Umeda
梅田うめだUmedaStations, skyscrapers and department stores in Osaka's north
Umeda is the heart of Kita, Osaka's northern city centre, grown around Osaka Station and the Hankyū and Hanshin terminals into western Japan's largest rail and shopping hub, with department stores, underground malls and skyscrapers such as the Umeda Sky Building.
Overview
Kita ('north') is the Osakan name for the city centre around Umeda, in contrast to Minami ('south') around Namba. The district has no official boundary: it is usually taken as the area around JR Osaka Station and the Umeda stations of the Hankyū, Hanshin and subway lines, extending south to the office district of Nishi-Umeda and the restaurant quarter of Kitashinchi, east towards Ohatsu Tenjin and Tenma, and north to the redevelopment area of Umekita. All of it lies in Kita Ward.
The name Umeda is traditionally explained as a play on umeta, 'filled-in fields': the area was marshy paddy land outside the Edo-period city, known mainly for its cemetery and for the lovers' suicide at Sonezaki that Chikamatsu Monzaemon turned into a famous puppet play in 1703. The railway changed everything. Osaka Station opened here in 1874, private railways built their terminals beside it, and in 1929 Hankyū opened what is regarded as the world's first department store built into a railway terminal – a model copied across Japan.
Today Umeda is a city of skyscrapers and tunnels: several department stores, the Grand Front Osaka complex, the twin-towered Umeda Sky Building with its rooftop observatory, and underground shopping streets that link the stations into one of the most complex transport hubs in Japan. Just to the south, the island of Nakanoshima holds Osaka's city hall, museums and Meiji- and Taishō-era public buildings.
Landmarks
Umeda Sky Building
梅田スカイビルUmeda Sukai BiruTwo towers joined at the top by the Floating Garden Observatory, an open-air viewing deck above the city.
Osaka Station City
大阪ステーションシティŌsaka Sutēshon ShitiThe rebuilt JR station under a vast roof, with department stores, a cinema and rooftop gardens.
Ohatsu Tenjin
お初天神Ohatsu TenjinTsuyu no Tenjin Shrine, popularly named after Ohatsu of Sonezaki Shinjū and visited by couples.
- 大阪天満宮Ōsaka Tenmangū
Shrine to Sugawara no Michizane founded in the tenth century, home of the Tenjin Matsuri.
Tenjinbashi-suji
天神橋筋商店街Tenjinbashi-suji ShōtengaiCovered shopping street of about 2.6 km, often called Japan's longest, running north from Osaka Tenmangū.
Osaka City Central Public Hall
大阪市中央公会堂Ōsaka-shi Chūō KōkaidōRed-brick hall of 1918 on Nakanoshima, built with a gift from the stockbroker Iwamoto Einosuke; an Important Cultural Property.
Nakanoshima museums
中之島NakanoshimaThe National Museum of Art, Osaka, the Nakanoshima Museum of Art and the Museum of Oriental Ceramics on the river island.
Districts
Nishi-Umeda
西梅田Nishi-UmedaOffice towers, hotels and the Hilton Plaza and Herbis complexes west of the station.
Chaya-machi
茶屋町Chaya-machiFashion and youth quarter north-east of Hankyū Umeda.
Kitashinchi
北新地KitashinchiOsaka's exclusive quarter of hostess bars, kappō counters and fine restaurants.
Tenma
天満TenmaShrine district and one of Osaka's liveliest areas for standing bars and small eateries.
Nakazaki-chō
中崎町Nakazaki-chōPre-war row houses that survived the air raids, now cafés and small shops.
Nakanoshima
中之島NakanoshimaRiver island with city hall, the Bank of Japan branch, museums and the Central Public Hall.
History
In the Edo period, the business centre of Osaka lay further south in Senba and on Nakanoshima, where the domains kept their rice warehouses. Sonezaki, on the edge of Umeda, had pleasure quarters and the shrine now known as Ohatsu Tenjin, named after the heroine of Chikamatsu's Sonezaki Shinjū.
The Osaka–Kobe railway put Osaka Station in Umeda in 1874. Hanshin (1906) and Minoo-Arima Electric Railway, later Hankyū (1910), built their terminals alongside, and Kobayashi Ichizō of Hankyū pioneered the terminal department store, suburban housing and the Takarazuka Revue. Post-war reconstruction created the underground malls; the Umeda Sky Building opened in 1993, the rebuilt Osaka Station City in 2011, and the former freight yard to the north has been redeveloped as Umekita since the 2010s.
1703
Chikamatsu's puppet play Sonezaki Shinjū dramatises a double suicide at the Sonezaki shrine.
1874
Osaka Station opens on the Osaka–Kobe railway.
1906
Hanshin Railway opens its Umeda terminus.
1929
Hankyū opens its Umeda terminal department store.
1993
The Umeda Sky Building, designed by Hara Hiroshi, is completed.
2011
The rebuilt Osaka Station opens as Osaka Station City.
2013
Grand Front Osaka opens on the first phase of the Umekita redevelopment.
Culture
Umeda is Osaka's commercial face – department stores, office towers and the constant flow of commuters through its stations and underground malls, which are notoriously easy to get lost in. Its cultural heritage lies on the edges: the Sonezaki love-suicide story at Ohatsu Tenjin, rakugo at the Tenma Tenjin Hanjō-tei theatre, and the museums and public buildings of Nakanoshima. On escalators in Osaka, people traditionally stand on the right, unlike in Tokyo.
Festivals
- 天神祭Tenjin Matsuri
On 24 and 25 July, Osaka Tenmangū's festival culminates in a river procession of boats and fireworks on the Ōkawa.
Tōka Ebisu at Horikawa Ebisu
堀川戎Horikawa EbisuFrom 9 to 11 January, worshippers pray for business luck at the Ebisu shrine east of Umeda, near Tenma.
Osaka Hikari-Renaissance
大阪・光の饗宴Ōsaka Hikari no KyōenWinter illuminations on Nakanoshima and along Midōsuji in December.
Food
Kappō
割烹kappōCounter cuisine where the chef cooks in front of the guest, a style that developed in Osaka; Kitashinchi is its stronghold.
- バッテラbattera
Osaka-style pressed mackerel sushi under a thin sheet of kelp, sold in the department-store food halls.
- デパ地下depachika
The food basements of Umeda's department stores, among the largest in Japan.
- 立ち飲みtachinomi
Standing bars with skewers and small dishes in the lanes under the railway at Umeda and Tenma.
Getting around
- JR Osaka Station is served by the Osaka Loop Line, the Kyoto and Kobe lines and the Haruka airport express; Shin-Osaka, for the Tōkaidō and Sanyō Shinkansen, is one stop north.
- Hankyū Osaka-Umeda has lines to Kyoto, Kobe and Takarazuka; Hanshin Umeda runs to Kobe along the coast.
- The Midōsuji subway line links Umeda with Namba and Tennōji; Higashi-Umeda and Nishi-Umeda serve the Tanimachi and Yotsubashi lines.
- The underground malls connect most stations, but signposting between operators is complex; allow extra time for transfers.
Day trips
Minami, Osaka's southern centre, about ten minutes by the Midōsuji line.
The castle park east of the centre, by Loop Line or subway.
About half an hour by JR special rapid or three-quarters of an hour by Hankyū.
About twenty to thirty minutes by JR, Hankyū or Hanshin.
Other cities in the prefecture
Frequently asked questions
Are Umeda and Osaka Station the same place?
Yes, in practice. JR calls its station Osaka, while the private railways and subway call theirs Umeda; they stand side by side and are linked underground.
Is Umeda the same as Shin-Osaka?
No. Shin-Osaka, the Shinkansen station, lies about 4 km north across the Yodo River, one stop away by JR or the Midōsuji subway line.
Should visitors stay in Umeda or Namba?
Umeda is better for rail connections to Kyoto, Kobe and the Shinkansen; Namba is better for nightlife, street food and Kansai Airport by Nankai.
Where can Osaka be seen from above?
From the Floating Garden Observatory on the Umeda Sky Building, among other viewpoints in the district's towers.
Related
Sources
- 1.大阪市ホームページ (opens in a new tab) — 大阪市
- 2.OSAKA-INFO (opens in a new tab) — Osaka Convention & Tourism Bureau
- 3.Osaka (opens in a new tab) — Japan National Tourism Organization