Orange Street, and America Mura Osaka

A fashionable and up and coming area of Osaka is Orange Street. This is located just north of Namba station, about 10 minutes walk from the Ocat Building on Yotsubashi Street (go past the octagonal FM Osaka building).

This area - also called Horie - has dozens of little boutiques offering all kinds of import and specialist clothing and fashion accessories. There are also just as many restaurants, bars and cafes which cater to a young student/yuppie crowd.

Once you hit the Orange street area (there are orange street signs), hang a left and meander around the several blocks of shops. Its best to go on the weekend when the crowds of youngsters showing off their fashions and hanging out bring a cosmopolitian air to the place.

A good place to move onto after you’ve seen it all is America Mura which is a stark contrast in terms of fashion and atmosphere.

America Mura is located a couple of minutes walk East of Orange street on Yotsubashi street. Head back to Yotsubashi street and continue north for a couple of minutes then hang a right. Keep going straight and eventually you’ll find the clothes getting punkier and the buildings a bit more seedy. All part of Amura’s charm!

The center of America Mura is the triangle park filled at weekends with throngs of punks, grunge types and intimidating looking foreigners!

Stroll around and check out some of the shops, a range of second hand clothes shops and general knick knacks sit side by side with brand name outlets, as well as a couple of cinemas and various specialist shops.

Amura can have a darker atmosphere so take a bit of extra care of pickpockets etc when wondering about, although in general it’s still a fairly safe part of town.

After America Mura head east again and hit mido suji street which is the arterial road of Osaka. From here turn right to head back to Namba area or left to get find more brand shops and expensive jewelers and department stores.