Shinsekai and Tsutenkaku Tower: Reaching Heaven

Osaka is known as food heaven as you could find in Dotonbori and Shinsekai. Shinsekai means New World that refers to a district that adapted mixture essence of Paris and New York. Just 10 minutes walk from Shin-Imamiya Station and you could find this place with Tsutenkaku Tower as iconic landmark in Osaka.

Tsutenkaku Tower literally means ‘Tower Reaching to Heaven’. Built in 1912, Tsutenkaku Tower was the tallest building in East Asia with height of 64 metres that time. Later, it was reconstructed in 1956 after being attacked in World War II (1943). The current height is 103 metres, 39 metres higher than the original building.

Observation platforms are on the 4th and 5th floor, with bird-viewing feature. 

Biliken is an American charm doll that is believed could bring good fortune if you put coin in donation box and rub the soles. It used to be placed inside Luna Park, but unfortunately, it was closed in 1923, and the Biliken statue was lost. They tried to find it, however, after getting no result, they finally made a copy of the wooden Biliken statue to be placed inside the observation platform with seven deities.

B1F    : Tsutenkaku Wakuwaku Land, Ticket Box,

1F      : Wakuwaku Land Entrance, Observation Platform Entrance

2F      : Jan Jan Town, Kinnikuman Museum, Observation Elevator hall

3F      : Shinsekai diorama Display, Cafe de Luna Park (21 seats), Glico-ya

4F      : Observation Platform (84 metres)

5F      : Observation Platform, Biliken Shrine (87.5 metres)

Every year, this tower is visited by about 700.000 people. Another interesting stuff is the LED lighting that displays different color, following the season and weather forecast.

Jan and Feb          : white means snow

Mar and Apr         : pink means cherry blossom

May and Jun         : green means new leaves

July and Aug        : blue mean sea/sky

Sep until Nov       : gold means ear of rice (rice crop)

Dec                      : blue-green means fir tree

At the basement, they also offer performances of rakugo (comic storytelling), manzai (comical conversation) and local enka (popular balled singer) on weekends.

It has an atmosphere like carnival here. You may find a lot of snack stalls, restaurants, souvenir shops and pachinkos. 

Try the famous kushikatsu, warabi mochi, takoyaki, oden, yakiniku, okonomiyaki and many more in reasonable prices. 

Don’t miss fugu (blowfish) restaurant too (we recommend Zuboraya restaurant). But according to stories that we found on the Internet, people tend to avoid visiting Shinsekai at night. In 1990s, there are a lot of criminal activities here. Even though the criminality has decreased now, the dangerous image still remains for most citizen.

Address                : Ebisu-Higashi, Naniwa Ward, Osaka

Tsutenkaku Tower

Opening Hours                : 9AM to 9PM (last admission is 8.30PM)

Admission Fee                : Adult                                               : 700 yen

                                        University stu.                                 : 500 yen

                                        Junior/Senior high school stu.         : 400 yen

                                        Elementary and above 5 years old    : 300 yen

We eat, we walk, we talk

-FoodyFooty2-

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