Miscellaneous

As one of the central districts in Osaka, Umeda has not just one rail station but six. Knowing what you’ll find near each one will not only help you navigate this part of the city, it will mean that, no matter how you enter Osaka, you’ll immediately have some ideas of things to do and see. 1. JR Osaka Station JR Osaka is one of the largest stations in all of Japan (in fact, the largest in the western part of the country). There is constant activity here with trains bringing passengers to Osaka from other cities and express trains and sleeper trains passing through. The main place to go near the rail station is Grand Front Osaka: a contemporary mall and the largest multi-purpose facility in the city. Its two buildings contain more than 250 shops, restaurants, and businesses. As well as being an excellent place for shopping, it holds workshops, has entertainment venues, and you can walk around the open-air Umekita Plaza. 2. Hanshin Umeda Hanshin Electric Railway connects Osaka with Kobe. Its station in Umeda is called Hanshin Umeda. Nearby is an underground network of marble and brick streets lined with fashionable stores called Diamor Osaka. There’s…