Mc681 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia CommonsStreet & neighbourhood · Osaka
Doguyasuji kitchen street
千日前道具屋筋
Sennichimae Doguyasuji is a 150 m covered shopping street in Namba devoted to the tools of Japanese restaurants. Its shops sell chef's knives, pots, tableware, noren curtains, red lanterns, signboards and the realistic plastic food samples that fill restaurant windows across Japan.
It is a working street for Osaka's cooks, so the feel is practical rather than touristy: stacks of bowls, walls of takoyaki pans and knife counters where staff will sharpen and engrave. It is one of the best places in Osaka to buy a good kitchen knife or a fun food-sample souvenir.
What to see and do
Several specialist shops sell Japanese chef's knives for every budget.
Buy a plastic sushi magnet or try a hands-on food-sample making class offered on the street.
Red paper lanterns, shop curtains and signboards make unusual, packable souvenirs.
Pick up the same cast-iron takoyaki pans Osaka street stalls use.
What’s on
Good to know
- Many shops close earlier than Dotonbori restaurants, so come in the daytime.
- Knives go in checked luggage, not your cabin bag.
More art nearby
Mc681 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia CommonsNational Bunraku Theatre
Bunraku puppet theatre was born in Osaka and is on UNESCO’s Intangible Heritage list. Three puppeteers move each puppet together.
Tokumeigakarinoaoshima · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia CommonsOsaka Shochikuza
Kabuki and big stage shows on Dotonbori, behind a 1923 arched facade.
Dotonbori signs
The Glico Running Man has glowed here since 1935, next to giant crabs and pufferfish. Advertising as folk art.
Miyuki Meinaka · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia CommonsNamba Grand Kagetsu
The home stage of Osaka comedy. Manzai double acts and slapstick shows, every day.