Shinsekai Hon-dori Shopping Street

Tsutenkaku Tower, Jan Jan Yokocho Street, Spa World are in Ebisu-Higashi, Naniwa District. People started calling this area Shinsekai (New World) in 1912, when Tsutenkaku and Japan’s second amusement park, Luna Park, opened. It meant a new-born tourist spot in Osaka. Since then, this amusement street has grown, used as a location for movies and TV dramas, and became a famous site in Osaka.

Tsutenkaku Hon-dori Shopping Association stretches from Osaka Metro Sakaisuji Line, Ebisucho Station’s 3rd exit straight to Tsutenkaku Tower. It is a street with retro tea shops, okonomiyaki restaurants, and other gourmet food for common people, where you can have the best view of Tsutenkaku.

To the south of Tsutenkaku, the “No dipping twice” fried pork cutlet restaurant and many eateries stand with eye-catching 3-D signs and banners sticking out to the street. There are Kasuga Gorakujo, the retro game center and Shinsekai Hihokan, Japan’s biggest shooting gallery. Japanese chess clubs have people intently watching the games through the glass window.

Plenty of entertainment is available such as Asahi Theater for sitcoms and comedian performances, the retro Shinsekai International Theater opened in 1950, and Dorakutei for comedy talk shows.

Toward JR Loop Line’s Shin-Imamiya Station, you come to Spa World where world’s hot springs, outdoor hot spring and swimming pool are available to soothe residents and tourists.