Tenjinbashi-suji Shopping Arcade in Osaka is 2.6 km long with more than 600 restaurants and stores. It is the longest fully covered arcade in Japan where ordinary Osaka people eat and shop every day. We will start our tour at Temmangu Shrine, wishing for the success of our day. Then, we will leisurely walk up to the north, stopping at variety of shops and nibbling favorite local foods.
At your hotel in Osaka or Minami Morimachi subway station (at the ticket wicket where Exit No.3 is located)
Flexible
In this tour, I would like you to experience how ordinary Osaka people live.
Among all that's on offer you can stop at different 100 yen shops for you to find unique gudgets for yourself or souveniors for your friends.
We'll taste all the popular Osaka street-food along the way: Octopus balls, potato croquettes or fish-shaped pancakes filled with sweet beans are all here.
For lunch or dinner, we can stop at an okonomiyaki(Japanese pizza/pancake) parlor, a kushikatsu(deep-fried meats and vegetables on a skewer) restaurant or queue up to eat super fresh sushi.
I will introduce you to interesting backstrees and alleyways. If you wish, we could also visit a pachinko parlor, a vertical pinball machine which 30 million Japanese people play. However, as pachinko is a small form of gambling, all participants must be 18 years old or older.
This tour is flexible and how you want to spend a day is very much up to you. Let me know what your main interests are, and I will design your day around them!
Guide fee
Transportation fee(you and guide)
Meals
Entrance fees
I would recommend you to buy a one-day travel card for subways and buses (￥800 for an adult and ￥300 for a child ＊￥600 for an adult on weekends and national holidays) if you are planning to take subways and buses more than three times in the day.
The snacks on the stall are usually at around 100～￥500．
The entrance fee for the Osaka Museum of Housing and Living is ￥600 for an adult and ￥300 for a student. It will cost an additional ￥500 to try on kimono.
The guide can enter this facility at free of charge. Closed on Tuesdays.
The Naniwanoyu Spa is open from 10am to 1am every day. It is ￥800 for an adult and ￥400 for an elementary school child.
For the guide to come in with you, you need to pay for your guide as well. The small towel costs ￥150. (You need to buy one if you don't bring one yourself.)
I will try to meet your needs and requirements as much as possible. Please let me know if you have special requests. I specialize in tours in Osaka, but I can also do day tours in Kyoto, Nara, Kobe, Hiroshima and Koyasan. I can do shopping tour and eating tour. I am very flexible with time and can also do tours at late in the evening.
This shopping arcade is a 2.6km entirely covered passageway: you will not have to worry about rain or inclement weather for the duration of our tour.
I offer both morning or evening tours, however please note that many shops do not open until 10am and close around 6pm. Most restaurants open at 11:00 or 11:30 and close at around 22:00, while some of the restaurants open all night!
Visits to the Osaka Museum of Housing and Living and Naniwanoyu Spa are both optional.
The Osaka Museum of Housing and Living stands at the opposite end of the long arcade, and Naniwanoyu Spa is another 5 mins walk from there.
I can take you to the entrance of both facilities or I can go in with you if it's within our scheduled time. (Male and Female Spa are separate.)
Ichi provided a great introductory tour of Kyoto. He is incredibly friendly and has a deep knowledge of the city and its history, was very well prepared (even with visual aids) and adjusted the tour based on our interests. He took us to places few tourists have the opportunity to see as well as some major sites. Thanks for a great time!
Thanks for the comments. I hope you had a great journey around Japan. Bon voyage!
Ichi honestly knocked our day tour out of the park! He was prepped to have a 6yro with him for an hour train trip each way - equipped with pokemon go, Japanese language lessons and pokemon origami lessons. We explored Nara and the local sites including places like the top of the Government building which we would never have found on our own! We got a free origami lesson and calligraphy - Ichi specifically organised a person who made this so fun and had us laughing the whole time. As a foodie himself he took us to a great food stop in Osaka and was able to share lots of local knowledge. We have already recommended him to our friends and family and will definitely be locking him in for our next trip! Ichi even sent us a beautiful video of pictures he captured of us throughout the day. Ichi - a massive thank you. You made our day and were a real highlight of our trip X
Thanks very much for your comments. I did enjoy the day with you and your son very much, too. I hope to see you some time in the near future! regards, Ichi
Ichi-san met us early at our hotel and had our family of four off to Nara at a record clip. He kept our daughters entertained and enriched by teaching them how to count in Japanese during the 30-minute train ride from Osaka. He keeps a full bag of puzzles, toys, tools and treats in his backpack. He spent a few years in school in the states and is a fluent speaker, affable and an all-around pleasure to be around. We covered all the sites we wanted to see in Nara and much more (especially the super friendly army of sacred deer and the largest wooden temple). He graciously agreed to interpret for us at lunch and stayed with us as long as we needed him all the way back to Osaka, including tips for shopping. You will not be disappointed with Ichi-san if you are in the area, he has my highest recommendation.
Dear Joseph-san, Thanks very much for your favorable comment on the tour. I enjoyed the day with you and your family very much, too. Thank you very much again for treating me to join you to one of the most wonderful Japanese meals I had as well. Hope you have a wonderful life back in the States. (My recent customer from Canada said Mr T is the only hope America has!?)
We had the most incredible experience exploring Osaka, Nara, and Kyoto with Ichi as our private guide! His knowledge and thoughtfulness added a whole new dimension to the trip. Ichi tailored our itinerary based on our interests and adjusted on the fly when requested. Ichi kept our kids engaged better than we could :), and we learned so much about the Japanese culture in two days than I thought possible. I highly recommend Ichi for anyone seeking an unforgettable and enriching journey through these beautiful cities.
Dear Ron-san, Thank you very much for kind comments. Your family were wonderful as well. I enjoyed every moment with you, and I was hoping if I could spend more time with you. It was a great idea we started early to avoid the strong sun and the rush hours. I was able to do so because you stayed in Osaka, not far away from where I live. Yesterday I was at Gion Festival in Kyoto, and today I just came back from Tenjin Festival in Osaka. Both were interesting, but it was extremely crowded and sweltering hot. Hope your trip in Tokyo was as interesting. Bon voyage. all the best, Ichi