Osaka Shopping Guide

Osaka is not particularly known for its shopping opportunities so don’t count on buying all your souvenirs here. You can buy lots of modern goods- clothing, toys, electronics and the like- in Osaka, but the handicrafts available are relatively fewer. The two main shopping areas in the city are around Namba Station (in Minami-ku) and on Osaka and Umeda stations (in Kita-ku). Both have shopping malls, retail shops and depatos (department stores). It’s in these depatos that you can sometimes find some nice, local handicrafts, like Naniwa Suzuki pewter, carved furniture and cutlery. The Nihon Kogeikan Mingei Fukyabu (the Japan Folkcraft Collection) has a good lot of ceramics, cloth, folk toys, paper goods and basketwork from all over Japan, and is a good place to pick up some traditional crafts.