Abeno Harukas 300

Abeno Harukas, completed in 2014 above Tennoji and Osaka Abenobashi stations, was the tallest building in Japan for nearly a decade, and at 300 meters it is still the tallest in Osaka and one of the tallest in the country. Its name comes from an old Japanese word meaning to clear up or brighten, and the building is a vertical city: the Kintetsu department store fills its lower floors, an art museum sits on the 16th floor, offices occupy the middle, a Marriott hotel the upper levels, and at the very top, on the 58th to 60th floors, is the Harukas 300 observatory. Express elevators whisk you up in under a minute to the 60th floor, an indoor gallery with floor-to-ceiling glass on all four sides, so you can walk a complete circuit around the city 300 meters up. The view is the broadest in Osaka: north over Shinsekai's Tsutenkaku tower, Osaka Castle and the towers of Umeda; west to the bay, Universal Studios Japan and, on clear days, the long span of the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge; and east and south to the mountains of Nara and Wakayama. The 59th floor has a souvenir shop and restrooms with their own window views, and the 58th floor holds the Sky Garden, a partly open-air atrium with a cafe and bar, where you can feel the breeze under the open sky. The observatory is open daily from morning until late in the evening, and adult tickets cost roughly 2,000 yen, with small discounts for advance online purchase. Children and teenagers pay reduced rates.

Harukas 300 is best on a clear day and at twilight, when the city lights come on below you and you can watch the sun go down behind the bay. Winter brings the clearest air and the longest views, and haze often softens the horizon in the humid summer months. Sunset on weekends is the busiest time and the ticket line on the 16th floor, where you buy tickets and board the express elevator, can be long, so pre-booking online is worth it. On weekday mornings you may have long stretches of glass almost to yourself. The atmosphere is calmer and more spacious than at Umeda Sky, and the observatory is fully enclosed apart from the Sky Garden atrium, which makes it a better choice in wind or rain.

If you want more, the observatory runs extras at an additional charge, such as guided visits to the rooftop heliport and outdoor edge experiences when conditions allow; availability varies, so check on the day. For dinner with a view, the hotel restaurants high in the tower and the restaurant floors of the department store are good options, and the Kintetsu department store basement food hall is one of the best in the city for bento and sweets to take away.

Tennoji is one of the easiest places in Osaka to reach: the building sits directly above JR Tennoji Station, the Midosuji and Tanimachi subway lines, and Kintetsu's Osaka Abenobashi Station, from which express trains run to Nara and Yoshino. Tennoji Park, with its zoo and garden, lies just north, and Shinsekai and Tsutenkaku are a ten-minute walk across the park, so the two towers, old and new, make a classic afternoon pairing. Shitennoji temple is also within walking distance. A good plan is to visit Shitennoji in the morning, eat lunch in Shinsekai, ride up Harukas in the late afternoon and stay for sunset, then return to the department-store food halls below for dinner supplies. Because the building connects directly to several rail lines, it is also an easy last stop on the day you head to the airport or to Nara.