Osaka Station City

This article is based on a visit made on Saturday, 19 November 2016.

Edit 7 October 2019: Updated prices to reflect the increase in Japan's national sales tax.

Previously on Sekai Ichi, I came back from a visit to Himeji Castle and Arima Onsen.  I had some time left in the day, so after dinner I spent the evening arcade-hopping in the nearby Kita ward of Osaka.  I started my explorations by navigating, or trying to navigate, the gargantuan complex of Osaka Station City (大阪ステーションシティ, Ōsaka Sutēshon Shiti).

Osaka Station (大阪駅, Ōsaka-eki) has existed in various forms since 1874.  The most recent of its renovations, wrapped up in 2011, created a new pedestrian concourse above the tracks.  Grand Front Osaka, seen in the picture above, is a commercial and residential complex which opened a couple of years afterwards.

In this plaza area, there was a public presentation put on by Nagano Prefecture, in the central Chubu region of Japan.  Prefectural governments put on these kinds of displays to promote tourism, local products, etc.  They also bring out their mascots for these events, such as this samurai bear whom I had my picture taken with, named Arukuma (アルクマ).  He's a cute fellow, even if I had to look him up later on!  And he's on Instagram, too!

The new concourse bridging over the tracks in Osaka Station is called the Toki no Hiroba (時空の広場, lit. 'plaza of time and space').  At the time, it was decorated with pretty Christmas lights, including snowmen like these.  One thing I've noticed about snowmen in Japan, and indeed most of Asia, is that their snowmen consist of two large snowballs, one for the head, and one for the body.  By contrast, the snowmen I'm used to seeing in the West are made of three parts: the head, chest, and lower body.  A curious distinction, but it makes these guys even cuter.

Speaking of cute things, these were adverts for the Pokémon Centre store, also in the Osaka Station City complex.  On the far-left side is Pikachu, the franchise's most famous mascot, and to the right are Rowlet, Litten, and Popplio, the three starter Pokémon from the newest games, the then-just-released Pokémon Sun and Moon.  I did not manage to visit the Osaka store, but I had previously visited the one in Tokyo's Ikebukuro district, which you can read about here.

Let's continue the Pokémon theme with one of the games I played in the arcades nearby.  Pokken Tournament is a one-on-one fighting game with various Pokémon as playable characters.  The arcade version has not been exported to North America, to my knowledge, but there are home ports available on the Wii U and Switch consoles.  One thing I found curious is that the arcade version uses a tethered controller, instead of the joystick and buttons being part of the cabinet itself.

Music games are still quite the rage in the Japanese arcade scene.  Along with ones that mimic instruments or dance mats, some games, especially newer ones, make up their own control setups.  This one, Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: All-Star Carnival, is based on an earlier entry for the Nintendo 3DS.

And here's one I had never seen before: a rail-shooter based on Luigi's Mansion!  This one uses a vacuum-shaped controller to suck up ghosts and coins.

Stepping back outside, not all the lights in the city were Christmas-related, but were pretty nonetheless.  This green-lit glass facade belongs to a multi-purpose office building.

And this funky front belongs to a pachinko/slot parlour.

This Ferris wheel poking out from behind the pink building is part of the HEP Five shopping mall.  HEP Five also hosts a branch of the Sega Joypolis indoor theme park.  The one in Osaka is smaller and has mostly the same rides as its bigger brother in Tokyo, so having visited that one previously, I hope you'll understand that I skipped it.

On my way out of the arcades, I found myself wandering through the nearby Don Quijote department store.  One unique thing about this branch is the photo op they placed in this stairwell.  The back walls are painted with the image of a paint can pouring its contents, as if onto the people below.  They even have an umbrella hanging nearby which you can borrow to come up with some crazy shots, as I did!

Well, that was it for Saturday.  The following morning would see me delve even further into Osaka, starting with a rather distinctive Shinto shrine.  See it next time on Sekai Ichi!

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Osaka Station

Address: 3-1-1 Umeda, Kita-ku, Ōsaka-shi, Ōsaka-fu 〒530-0001

Access: Osaka Station is served by the JR Kyoto/Kobe (A) and Osaka Loop (O) lines.  It also serves through services to other lines, such as the Hanwa (R), Kansai Airport (S), Takarazuka (G), Yamatoji (Q), and Yumesaki (Y) lines.

Adjacent stations, all served by non-JR railways, include Umeda (Hankyu Kobe (HK), Takarazuka (HK), and Kyoto (HK) lines, Hanshin Main Line (HS), and Osaka Metro Midosuji (M) line), Higashi-Umeda (Osaka Metro Tanimachi (T) line), and Nishi-Umeda (Osaka Metro Yotsubashi (Y) line).

Website: (English) (Japanese)

Pokémon Centre Osaka

Hours: Open from 10:00 AM to 8:30 PM; open to 9:00 PM on Fridays and Saturdays.  No regular closing days.

Costs: Free to enter.  ICOCA and other compatible IC cards are accepted at this store.

Address: South Gate Building 13F, 3-3-1 Umeda, Kita-ku, Ōsaka-shi, Ōsaka-fu 〒530-8202

Directions: From the Central ticket gate of Osaka Station, turn right and enter the Daimaru department store on the ground floor.  From the "Toki no Hiroba", you can enter at the 5th floor.  Once inside Daimaru, take the nearest elevator up to the 13th folor.

Website: (Japanese)

HEP Five

Hours: Shops are open from 11:00 AM to 9:00 PM; restaurants and the Ferris Wheel are open from 11:00 AM to 11:00 PM.

Costs: The Ferris wheel costs ¥600.

Address: 5-15 Kakuda-cho, Kita-ku, Ōsaka-shi, Ōsaka-fu 〒530-0017

Directions: From the South Gate of Osaka Station, turn left and go across the pedestrian overpass, into the Hankyu department store.  Once inside, find the nearest escalators, go down to ground level, exit the bulding, and head left around the building.  At the Hankyu East intersection, cross the first street and turn left.  HEP Five will be on your right side.

Website: (Japanese)

Don Quijote Umeda

Hours: Open 24 hours.  No closing days.

Address: 4-16 Komatsubara-cho, Kita-ku, Ōsaka-shi, Ōsaka-fu 〒530-0018

Directions: From the South Gate of Osaka Station, turn left and go across the pedestrian overpass, into the Hankyu department store.  Once inside, find the nearest escalators, go down to ground level, exit the building, and head left around the building.  At the Hankyu East intersection, cross the two consecutive streets and turn left.  Don Quijote will be on your right side.

Website: (Japanese)