Stores, Malls or Markets in Osaka

A multi-storied shopping mall with a large red ferris wheel giving a bird's eye view of the Osaka area

HEP FIVE features a wide variety of shops,153 in all, including GAP, SNOOPY TOWN SHOP, and DISNEY STORE. (excerpt from webpage).

You pay the same amount for every item in the store (100 yen is about USD$0.90). They have quite a range of different things and if you're travelling, you could save a lot of money on necessities if you buy them here. The quality and range is much better here than in similar discount stores elsewhere.

What to buy: For the visitor, there are several items of interest such as ornaments, traditional-looking ceramics, food and drink items, as well as the usual discount store fare. You can even get a large bowl of instant noodles.

What to pay: 105 yen per item (they add 5 yen for sales tax).

There aren't many souvenir shops in Osaka. You are more likely to find these in Kyoto. One of the best here is Green Gift Shop in Osakako, near the aquarium.

You are welcome to haggle here if you wish and you'll usually be given a few freebies for making a purchase.

What to buy: Kimonos, Flags, Magnets, Postcards, Coasters, T-Shirts, Key-rings - all the tourist gear.

Namba Parks is a new shopping centre that opened in early 2004. It proves a remarkably pleasant shopping experience by Osakan standards as it has a very European feel to it, with wide open spaces, so it never feels too crowded.
The centre has lots of cafes and eating places, and of course, shops placed in and around a manmade gorge cutting into the hillside.
There is also a lot of landscaped garden space above and around the shopping area for people who just wanna sit and watch the world go by.

What to buy: The big draw for foreigners is a number of western brand stores, such as Next and French Connection from the UK. Which means I can finally get clothes that fit in Japan!

Best sports shop that I have ever been to in the World. In my previous pages I have spoken of my love of sneakers / trainers. Well this place had in all on (I think) ten floors. If it wasn't in this store then it probably wasn't worth buying!

What to buy: Sneakers / trainers, shorts, sports socks, weights, basketballs, baseballs, caps, running machines, vest tops, I could go on and on about what you can buy here but I won't. You gotta be there to see exactly what I mean.

What to pay: Whatever your budget is, you're gonna find something in this store.

Opened in October of 2003, this is without doubt the most pleasant place to shop in Osaka.

Namba Parks is a shopping centre which is airy, spacious and architecturally interesting with a deep canyon running through it and walkways connecting the two sides.

Best of all, it is stepped, and the steps have been planted out with pretty garden, giving Oska city centre some much needed greenery. There are numerous restaurants where you can sit outside and enjoy your meal surrounded by garden.

It is as pleasant to wander around Namba parks as it is to shop here.

What to buy: Namba Parks has a large range of shops for clothes, speciality foods, homewares, plants, toiletries.

Living away from England I was particularly pleased to see a Next store (a very popular clothes store back home) opening in the shopping centre.

If you happen to be wandering around the shops in the Nankai Namba area of Osaka near the Takashimaya department store, watch out for this rocket, for which there is no apparent reason.

It's very big, incredibly silly, ridiculously out-of-place. And typically Osaka.

Tsuruhashi is the centre of Japan`s Korean community. The area around Tsuruhashi station is a complex maze of of covered shopping streets and arcades. It`s a great place to buy fresh produce and also Korean craft.

There are many traditional Korean and Japanese restaurants too.
It`s great to wander from stall to stall, taking in the sights and aromas.