Want to save money and hassle when traveling around Osaka, Japan? Get the Osaka Amazing Pass, where you can ride subway and buses as many times as you want, admission to 35 top attractions around Osaka, and get discounts at over 67 shops! Check out what are the top 10 must do with the Osaka Amazing Pass so you can get the most out of it!
Save line up time by purchasing Osaka Amazing Pass before leaving for trip from KKday!
About Osaka Amazing Pass
Website: https://www.osaka-info.jp/osp/en/
List of attractions for 2017: https://www.osaka-info.jp/osp/en/facility/free
Price: 1 day pass – 2,500 yen; 2 days pass – 3,300 yen
Osaka Amazing Pass is a combo of transit day pass and museum / attraction pass. It is perfect for first-time visitor to Osaka or time crunched visitors who must cover a lot of attractions within 1 or 2 days!
Buying Osaka Amazing Pass
You can buy Osaka Amazing Pass in various sales counters across Osaka, such as subway stations and tourist information centre.
However, since the pass is extremely popular there are usually lines up for purchase. To save your valuable travel time, we suggest purchasing the pass from KKday and just pick up at Kansai Airport, so you don’t have to stress and worry about lines and can just enjoy your vacation!
KKday Link:Â https://www.kkday.com/en/product/3247
You can pick up the ticket at the H.I.S counter in the arrival level at Kansai airport, before riding trains to Osaka.
After visiting a lot of the attraction ourselves, here are what we think are the top 10 best attractions and must visit with the Osaka Amazing Pass!
1. Osaka Transportation
Transport included with Osaka Amazing Pass: https://www.osaka-info.jp/osp/en/about/about_train.html
Osaka is a big city with attractions scattered throughout, therefore public transport is a must. For those with Japan Rail Pass or JR pass, unfortunately there are not too many JR lines within Osaka, therefore you must rely on Osaka Municipal Subway or other private railways to travel around.
Just as a reference of how much transportation cost is in Osaka, a subway ride from Shin-Osaka (Shinkansen station) to Namba (heart of Osaka) is 280 yen. Therefore, Osaka Amazing Pass is worth it if you ride more than 10 times on the subway a day. Trust me you will ride the subway a lot in Osaka, we had over 12 rides the day we used the pass!
Also, as you don’t have to worry about transport cost, you can ride on the subway even just for one short stop, which will save you time and energy over walking.
2. Kuromon Market
Website: http://kuromon.com/en.php
If Osaka is known as Japan’s Kitchen, then Kuromon Market is probably the heart of the kitchen. With over 190 years of history, Kuromon Market sells all kind of fresh and cooked food, from seafood, steak, shells, vegetable, fruits… You can find anything you want in this market! Best of all, everything are fresh but at reasonable prices.
Kuromon Market is short walk from Nippombashi Station on the Sennichimae Line
Grilled unagi (sea eel), tako (octopus)
Fresh shelled seafood and uni. They will grill it in front of you!
Sashimi set crab shell with cheese and meat. All for less than 1,000 yen!
Pink / White Strawberry from Nara!
Strawberry from Kumamoto, with cute Kumamon
3. Osaka Castle
Website:Â http://www.osakacastle.net/english/
Admission: 600 yen, Included with Osaka Amazing Pass
Osaka Castle is probably the most famous attraction in Osaka. Built in 1583 by the famous Toyotomi Hideyoshi, it is one of the largest castle in all of Japan. The castle tower itself is a museum which houses an informative museum about the castle’s history and Toyotomi Hideyoshi.
The castle is surrounded by gardens, which is popular for hanami (cherry blossom viewing) in spring. We visited in March 2017 and and was lucky to catch this beautiful tree.
4. TsÅĢtenkaku / Shinsekai
Website: https://www.tsutenkaku.co.jp
Admission: 700 yen, Included with Osaka Amazing Pass
Tsutenkaku is an observation tower that is located in the Shinsekai district in Osaka. The tower is 103 meters high, with the main observatory at a height of 91 meters, overlooking southern Osaka.
The shopping alley in Shinsekai is also filled with interesting shops. We found an arcade with lots of classic games from the 1980s!
Outside of Tsutenkaku tower is the Shinseikai, which are filled with restaurants. Specialty food include Kushikatsu, which are deep fried skewers of various meats and vegetables.
Shinsekai KanKan Takoyaki
The other famous food is definitely Takoyaki, which is a ball-shaped snack made of batter, filled with tako (octopus) and topped with takoyaki sauce and green onion.
The restaurant is highly rated on Tabelog (Japanese food review site), and has been visited by numerous celebrities including Kumamon!
5. TennÅji Zoo
Website: http://www.tenzoo.jp/english/tennnouji.html
Admission: 500 yen, Included with Osaka Amazing Pass
Must visit for all animal lovers! The Tennoji zoo is located just outside of Shinsekai, and has a good variety of herbivorous and carnivorous animals. There are 1,500 animals of 300 species, including Koala, red panda, and penguins
Sleeping Koala
Red Panda
Penguins
Watch this impossible kendama trick when six balls are cupped at once!
6. Osaka Museum of Natural History and Nagai Park
Website: http://www.mus-nh.city.osaka.jp/english/
Admission: 300 yen, Included with Osaka Amazing Pass
Nagai Park is located in the southern part of Osaka and has over over 1,000 species of trees and flowers. It also has a lot of cherry trees which are absolutely magnificent in spring.
Cute mascot of Nagai Park, which is shaped just like the shape of the park.
The Museum of Natural History is also located inside Nagai Park, which exhibits about structure of nature, history of nature, and relations between human and nature.
There is a large lake outside the Museum of Natural History, which makes us wonder if there is Loch Ness Monster.
7. Hep Five Ferris Wheel
Website: http://www.hepfive.jp
Admission: 500 yen, Included with Osaka Amazing Pass
Located in Umeda next to JR Osaka Station, Hep Five is a shopping complex with a giant Ferris wheel. HEP stands for Hankyu Entertainment Park, and it is visited by over 17 millions shoppers annually, making it one of the top shopping destination in Osaka. The wheel is distinctly painted in red with 75m in diameter, giving unparalleled view over the skyline of Osaka.
8. Nipponbashi Den Den Town
Known as the Akihabara of Osaka, you can find all sort of electronics, toys and collectables in Nipponbashi! It is probably the core for otaku culture in the Kansai area, with lots of shops selling anime and manga related figures, games, books, cds, and other collectables.
Nipponbashi is also the venue of the annual Nipponbashi Street Festa, which is a large scale cosplay event held in March. Check out photos of the 2017 from Kotaku here.
9. Legoland Discovery Centre
Website: https://www.legolanddiscoverycenter.jp/osaka/en/
Admission: 2,300 yen, Included with Osaka Amazing Pass
New addition to Osaka Amazing Pass in 2017, this is a must visit for all Lego fans! Legoland Discovery Centre is an indoor theme park dedicated for kids aged 3 – 10 years old for them to fulfill their Lego dreams and fantasy. You can reach out and touch the stars in the 4D cinema, learn top LEGO building secrets from the Master Model Builder, see iconic landmarks in MINILAND.
Bad news for the adults though, as adults cannot visit on their own and must be accompanied by a child to visit Legoland Discovery Centre during the day. Adults can only attend the Adult Nights event which are held from 7pm-9pm nightly.
10. Umeda Sky Building Floating Garden Observatory
Website: http://www.skybldg.co.jp/skybldg/english.html
Admission: 1,000 yen, Included with Osaka Amazing Pass
Last but not least on the list is the Umeda Sky Building Floating Garden Observatory. The modern looking building is consists of two 40-story towers that connect at their two uppermost stories, with bridges and an escalator crossing the wide atrium-like space in the center. The observation deck is located on the roof where the two building connects, and offer great views of the city through its windows and from its open-air deck.
There you have it! The best 10 attractions to visit with Osaka Amazing Pass!
Hope this post help you with your journey to Osaka! Be sure to purchase tickets in advance through KKDay!
In the meantime, be sure to visit my Instagram – Mizzmok for more fashion and lifestyle idea!
Japan is beautiful, wish I could visit it very soon.
Love this article! Definitely saving for when I make it to that side of the world <3
My husband lived in Japan for a few months before we met and has always wanted to go back. You may have convinced me.
Japan is on our bucket list, and now that we’re based in Singapore (instead of the UK) it’s a possibility that we might actually get over there, and now Osaka is on the list of places to explore once we’re there! A great guide- thanks!