Shinsekai and Tsutenkaku

Shinsekai, the New World, was built in 1912 as a modern pleasure quarter, and it has never quite stopped being a fairground. Its planners laid it out with a northern half inspired by Paris, radiating avenues meeting at a tower modeled loosely on the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe, and a southern half that took its cue from Coney Island, with an amusement park called Luna Park. The amusement park is long gone and the original tower was dismantled during the Second World War, but the neighborhood that grew up around them survived as one of the most colorful corners of Japan: a few blocks of retro shopfronts, giant three-dimensional signs, game arcades, shogi parlors and, above all, kushikatsu restaurants, the deep-fried skewers that are Shinsekai's signature dish. The current Tsutenkaku, the Tower Reaching Heaven, was rebuilt in 1956 and stands about 108 meters tall, its neon side panels changing color at night and its silhouette the emblem of the district. Its general observation deck has a panoramic view across south Osaka to Abeno Harukas and the hills, and there is an outdoor deck at the top. On the deck sits Billiken, a smiling, pointy-headed god of good fortune, born from an American artist's dream in 1908 and adopted by Osaka; rub the soles of his feet for luck. For thrill-seekers, the Tower Slider sends you down a 60-meter spiral tube on the outside of the tower, and Dive&Walk, opened in 2024, lets you walk the rooftop of the lower deck in a harness and step off on a controlled jump.

Kushikatsu is the reason most locals come. Meat, seafood, vegetables and even cheese and sweets are skewered, breaded and deep-fried to order and eaten with a dark Worcestershire-style sauce served in a shared steel tray, and the famous rule is posted everywhere: no double dipping. Dip once before you bite; if you need more sauce, scoop it with a piece of the free raw cabbage on the table. Many kushikatsu restaurants are counters with plastic menus and pictures, prices per skewer are low, and you order a few at a time with a cold beer. Janjan Yokocho, a narrow covered alley of cheap eateries and shogi parlors on the south side, has some of the most atmospheric spots. Doteyaki, beef sinew stewed in miso, is the classic side dish.

Shinsekai is a place of contrasts. It is cheerful, kitsch and full of visitors, but it sits beside some of Osaka's poorer districts, and some streets nearby are rough around the edges; the area is safe in the usual sense, but it is not polished, and that is part of its character. The tower's general deck is open from morning into the evening, with separate hours for the slide and Dive&Walk; buy tickets ahead for weekends and holidays, when queues build. The best time to come is late afternoon: go up the tower as the light fades, then come down for dinner as the neon comes on.

The district is a few minutes' walk from Ebisucho Station on the Sakaisuji Line and Dobutsuen-mae Station on the Midosuji and Sakaisuji lines, and JR Shin-Imamiya Station is close by. Tennoji Park and Tennoji Zoo are next door, and Abeno Harukas rises just across the park, so it is easy to combine both towers in an afternoon. Spa World, a big hot-spring bathhouse, stands at the edge of the district, and Shitennoji temple is a short walk to the north-east. For a playful base right here, the OMO7 hotel faces the neighborhood across a lawn by Shin-Imamiya Station.