the land of Nintendo, there are quite a number Mario-themed snacks on the market. As I am a Super Mario fan, I decided to give it a try at 128 yen.
After exploring the Kuromon Market, I proceeded to the next destination, Super Potato. While walking on the way, I saw an
Asian/Chinese supermarket at the right of the main road.
Super Potato Game Shop
After some walking for a while, I finally arrived at the Super Potato Retro Shop. This shop is very well known for its collection of retro video games. The collection ranges from Famicom/SNES games, to the Wii or DS/3DS games, as well as retro consoles.
Gameboys for sale
Game Boy Color cartridges
Nintendo DS games available Den-Den Town (Nihonbashi)
Afterwards, I went to explore around the Den-Den town area, which is Osaka's version of Akihabara in Tokyo as it is known for featuring stores specializing in used video games, high-tech, anime & manga. There is a Joshin Super Kids Land, a shop selling various kinds of toys, with model trains at the fifth floor. Besides having toy shops, Den-Den town also have electronics shops and video game shops, such as the GEO shop (several branches nationwide besides Nihonbashi/Den-Den town).
As for GEO, it is a movie rental shop on top of selling video games. Despite today's age of streaming movies/shows, Blu-Ray/DVD rental is still ubiquitous in Japan unlike other countries, as an additional form of media consumption.
Game Taito Station Arcade
GEO Blu-Ray/DVD/Video Game Shop
Floor guide of Joshin Super Kids Land
Source: https://blog.goo.ne.jp/omaketeki/e/3cdd7b0fa660887f8187729628506a93
Model Trains at Joshin Super Kids Land. There is the HO scale version of Sunrise Express.
Some model cars of Lexuses and Toyota Centurys for sale
Shinsekai + Tsutenkaku
After exploring the Den-Den Town, I proceed to explore the main road while on the way to Shinsekai area, where the iconic Tsutenkaku tower is located. Not just the Tsutenkaku tower, there is the the Janjan Yokocho Alley and a giant blowfish lantern sign (
now dismantled), as well as the few
Biliken statues. The Biliken is also known as an unofficial mascot of Osaka.
Shinsekai/Tennoji area mapLunch at Ebisuya kasu-udon
After lunch, I went to explore the adjacent Shinsekai Market, which is an old school shopping street that houses different shops selling clothing, food and tea. Then, I proceeded to Ebisucho Station to take the Subway back to Namba Station, via the Sakaisuji Line and Sennichimae Line with a transfer at Nihombashi Station. As the Sakaisuji Line serves as a through service to Hankyu's Senri Line and Kyoto main line, I got a chance to ride on the Hankyu 1300 Series local train, which was
introduced to service in 2014.
Route Map of Hankyu Kyoto Main Line with Osaka Metro Sakaisuji Line as through service.
Like other Hankyu trains, the Hankyu 1300 series is famous for its maroon/red wine colored livery and retro looking interior.
Hankyu 1300 series
Dotonbori + Shinsaibashi suji
After alighting at Namba Station via exit 14, I stumbled upon a very distinctive building with a cut-out hourglass shaped like the number 8 at its exterior as part of its design. It is called Namba Hips, a leisure complex that offers a variety of amusement and entertainment facilities.
Directions from Shin Sekai to Dotonbori
Osaka Minami (Namba + Dotonbori) Area map Namba HIPS
To get to the Ebisubashi suji shopping arcade, I walk back to the Sennichimae Dori Main Road and entered the shopping arcade from there. While in the shopping arcade, I spotted a Spiderman climbing one of the shop facades that are located along one of the alleys that lead out of Ebisubashisuji.
At the shopping arcade, there are many shops with different product specializations. I went to the Sanrio Gift Gate (did not take pictures due to the crowd), and the Book Off. Book Off is a huge chain of bookstores in Japan. It sells both new & used books, as well as CDs, DVDs, and video games. Also, there is also a Strawberry Mania that sells strawberry flavored sweets, where I tried the strawberry mochi.
Spiderman climbing a shop
Inside BOOKOFF PLUS Namba Ebisubashi Store
Dontonbori
After exploring the Ebisubashi suji shopping arcade, I went to the Shinsaibashi Shopping arcade to explore. The Shinsaibashi shopping arcade is located North of the Ebisu bridge and Dotonbori canal while the Ebisubashi suji is located south. While at the Ebisu bridge, I saw someone cosplay as Spiderman. As it is too crowded, I couldn't manage to take a picture.
Lastly, to call it a day, I went to Daimaru to buy takeaway bento to consume as dinner back at my hotel.
References
Den-Den Town Guide: https://insideosaka.com/den-den-town-guide/
5 Must-Visit Shops in Osaka Den-Den Town - Appliances, Anime Merch & More: https://livejapan.com/en/in-kansai/in-pref-osaka/in-namba_dotonbori_shinsaibashi/article-a2000308/
上新電機、「スーパーキッズランド本店」をオープン: https://nippon-bashi.biz/news/20061026_superkidsland.html
No comments:
Post a Comment