A Local's Take on Osaka: 12 Questions Answered by Someone Who's Lived Here 15 Years
Kenji Watanabe moved to Osaka from Sapporo in 2011 to study at Osaka University. He never left. He now runs a 12-seat yakitori bar called Tori no Yume in Shinsekai, serves an unholy amount of highballs, and has strong opinions about everything. I sat down with him on a Tuesday afternoon before the dinner rush.
What's the first thing tourists should do when they arrive in Osaka?
Eat. Not check in. Not find the hotel. Eat. If you land at Kansai Airport and take the Nankai Rapi:t to Namba — which you should, 1,290 JPY, 34 minutes, done — walk straight to Dotonbori and get takoyaki. Wanaka or Kukuru, either one. Six pieces for 600 yen. That's your Osaka introduction ceremony. For a deeper dive, check our .
I'm serious about this. Don't go to your hotel first. Don't "settle in." Your bags have wheels. Roll them to the canal, eat octopus balls standing up, and welcome to Osaka.
What do tourists always get wrong about this city?
They think Osaka is a mini-Tokyo. It's not. Tokyo is all about appearances — looking right, saying the right thing, following the rules. Osaka is the opposite. We're loud. We talk to strangers. We make jokes at the cash register. People from Tokyo think we're rude. We think they're uptight. Both are right.
Also, tourists spend all their time in Dotonbori. Dotonbori is great — I eat there myself — but it's like only visiting Times Square in New York. You're missing 95% of the city.
Where's the one place you'd send a first-time visitor that isn't on any tourist list?
Nakazakicho. It's this tiny neighborhood near Umeda with old wooden houses converted into cafes, galleries, and vintage shops. No neon, no chains, no tourist buses. Just narrow streets with cats sleeping on walls and a cafe that serves pour-over coffee in a 90-year-old building. Take the Tanimachi Line to Nakazakicho Station. Walk around for two hours. You won't see another tourist.
What's the biggest tourist trap in Osaka?
Don Quijote. I mean, go in for the experience — it's insane, like a fever dream department store — but don't actually buy souvenirs there. The prices are 30-50% higher than what you'd find at regular stores. For Kit-Kat flavors and Japanese snacks, go to any grocery store or AEON supermarket. Same products, local prices.
Oh, and those "Japanese wagyu" restaurants in Dotonbori charging 5,000 JPY for a steak? Some of them are serving Australian beef with Japanese seasoning. If you want real wagyu, go to a yakiniku restaurant in a residential neighborhood. Ask for kuroge washu (Japanese Black Cattle). It should cost about 3,000-4,000 JPY for a proper portion.
Tell me about the kushikatsu sauce rule. Is it really that serious?
(Laughs) Yes. One hundred percent yes. In Shinsekai — that's my neighborhood — every kushikatsu restaurant has a communal pot of sauce at the table. You dip your skewer ONCE before you bite. That's it. If you want more sauce, take a piece of cabbage, scoop the sauce with it, and drizzle it on your skewer.
I once watched a tourist double-dip and the entire restaurant went silent. The chef came out from behind the counter. It was like a scene from a movie. Nobody was angry exactly, but... disappointed. Very disappointed.
At my friend's kushikatsu place, Daruma on Dotonbori, there's literally an angry face sign saying "NO DOUBLE DIPPING" in four languages. They mean it.
What about the whole "stand on the right" thing on escalators?
Okay, this is the thing that drives Tokyo people crazy about us. In Tokyo, you stand on the left and walk on the right. In Osaka, it's reversed — stand on the right, walk on the left. Why? Nobody knows. We just do it. And we're proud of it because it annoys Tokyo.
If you forget and stand on the wrong side, someone will very politely bump into you until you figure it out. It's passive-aggressive at most. Don't stress about it.
Best meal you've ever had in Osaka under 1,000 JPY?
The cheese-filled takoyaki at Aizuya in Amerikamura. 700 yen for eight. Crispy outside, molten inside, with a thread of mozzarella in the center. It shouldn't work but it's perfect. I eat it once a week and I've been here 15 years.
Runner-up: the tonkotsu ramen at Ichiran Namba. 980 yen. I know Ichiran is a chain, and ramen purists will judge me. I don't care. Order extra firm noodles, extra garlic, and ask for the kaedama (noodle refill, 210 yen). It's consistently excellent at 2AM after too many highballs.
What should visitors absolutely NOT do?
Don't try to walk everywhere in Osaka. The city is more spread out than it looks. Get an IC card — ICOCA works everywhere — load 3,000 yen on it, and use the metro. The system is incredible. Signs are in English. You'll never wait more than 5 minutes for a train.
Don't take a taxi from Kansai Airport. It costs 15,000+ yen. The Nankai Rapi:t express is 1,290 yen. That's not a typo. Save your money for food.
And for the love of everything, don't walk and eat on busy streets. Japanese people don't do this. Buy your takoyaki, find a spot to stand, eat it there, throw away your trash, then keep walking. There are almost zero public trash cans in Japan — carry a small plastic bag for your garbage.
What's the best free experience in Osaka?
Sunset from the top floor of the Umeda Sky Building. Technically the rooftop observatory costs 1,500 yen, but the observation area on the lower floors is free and the view is almost identical. You can see from Osaka Castle to the mountains on a clear day.
But honestly? Just walking through the old neighborhoods — Tenma, Shinsekai, the backstreets of Namba — at golden hour. The light hits the wooden buildings and the hanging lanterns and it looks like a Miyazaki film. That's free.
Is Osaka safe?
Very safe. Level 1. I leave my bag at my restaurant table to go to the restroom. I've never once had a problem.
The only thing: watch for bicycle traffic on sidewalks. Osaka people ride their bikes fast and they're not always paying attention. Especially in Tennoji and the Namba backstreets. Stay alert when walking — look left and right before crossing even small alleys.
Also, cash. Carry cash. My bar is cash-only. Many places in Shinsekai and the older neighborhoods are cash-only. 7-Eleven ATMs and Japan Post ATMs accept foreign cards. Withdraw 10,000-15,000 yen at a time.
If someone has only one day in Osaka, what's the perfect route?
Morning: Kuromon Market — go at 9AM, eat your way through. Get the grilled scallops and the tamagoyaki (Japanese omelette). Budget 2,000-3,000 yen.
Late morning: Osaka Castle. 600 yen entry. Walk through the park, see the moat, go up to the observation deck for the view.
Afternoon: Shinsekai for kushikatsu lunch (budget 1,500 yen for a proper meal), then walk through the old shopping arcades.
Evening: Dotonbori. Start eating at 5PM. Takoyaki, okonomiyaki, whatever catches your eye. Watch the neon come on as it gets dark. The Glico Running Man sign reflecting in the canal at 7PM — that's the postcard moment.
Night: Cross over to Hozenji Yokocho — a tiny stone-paved alley with a moss-covered Buddhist statue and lantern-lit bars. End the night there with a whiskey highball. That's your day.
What's the one thing you wish tourists understood about Osaka?
That we're not Tokyo. And that's not an insult — that's our identity. Osaka people eat more, laugh louder, and care less about what others think. The city motto is basically "don't take yourself too seriously."
When a tourist comes in and tries the food and says "oishii!" (delicious) with real enthusiasm — not polite enthusiasm, real enthusiasm — that makes our whole day. Osaka runs on food and sincerity. Bring both.
