Located at Osaka City’s southern gateway, the Namba and Minatomachi area has used its unique position as a major transportation hub connecting directly to Kansai Airport to become a center of exchange for people, information, and culture. Each day, approximately 1 million passengers transit through the Osaka Metro and terminal stations of the JR, Nankai, and Kintetsu lines accessing Nara and Wakayama. The Namba and Minatomachi area is known as ‘Minami’ (meaning “south”), in contrast to the ‘Kita’ (“north”) area of Umeda and Osaka Station, and is a lively district that serves as a major base for both commercial and tourism facilities.
Dotonbori
Namba Station
Namba Parks
Minatomachi River Place
The Namba/Minatomachi area offers various locations for experiencing Osaka’s rich history such as Hozenji Yokocho – an alley filled with the spirit of traditional Osaka – and the National Bunraku Theater, where one can enjoy traditional Japanese culture through Japanese Puppet Theater performances and more. In addition to this, the area centering on the Dotonbori and its surroundings is home to continuously emerging new cultures and is animated by the exchanges, movement, and transmission of information between young visitors and overseas tourists. And thanks to recent development projects, the area has been gathering much attention as a commercial center as well.
The Namba area sits at the end of Osaka City’s main street, Midosuji Avenue, and has developed into a major commercial area centering on the Ebisubashisuji Shopping Street, Takashimaya Department Store, and the terminal stations of numerous railway lines. Various commercial facilities serving as landmarks to the area, such as Namba Parks and Namba City, are located here, and development projects centered on these and running along the lines of the terminal stations are now underway. All of this is contributing to the further prosperity of the area.
The west side of the Namba area, called Minatomachi, is a base for transmitting the new youth-driven trends and information of Osaka Minami and home to facilities such as the Minatomachi River Place, which houses concert halls, offices, commercial facilities and more. In addition to the docking points for cruises operating on the Dotonbori river that adjoins the area’s outdoor event space, there is a riverside promenade lined with hip restaurants and cafes, providing visitors with a perfect spot to rest.