# Osaka/Bay Area

The Bay Area is the westernmost district of Osaka city. Largely built on reclaimed land, it has large-scale facilities for shopping and entertainment, and has become popular among young people in particular.

## Understand

The area consists of the wards of Suminoe (住之江) and Konohana (此花). In Japanese, the area is often if somewhat ambiguously called Osaka-kō (大阪港, "Osaka Port") or "Port Town" (ポートタウン), with the residential southern side known as Nankō (南港, "South Port").
Expo 2025 will be held here from April 13, 2025 until October 13, 2025, on the artificial island of Yumeshima. Japan's first casino is also scheduled to open in Yumeshima around 2030.

## Get in

The Bay Area is served by the Metro Chuo Line to Cosmosquare and Yumeshima, as well as the Nankō Port Town Line (南港ポートタウン線).

## See

The Bay Area's top attraction, Universal Studios Japan, is covered in its own article.
* 34.655841135.4302351 Tempozan Harbor Village (天保山ハーバービレッジ), ☏ +81 665765501. Plaza and shopping centre, which houses an aquarium, ferris wheel, an art gallery, Legoland and a cruise terminal. On the weekend, musicians and street performers offer additional entertainment to people outside the aquarium. (updated Jan 2024)
** 34.654472135.4288892 Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan (海遊館), 1-1-10 Kaigan-dori Minato-ku (5 minutes walk from Osakako (Osaka Port) station on Osaka municipal subway Chuo Line or Techno Port Line), ☏ +81 6-6576-5501, info-e@kaiyukan.com. 10:00-20:00 (last admission is 19:00). This is one of the world's largest aquariums, with 11,000 tons of water and plenty of sharks (including a whale shark), dolphins, otters, seals, and other sea creatures. The largest tank, representing the Pacific Ocean with 5,400 tons is nothing but overwhelming. Can get intensely crowded, but the aquarium is a spiral featuring the same tanks, and crowds thin out as you get to deeper views of each tank. Back Stage Viewing is available for an additional fee. ¥2700 adults (16 and over, high school), ¥1400 child (7-15, elementary school and junior high-school), infant (4-6) ¥700. (updated Jan 2024)
** 34.656166135.4310313 Tempozan Ferris Wheel (天保山大観覧車) (next to Kaiyukan). One of the largest ferris wheels, overlooking Osaka Bay and surrounding areas such as Mount Ikoma to the east, Akashi Kaikyō Bridge to the west, Kansai International Airport to the south, and the Rokko Mountains to the north. 17-minute ride. There is an option of a gondola with a see-through floor for no additional cost, but lines for these gondolas tend to be dramatically longer as they are fewer and in greater demand (most report a fairly underwhelming experience too). ¥800. (updated Jan 2024)
** 34.656182135.4302524 Legoland Discovery Center Osaka (レゴランド・ディスカバリー・センター大阪), ☏ +81 800-100-5346. ¥2200 online, ¥3000 in-person. (updated Jan 2024)
** Tempozan Gallery (Floor 3 of the Tempozan Marketplace), ☏ +81 665765621. (updated Jan 2024)
** Naniwa Kuishinbo Yokocho (なにわ食いしんぼ横丁) (Second floor of the Tempozan Marketplace.). Food theme park (or food court, depending on who you ask), with an aesthetic and theme of nostalgia for the 1960s streets of Osaka. Various Osaka delicacies are available here, including Takoyaki, Okonomiyaki, Kushikatsu, and Ikayaki. (updated Jan 2024)
* Maishima Sludge Center and Maishima Incineration Plant, 2 Chome-2-７ Hokukoshiratsu, Konohana Ward (from Nishikujo Station on the JR Loop Line, take the hourly #81 bus to the Amity Maishima bus stop (23 min) outside the Sports Centre for People with Disabilities; from there you can see the sludge centre and the incineration plant). Without a doubt, the best sludge center you've ever seen. The incineration plant makes other waste facilities look like dumps. These two buildings were designed by eccentric Austrian architect Friedensreich Hundertwasser. They are fantastical works that have to be seen to be believed. There are display panels in the lobby of the sludge centre. Tours are available if you contact the facilities in advance, but Hundertwasser's work is on the outside: inside, these are functioning waste treatment facilities. When you arrive, make sure to check the bus schedule to find out when you can leave. (updated Mar 2019)

## Do

The Bay Area's top attraction, Universal Studios Japan, is covered in its own article.
* Maishima Pottery Village (舞洲陶芸館), 2-2-98 Hokuko-Ryokuchi Konohana-ku. Maishima Pottery Village opened in Osaka’s manmade island in 1998 for the education and promotion of naniwazuyaki, made from the vast amounts of unwanted marine clay which resulted from the construction of Kansai International Airport. The main building has studios with electric and momentum potter’s wheels, rooms for preparing clay and glazes, a gallery, a noborigama climbing kiln and an anagama tunnel kiln. There are also studios for visitors to experience hand-building and painting. 1-day workshop for hand forming ¥500–3500. Additional charge for shipping your work. Booking required..
* Boat Race Suminoe (ボートレース住之江), 1-1-71 Izumi, Suminoe-ku (3 minute walk from Suminoekōen station on the Yotsubashi Subway line and Nankō Port Town Line). There's no "bettor" place to see one of Japan's unique gambling sports, hydroplane boat racing, than the race course that typically helps crown the sport's champion every December. If you're interested in placing a bet, you might want to do some research at the official multilingual site of the sport, as there is practically no English guidance available once you arrive. General admission ¥100, reserved seating for additional charge.

## Eat

* Takopa (Takoyaki Park), 4F 6-2-61 Shimaya Konohana-ku (1 minutes walk from JR Universal City Sta.). Visitors can sample fare from six leading takoyaki shops that Osakans, famously particular about their takoyaki, unreservedly recommend. Admission free, Octopus dumpling ball available for sale at 6 stores.
* If you are visiting Boat Race Suminoe for the boat races, you will find several cheap eats available throughout the facility.

## Sleep
### Mid-range

* Hotel Fukuracia Osaka Bay (ホテルフクラシア大阪ベイ), 1-7-50 Nankou Kita Suminoe-ku (10 minutes walk from Cosmosquare Station), ☏ +81 6-6614-8711. Single ¥9450, double ¥12600, twin ¥15750.
* Osaka Joytel Hotel (大阪ジョイテルホテル), 1-2-1 Shinkitajima Suminoe-ku (1 minute walk from Suminoe-Koen Station), ☏ +81 6 6684 1231. Single ¥5500, double ¥6400, twin ¥7200.
* Art Hotel Osaka Bay Tower (アートホテル大阪ベイタワー), 1-2-1 Benten, Minato-ku, ☏ +81-6-6577-1111.