Shinsekai District
From Shitennoji Temple and after a quick lunch stop, we then headed to the district of Shinsekai where the Tsutenkaku Tower is located. The district is famous for what can only be described as fairground amusement type streets! It was like walking into and through a cartoon, with the massive 3D display boards and everything was so bright and colourful!
The Tsutenkaku Tower was constructed in 1912 and modelled on the Paris Eiffel Tower, then disassembled during the war and then reconstructed in 1956! The tower is 103 metres high and offers an observatory deck.
Shinsekai was neglected for decades and was developed
into its current form due to the National Industrial Exhibition in 1903, which
brought over 5 million people to the area in just 5 months, with shortly after
the exhibition closed Shinsekai was improved and renovated.
From Shinsekai we then headed to the downtown district
around Namba station and Minami, which is one of Osaka’s two major city
centres. The streets were packed with
visiting Japanese tourists, with very few westerners. There were also lots of
internal market shops called Shotengoi, it was full of hustling and bustling!
