Sho's note
Osaka Castle main tower
It's 15 to 20 minutes' walk from the station and 1,200 yen to go in. A lift takes you up to the fifth floor.
From your guide
What I point out on the way
I spent nine years in Brisbane, from junior high to the end of university, and I guide in English or Japanese. I check our food stops with each shop before the day.
Sho's note
Kuromon Market
About 150 shops under a 580-metre arcade, five minutes from Nippombashi Station.
Sho's note
Shitenno-ji
Founded by Prince Shotoku in 593. The central precinct is free on the 21st and 22nd of each month.
Osaka Castle's main tower went up in 1931, 266 years after the last one, paid for by donations from the city's people. Dotonbori is named after Yasui Doton, who started digging the canal with his own money in 1612.
Takoyaki goes back to early Showa-era street stalls that began putting octopus into radio-yaki.