Osaka : Tempozan Harbor Village

Tempozan Harbor Village is a modern neighborhood in Osaka Bay, and home to a number of attractions. It is about 5 minutes walk from Osakako station on Subway Chuo Line.

I saw these while walking from the station towards the village.





Lotsa Malaysian visitors here I reckon. Well.. I guess so since there's a number of attractions here such as the Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan, Tempozan Ferris Wheel, Santa Maria cruise and Tempozan Marketplace. And it's very close to Universal Studios Japan.


busker in front of Tempozan Marketplace


Santa Maria ship

The Santa Maria ship is a sightseeing ship that circles Osaka Bay zone. I didn't go for the cruise as I felt I could have a better view of the area from the ferris wheel.

I bought combo ticket for Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan and Tempozan Ferris Wheel. I went to the aquarium first, and later to the giant ferris wheel. It is located just next to the aquarium and the Tempozan Marketplace.



Standing at 112.5 meters, Tempozan Ferris Wheel was the world's tallest ferris wheel when completed in 1997. But it lost its status to Daikanransha, another giant ferris wheel in Odaiba, Tokyo in 1999. Anyway, Daikanransha also later lost its status to London Eye in 2000.


 

 

Not many people rode it that day so I had the cabin all to myself. So I did what I do best. hehe..

 

 

 

The ride on the ferris wheel took about 17 minutes, allowing me a panoramic views of the bay area and the surrounding city's skyscrapers.

 

 

 

 Minato Bridge, third longest cantilever bridge in the world

 

Tempozan Bridge

 

Tempozan Ferris Wheel is open all year round (unless stated)
Opening hours from 10 am ~ 10 pm
Admission fee is 700 yen 

Access : Take the Subway Chuo Line to Osakako station (exit no 1)

 

After alighting from the ferris wheel, I went inside Tempozan Marketplace to have some food, and window shopping. Yeah.. it is actually a regular shopping mall and entertainment complex.

 

 There is an old style food court there, called Naniwa Food Theme Park. It has stalls set in a fun, old-style atmosphere.

Very interesting.  

 

 

I had takoyaki for dinner. Do you know that Osaka is the birthplace of this famous octopus balls? You can find a takoyaki shop on almost every street corner in the city. I didn't know where's the best place to eat it so I just tried it at one of the stalls in the food court.

 

After dinner, I explored the mall. I found a lot of souvenir shops there but had to control myself. I already bought enough souvenirs in Kyoto. No shopping anymoreeee.

I went out from the mall at about 6 pm, and found the ferris wheel has turned to green.

 

One interesting feature of this ferris wheel is the colored lights of its wheel. It's not just a color ok. The colored lights actually signify the weather forecast for the next day. If the wheel turns orange, it indicates a sunny day. A blue light indicates rain. Green means a cloudy day.

 So, a cloudy day tomorrow! Hmmm....


Namba Parks' rooftop garden

From Osakako station, I took the subway to Namba station and spent the night wandering in Namba Parks.