Tsūtenkaku

The main draws of Tsutenkaku are the view of Osaka it offers (the indoor observation deck is good enough imo) and the huge slide ride it has. If neither of these things are your cup of tea (or you don’t want to move from queue to queue and/or face a lot of people for the entire duration of your experience, then this place may not be for you.

At peak periods, you will need to queue to get into the ticketing area of the tower. Next is a queue to get the tickets for the indoor observatory, outdoor observatory, and/or the slide. If you manage to get your tickets or a special pass like Osaka Amazing in advance, this part can be completed quickly once you reach the counter. Next is a queue for the elevator that takes you to L5—this queue applies for both visitors heading to the observatory, as well as the slide. L5 is where the two will split.

Visitors heading to the observatory will join another queue to another lift to head further up. The way there is lined with gatcha machines, various small games, and even an artist one can commission to do a watercolour drawing of you with a few select manga characters. There is also an option to have your photo taken with the local god of things as they should be; you can buy the photo at a counter a short way away from the photo point.

The indoor observatory gives you a 360 view of the city from where it stands, as well as a peek at the mountains just beyond. A good place to figure out where you’ll head to next after you get down, I guess 😆