Shinsekai & Tsutenkaku Tower

Shinsekai, meaning 'New World,' is a retro entertainment district in Naniwa Ward built in 1912 with a layout deliberately modeled on Paris in its northern half and Coney Island in its southern half. Tsutenkaku Tower, rebuilt in 1956 after the original burned during World War II, anchors the district and offers an observation deck with views over the low-rise neighborhood and, on clear days, toward Osaka Bay. The streets radiating from the tower are lined with kushikatsu restaurants serving skewered, breaded, deep-fried meat and vegetables, a dish that originated in this neighborhood, alongside pachinko parlors, vintage game arcades, and shops selling Billiken good-luck charm statues. A visit combining the tower and a wander through the surrounding streets takes two to three hours, and the district photographs best in the early evening when the tower's neon lighting and the restaurant signage both come alive against the fading daylight. Weekday afternoons are noticeably quieter than weekend evenings, when the kushikatsu restaurants can have queues out the door.