Nipponbashi (Den Den Town)
last update: April 29, 2022
Nipponbashi (日本橋), also called
Den Den Town, can be considered the "
Akihabara" of Osaka. After the Second World War, many consumer electronics stores were opened in the area, while in recent decades there have been many shops specializing in "otaku" interests such as anime, manga, video games, and collectibles. In Japan, people say "
Akiba in the east, 'Ponbashi in the west".
Things to do and things to see in Nipponbashi
Nipponbashi is a wild shopping district for fans of that entire galaxy of nerd and otaku hobbies, which include anime, manga, video games, electronics, computers, collectibles, porn comics (doujinshi). If you are not interested in these things, it is still worth walking around and taking a look at this typically Japanese world. In Nipponbashi you will also find maid cafes and other curious themed cafes. It is a smaller neighborhood than Akihabara but with sometimes cheaper prices. There are three main streets:
- Sakai-suji Dori, along the stretch that goes from Ebisucho station (near the intersection with the Hanshin Expressway) to the intersection with Nansan Dori. You will find the main electronics stores along this road;
- Nansan Dori, just east of Nankai Namba station;
- Ota Road, a street more or less parallel to Sakai-suji Dori, where in recent years numerous shops for otaku and cafes have been opened
Sakai-suji Dori, the main street of Nipponbashi
Nipponbashi Information Center
(opening hours 11-19, website)
Here you can receive a free paper map of shops, cafes and restaurants in the neighborhood (also available in English, Chinese and Korean). But you can also ask for help if you can not find a particular store or even a particular item, they will advise you in which store you could find it. This center also provides luggage storage and currency exchange.
The best shops in Nipponbashi
GEE! Store
(opening hours 11-20)
Chain of shops of various merchandise of the most famous anime series and above all with a huge assortment of t-shirts, costumes and accessories for
cosplay. Prices are not low, but the quality of the products is very high. In Nipponbashi they have a large shop and a smaller branch (annex).
Animate
One of the most famous chain stores of DVDs, manga, action figures and other stuff, in particular very well supplied with regard to the most popular and followed series of the moment. Little or nothing about niche series. The Nipponbashi branch is a large 4-storey shop.
Super Potato
(opening hours 11-20)
A chain of video games shops specialized mainly in
retrogaming.
Joshin Super Kids Land Character Museum
(opening hours 10-20)
A shop specializing in action figures and models of anime characters. In particular, there is an entire floor dedicated to
Gundam.
Torejaras
(opening hours 10-21)
One of the best shops for
second-hand items. Inside you can find a bit of everything, toys, action figures, comics, collectible cards, etc.
Comic Toranoana
(opening hours 11-21)
Chain of shops specializing in
doujinshi comics, self-published comics made by amateurs that often use characters of famous series. Very often doujinshi are erotic comics. There are two branches in Nipponbashi. The shop A is specialized in erotic doujinshi for men and non erotic doujinshi for everyone, the shop B in erotic doujinshi for women.
Yellow Submarine
(opening hours 11-20)
Shop specialized in
board games and
collectible cards (Yugioh, Pokemon, Magic, etc.), but there are also various merchandise and action figures.
Joshin Super Kids Land Main
(opening hours 10-20)
A large
toy and
model shop aimed at both children and enthusiasts and collectors. Not only models of anime characters and robots, but also a huge assortment of model trains, airplanes, cars, and much more.
Volks Hobby Square
(opening hours 11-20)
The biggest shop for model building and model collecting enthusiasts in Osaka. Seven floors of models and tools of all types.
Joshin J&P Technoland
(opening hours 10-20)
One of the biggest shops in all of Osaka (5 floors) specialized in cameras, computers and peripherals.
Taito Station
(opening hours 10-20)
Maybe you already know it, or maybe not, but arcades are still very popular in Japan. Taito Station has 2 games centers in Nipponbashi, both very large. Inside various videogames, virtual reality, prize games,
purikura. A game usually costs 100-200 yen.
Rent a Go-Kart and drive around Osaka
If you have never been to Osaka before maybe you don't know that, so let us inform you that it is getting increasingly popular in central Osaka to run into people
driving a go-kart in the streets and wearing unique costumes (for example
Super Mario costumes). At first sight you might think they're crazy local people doing some weird stuff, but in most cases they're just tourists who rented those carts in a specialized shop located right in Nipponbashi. And
you can do the same if you want!
All you need is an
International Driving Permit (or a Japanese drivers licence/Japanese SOFA licence).
You can rent your kart up to 5 hours, you can choose to just rent it and go around by yourself or to book an english-speaking guide too.
The guide will ride another kart and he will bring you around Den Den Town and then around other famous areas of Osaka. In this case all you have to do is to drive and follow him. The guide is highly recommended if you have never driven in Japan before.
Rent your Go-Kart in Osaka
Where to stay in Nipponbashi
This is one of the best areas of Osaka to stay in, even if you do not care about anime and manga. It is served by numerous stations and the heart of Osaka city (Namba and Dotonbori) is easily reachable on foot. Also, compared to Namba or Dotonbori, prices are lower.
If you are also keen on Japanese pop culture, the area becomes unbeatable,
you must stay in this area.
Hotels
Hostels
Capsule hotels
A fairly inexpensive capsule hotel, in an ultramodern building located along the main street of Nipponbashi, dedicated to video game lovers. The first three floors of the building are filled to the brim with powerful gamer PCs for guests to use, while the rest of the building houses capsule hotel-style rooms, with a female-only floor as well as some premium capsules. The hotel is also sometimes used as a venue for eSports tournaments. Any gamer will love the atmosphere in this place.
Price range: capsule 2,000-2,500¥.
Eating in Nipponbashi, special cafes
Animate Cafe
(opening hours 11-21:30)
This chain of cafe doesn't have a particular style, but changes its theme numerous times during the year, each time to a new theme of a different anime. You can check the calendar of the next "themes"
here.
Maidreamin Maid Cafe
(opening hours 12-23)
If you want to try the experience of a maid cafe in Osaka, the famous Maidreamin chain is the best place as they are used to welcome foreign customers who do not speak Japanese. Maidreamin has two cafes in Osaka, both in Nipponbashi.
Events in Nipponbashi: Nipponbashi Street Festa
The
Nipponbashi Street Festa is one of the biggest
cosplay events of all Japan.
Once a year, usually
a Saturday or Sunday in March, the streets of the neighborhood are closed to traffic and are filled with cosplayers. In recent years, up to 10 thousand cosplayers from all over the country participated. On the streets you will also find stalls and numerous live shows.
Nipponbashi Street Festa
How to get to Nipponbashi
To get to Nipponbashi just walk north from
Ebisucho station (
Sakaisuji Line of the subway) or walk south from
Nipponbashi station (
Sakaisuji Line,
Sennichimae Line of the subway).
Another convenient station is
Namba, but be careful not to be confused because there are so many stations with this name in the area. For example, the JR station is quite far. The
Nankai Namba station and the subway station (
Midosuji Line) are very close to Nipponbashi.
Map of Nipponbashi, Osaka
Guided tours, activities and other things to do
If you are planning a trip to Japan and you want to do something more than just visiting famous places and monuments, we suggest you to use
Rakuten Travel Experiences.
How to use Rakuten Travel Experiences
Rakuten Travel is a very useful website to
enrich your travel experience, especially if you are going solo or it's your first time in Japan.
Because of the language barrier (and more), in Japan it is very difficult to interact with the locals and to get off the tourist track.
Thanks to Rakuten Travel you can find a lot of interesting and sometimes unique
guided tours and activities all over Japan (and not only in Japan), that you would otherwise never be able to enjoy.
But there's more: on Rakuten Travel you can also
buy tickets for several famous attractions, events, transportation and other useful services for tourists. Last but not least, you can
reserve a table in hundreds of restaurants.
Some examples
Take a look at Rakuten Travel Experiences
You may also be interested in
Sakai-suji Dori, the main street of Nipponbashi
A fairly inexpensive capsule hotel, in an ultramodern building located along the main street of Nipponbashi, dedicated to video game lovers. The first three floors of the building are filled to the brim with powerful gamer PCs for guests to use, while the rest of the building houses capsule hotel-style rooms, with a female-only floor as well as some premium capsules. The hotel is also sometimes used as a venue for eSports tournaments. Any gamer will love the atmosphere in this place.
Price range: capsule 2,000-2,500¥.
Nipponbashi Street Festa
