Osaka travel info

Stand on Ebisu Bridge after dark and you'll understand why Osaka calls itself the city of kuidaore, eating until you drop. Both banks of the Dotonbori canal light up at once, river boats slide under the Glico runner with his arms in the air, a giant mechanical crab waves its legs, and the queue at the takoyaki griddle gets warned in thick Kansai dialect that the next batch is scalding.

By day the city changes gear. Wind comes off the moat at Osaka Castle, kushikatsu oil is already bubbling in Shinsekai's back lanes, office workers stream between the Umeda towers, and in late autumn the ginkgo trees along Midosuji turn the whole avenue yellow. It's a big place, but one subway line, the red Midosuji, gets you from Umeda in the north to Tennoji in the south.

Land at Kansai in the afternoon and you can be at an okonomiyaki griddle in Namba by dinner. Kyoto, Nara and Kobe are all about an hour away by train, which is why plenty of people base themselves here and do day trips.

Kansai International Airport (KIX)

Osaka International Airport (Itami) (ITM)