Living in Osaka Blog

Only 5 more days until Christmas and you know what that means, right? It means that the Osaka Immigration Office (actually called the Osaka Regional Immigration Bureau) is moving. It is moving to the Nanko area, and the closest station will be Cosmosquare on the Chuo Subway Line. I tried to [...]

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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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Everyone knows about the fascinating subject of ghost stations on the London Underground system.  Does anyone know if there are any ghost stations on the Osaka subway system or the connecting lines (like Hankyu, Kintetsu)?  And if so where and when were they shut?  The Osaka subway system is relatively young so maybe there aren’t [...]

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Are you a fan of Korean food?  Or seaweed?  Although you can find many Korean restaurants dotted around Osaka, did you know that Osaka has its own little Korean-town?  It is located in Tsuruhashi 鶴橋.
Well according to wikipedia it is the largest Korean town in Japan, larger than the one in Tokyo.  You can eat [...]

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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’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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One of my favourite areas to buy electronics or computer gear is Denden Town in Namba. Here you can find a wide range of electronics and computer brands. Prices are among the cheapest you can find without ordering online and a lot of the smaller shops are open to offering small discounts. [...]

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The central library is one of the greatest resources for people living in Osaka. Most books are of course Japanese but there is a sizable collection of English books, and smaller collections of French, Spanish and other language books. In addition, they also have newspapers and magazines. There are books for children [...]

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OK if you are going to the Immigration Office on or after the 25th Dec 2007, click to read this post instead.  The office is moving to the Nanko area.   
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I had to renew my visa recently so I decided to take a video of how to get to the Immigration Office in Osaka. [...]

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