Backstreets in Namba offer lots of great little shops, restaurants and bars for the locals.
I will take you to the area and ask you choose 2-3 spots and restaurants to visit.
You'll start the tour from Nipponbashi (Osaka's sub-cultural mecca) or Doguyasuji (kitchen equipment street including potteries and knives) and end the tour in Dotonbori. Kuromon Market is optional.
Information Center Namba (near Takashimaya/Nankai Namba station) or at your hotel
Wherever in Namba or at your hotel
Before ending the tour on the famous Dotonbori street, you can enjoy your own preferred way of digging into Namba by visiting places such as:
- Small local diners/bars that you can go hopping;
- Local sushi bar that serves sushi from the chef
- Doguyasuji street, a shopping arcade dedicated to providing cooking tools and equipment both for homes and professional chefs including Japanese knives, plastic foods, tacoyaki grills and more;
- Kuromon Market for food stands and local specialties; and
- Nipponbashi sub-culture area for gadget shopping at DenDen town, visiting a cat-cafe, maid-cafe, game and anime shops, etc.; and/or Karaoke bar/restaurant that you can enjoy food and singing in a private space.
- Shinsekai if you want to see the retro atmosphere of Osaka from the Showa-era. Tsutenkaku tower is illuminated at night with other 3D signs which gives you a chance to take a perfect Osaka shot.
I will make sure to maximize your precious and limited time in Namba without having communication and/or wandering problems, and even more, you will enjoy interacting with Osaka locals who are known as so much fun to chat/drink with!
guide fee for 3.5- 4 hours, hotel pick-up in Osaka and Kyoto area
transportation fee for you and guide, dinner for you and guide, entrance fee if any
Please note below before booking and contact me first for availability:
1. My schedule on GoWithGuide site is open for the next 3-month only. For further dates, please message me about my availability (multi-day tours only)
2. All my listed tours include hotel pick-up fee and guide fee. Please ask for quote for custom tours.
3. For tours in the peak season, I am currently prioritizing mult-day tour requests (at least two "full-day" tours per group), but also accept one-day request between the booked tours etc.
***Excursions ***
I can guide you in Okayama (including Naoshima and Kurashiki), Hiroshima (Onomichi, Shimanami islands cycling, Miyajima, etc.) and Shikoku (Iya valley etc.) if you pay for my transportation.
The above areas can be visited from Osaka/Kyoto in one or two days.
Calendar will be updated for the next few weeks.
PLEASE NOTE THIS TOUR IS FOR THOSE WHO BOOKED OTHER DAY TOURS WITH ME
1. The tour is 3.5-4 hours depending on where we go. You can choose a few spots and one or two places to eat and drink that can be covered within 3.5- 4 hours.
2. If you'd like to visit Doguyasuji and/or Kuromon market, I recommend starting by 16:30 as most shops there close around 18:00.
3. The cost of food and drink for you and guide is not included in your guide fee. (ex. glass of beer: 300-600 yen, small dish: 300-500 yen, main dish: 500-1,000 yen, takoyaki: 500-700 yen, etc.) Please understand this is not a typical sightseeing tour, rather focus on eating and drinking at a local place in Osaka, frequently referred to as the country's kitchen, which is why the tour rate is set low
4. Please have enough cash to pay at a small restaurant/bar which normally takes cash only.
5. Namba has a variety of restaurants/bars from high-end sushi bars to very reasonable stand-up bars, so I will choose one as per your budget and what kind of food you'd like to eat. It will be helpful if you can tell me your preference in advance.
6. Please note that most small restaurants/bars are not smoke-free especially during dinner/bar time in Japan.
Yes, but you can't go into bars and please note that some restaurants are not smoke-free.
Seiko took us around Kyoto, Nara and Osaka on 3 different days and we had a great time. She is easy to get along ,very fluent in English and accommodated all our requests. When we were all ‘templed out’, she took us to see the urban sights in Osaka. My family especially enjoyed her food recommendations, knowledge of historical areas and impeccable timing so that we only waited a few minutes for each train ride. Thank you for a wonderful holiday!
Our tour in Osaka started off exploring the markets and streets learning about the history. We visited Osaka Castle and Seiko took us to many great photo spots to get the best pictures! We also got to check out Umeda where there was many places to eat. Seiko is fluent in English and Japanese and was great with translating. We would definitely book another tour with Seiko in the future in another region of Japan!
Thanks for having me as your guide for two days! Osaka is my second home town and I am glad you liked my style of Osaka tour. It was also nice to visit Osaka castle when most of tourists were gone and you took lots of great photos there. I really hope you can come back to Japan and look forward to showing more of my favorite parts of the city and surroundings. Have a great time for the rest of your days in Japan! Seiko
We had an amazing tour with Seiko, visiting 7 different sites and areas where we learned about the history and culture of Kyoto. Seiko is very knowledgeable and took to us to many great locations that included various shrines, temples, neighborhoods, and more. One of our favorite spots was getting a tour of the Nijo Jinya House! Would definitely recommend having Seiko guide you around Kyoto to get the best experience. She is also fluent in Japanese and English and was a great translator for us.
Thank you for your review! I always try to be efficient and flexible as much as possible to maximize tour time as trying to understand different needs by different people. We could visit all the sites very smoothly thanks to your fitness level and trusting me as your guide. Glad you liked the house because it is also one of my favorite places to take my customers, as well! It was a great day together!!! Seiko
My 12 yo son, sister and I had the pleasure of spending 2 days in Kyoto with Seiko this fall. We had an absolutely wonderful time! At first we were nervous about spending 2 full days with a "stranger" while on vacation. However, as soon as Seiko met us in the lobby of our hotel, we knew we had made an excellent choice. It felt like traveling with a friend! And at the end of our two days we were sad to say goodbye. It was an absolute treat to let Seiko be in charge while I relaxed and enjoyed our surroundings. No worrying about trains or schedules or where to go next. Seiko was relaxed, knowledgable, funny, super efficient in getting us to all our must see sites and has impeccable English. My 12 yo son enjoyed hanging out with her too! I will recommend Seiko to friends traveling to Japan, and will absolutely book with her when we return to Japan.
Thank you, Courtney! It was totally my pleasure to spend 2 days with you and your family. I sometimes feel nervous when I have multi-day tours as well thinking if I can meet their needs and expectations knowing it's once in lifetime experience for them. However, ever since I started communicating with you, I didn't have that kind of fear as it was clear to know what you want to see, etc. I especially feel honored to be a guide when I see children like your son giveing many quesions and trying to see and learn lots in a country with different culture. Hope you'll have a chance to come back someday and see you again!!!!!! Seiko