Part 126: LiquidRain takes us on a fantastic guided tour of Osaka (Part 2)
Osaka Tourism, Part 2Say hello to Osaka Bigman:
Located at the southern exit of the Hankyu Rail Lines in the Umeda district of Osaka. Why is it called Bigman? Hell if I know, but it's written write there on the big TV. Centrally located to all rail companies and easy to pick out, it's a popular meeting point. (though it seems this photo in particular wouldn't suggest it, every time I go through that pedestrian junction it's rather crowded)
Umeda at large contains 2 noteworthy areas. The developers decided to pick a rather strange source for their view of Umeda, and as such I can't replicate what the game shows you directly, but you will definitely notice that the game faithfully represents Umeda Sky Building:
Sky Building sits at the northern edge of Osaka, and features both a glass elevator as well as a glass-encased escalator (that Y-shaped set of girders near the top), and an oval-shaped rooftop terrace and viewpoint awaits any visitors. It's a bit away from the real hustle and bustle you see sitting in ruins in the game, as you can see by this photo taken from the rooftop:
If Namba, the Dotonbori area, and Ebisu bridge are the down and dirty, boozey, sexy siblings of Osaka sitting to the south, Umeda is the rich, successful, glitzy model living up north. They create two poles that form the central core of Osaka, with generic offices and government buildings sitting in the stretch inbetween the two.
In my opinion, Umeda tries a bit too hard to be Tokyo, and I prefer the, uh... unique charms of Dotonbori over the crisp linens of the overpriced pasta restaurants near the Burberry stores you find in Umeda, but it's still a great place to have fun once you get off the beaten path. Venture a ways away from the glitz and office towers and you'll find plenty of izakayas and great restaurants in Osaka's fantastic Kita Shinchi and Fukushima (unfortunate naming) districts. Osakans themselves generally align themselves as either being a north person (Umeda) or a south person (Namba).
Also worth noting, something that's been completely ruined by demons in the game's portrayal, is Osaka's really awesome Japan Rail main terminal:
The architecture inside it is really awesome, though not quite up to Kyoto levels of awe-inspiring.
In the interest of not overloading this page with images, and because I had to go to bed 30 minutes ago, the ferris wheel you may have noted in the screenshots is real and is integrated into the HEP Five shopping complex about a 3-5 minute walk away from Bigman. You board on the 7th floor of the teen-focused mall and up you go! It's become somewhat of a recent icon and sits at the gateway between East Umeda (bars and restaurants) and central Umeda (office towers) and acts as a landmark for the shopping complexes that sit at its feet.
Take note that at the end of the latest update, we're headed to Shinsekai! I covered Shinsekai previously and will be visiting there in-person tomorrow. I'll attempt to find some good photos to take if folks are interested in that area more!