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Orientation
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Like all big Japanese cities, Osaka is divided into wards (
ku
), but you'll often hear locals talking of Kita (north) and Minami (south), the split being along Chuo-dori.
Kita
covers the areas of Umeda, where all the main railway companies have stations, and Shin-Osaka, north of the Yodo-gawa River and location of the Shinkansen station. On the east side of this area is Osaka-jo, the castle. The shopping and entertainment districts of Shinsaibashi, Dotombori and Namba are all part of
Minami
.
Slightly further south is
Tennoji
, where you'll find Tennoji-koen and the temple Shitenno-ji and, further south again, the ancient shrine Sumiyoshi Taisha. West of these districts lies the patchwork of landfill islands edging Osaka Bay; the Osaka Aquarium is at
Tempozan Harbour Village
, while the Kansai area's tallest building, the WTC Cosmotower, is further south at
Nanko
. Other useful information
for tourists (each section contains more specific sub-sections): |
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Japan,
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