Bouldering gym roca (Roca) — Local services in Osaka

Got stuck in Osaka for a few days longer than expected due to Typhoon 7, so got to check out this gym twice during my stay. Dan the owner was so lovely, he took the time to explain all of the gradings, climbing styles, and to show us other climbers from Melbourne who had been to his gym! Dan seemed genuinely happy to meet people and to show us his gym he is clearly very proud of! As for the climbs, there is a huge variety despite it being a smaller neighbourhood gym. There are 8 colour gradings and 10 climbs per grade, they use a V and Japanese Q system for difficulty but there are challenging climbs in all gradings. I managed to knock off all but one climb in the first four grades, and could attempt a few higher grades without sending them, and I'm not a particularly skilled climber. There were around 40 climbs I could complete up to a V4/V5. Pricing is super reasonable, if you're planning a few visits there is a membership option which will work out cheaper for multiple climbs, and otherwise there is 1 hour or 3 hour pricing for a single visit. Do not miss this little gem if you're in Osaka and want to climb! We climbed during a heat wave and it was still comfortable to climb in, and I had a blast. Dan was honestly...

Dan and this gym are my favorite experience on my lengthy vacation so far.

Dan is unbelievably kind and endearing in addition to speaking great English. His small gym let's you get to know him (which you want to do) unlike the huge gyms I'm familiar with in America. Dan took a lot of time to make sure I got the way bouldering in Japan works, additionally. He also let me try out talking casually in Japanese which I haven't felt comfortable doing elsewhere besides when ordering stuff. If that isn't enough, he left me a heartfelt surprise at the end that I'll save for as long as I can.

Not only that, but the gym itself is great. The people I climbed with were very kind and easy to talk to. The routes themselves were fantastic. There were a bunch of unique handholds I haven't felt back home, and Dan's expertise in route setting makes every climb I tried extremely fun and unique. I haven't noticed a gym in the dozen or so I've been to where every climb regardless of difficulty was fun.

Overall if you like climbing and you're in the city you should absolutely pencil this gym into your plans. If it's anything like my experience it'll be extremely memorable. I'll miss it dearly, as I wish this could be my regular...

I visited this gym during my trip to Osaka, along with the one on the 5th floor of Umeda, and I found this location more enjoyable for spending a relaxing couple of hours. There are a lot of routes here, and the difficulty increases gradually, without any sudden jumps, which I really appreciated.

I had a lot of fun starting with easier routes to warm up, then moving on to ones that were just slightly beyond my current ability—it made the climbing experience really satisfying.

Today, I tried three different routes and found all of them very interesting. One of them was a balance-focused route that left a strong impression on me. Since I’m not very tall, I had to really push and jump a bit higher to reach the hold—maybe there’s another solution, but I kept trying and still couldn’t make it. Still, I truly enjoyed the challenge.

The staff at the gym were incredibly patient and helpful, offering clear explanations and support. This is definitely a great climbing gym, and I’m so glad I...