Living in Osaka Blog

The Hyatt Regency Osaka is a 5 star hotel but unlike most of Osaka’s 5 star hotels it is not located in Umeda. It is located to the west of the city, in the port area (Nanko). It makes for a more relaxed environment but of course it is less convenient. It is however very [...]

[Read more →]

I’ve been neglecting the link list down the side of this blog for too long. I need to show it a little love and add some good links. Do you know of any good sites or blogs on Osaka that I can add to the link list? Or do you have a blog that you [...]

[Read more →]

When I first came to Osaka the first thing I found out was where to find English books. Most book even very big ones only sold Japanese books and maybe the odd imported US magazine (Cosmo, anyone?). There are two bookstores I recommend, one is Junkudo and one is Kinokuniya. Kinokuniya is the shop that [...]

[Read more →]

If you are looking for a Softbank shop with staff that speaks English I heartily recommend the one in Shinsaibashi, Ebisubashi (see below for link). I went there after my mobile bill went a bit too high and asked for advice. I was pleasantly surprised that they had staff members who speak English (Arabic and [...]

[Read more →]

If you’re in Osaka and want to grab some free (and legit) net access, you can see if you are close to one of the Freespot Access Points. Here’s a list in English of all their wifi hotspots, they are mostly cafes or hotels. And if you are looking for a wifi hotspot in Umeda, [...]

[Read more →]

For some reason there has been a crackdown on riding double on bikes recently.  Yesterday I saw 3 couples being stopped and warned over riding piggy back.  It is illegal but I’ve only seen the warning being handed out once or twice in the years I’ve been here so there must have been a change [...]

[Read more →]