Living in Osaka Blog

The World Championships in Athletics will take place here in Osaka. Only another 7 days or so to go! If you are going to be coming to Osaka for the World Championships then I want to welcome you to our wonderful city. If you are living here then I hope you can [...]

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Found this reading my friend Daniel’s blog. It’s a B2 sized full colour shopping map of the underground area in Umeda. If you know about the area, you’ll know that there is a labyrinth of shops and malls down there. There are some gems of shops, and it is perfect for shopping [...]

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The Hyatt Regency Osaka is a 5 star hotel but unlike most of Osaka’s 5 star hotels it is not located in Umeda. It is located to the west of the city, in the port area (Nanko). It makes for a more relaxed environment but of course it is less convenient. It [...]

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When I first came to Osaka the first thing I found out was where to find English books. Most book even very big ones only sold Japanese books and maybe the odd imported US magazine (Cosmo, anyone?).
There are two bookstores I recommend, one is Junkudo and one is Kinokuniya. Kinokuniya is the shop [...]

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If you are looking for a Softbank shop with staff that speaks English I heartily recommend the one in Shinsaibashi, Ebisubashi (see below for link). I went there after my mobile bill went a bit too high and asked for advice. I was pleasantly surprised that they had staff members who speak English [...]

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If you’re in Osaka and want to grab some free (and legit) net access, you can see if you are close to one of the Freespot Access Points.
Here’s a list in English of all their wifi hotspots, they are mostly cafes or hotels. And if you are looking for a wifi hotspot in Umeda, [...]

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If you’re looking for a little something different in cuisine and you like gyoza you’ll love the mini-theme park style of the Namco Gyoza Stadium. There are 9 different stalls or resturants selling different gyoza styles from all over Japan. The whole area is styled in a 1940-50s Japan with common shared seating [...]

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I’m sure that a quick search will find you this link but just in case, here is the English site of Osaka’s Public Transportation Bureau. Also available in Korean and Chinese too.
Lot’s of useful information including a pdf map of the subway system [UPDATE: I don't know since when but the pdf now does have [...]

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