Discover Osaka on our 3-hour introductory tour with a local expert or East Asian scholar. Designed to provide a perfect introduction to Osaka for first-timers or reorient returning travelers to the history and culture of this vibrant city, this tour will explore Osaka’s growth from an early mercantile center to a bustling economic Asian powerhouse.  

Our tour will move across the city to various interesting locations such as Osaka Castle, Dotonbori, Namba, and Hozen-ji. This tour offers a solid introduction to a fascinating city (often wrongly overlooked in favor of its cousins, Tokyo and Kyoto). 

You’ll start near Osaka Castle as you begin with learning about the rule of Osaka after the unification in the 16th century. Although not the original structure, the site offers an important location to discuss the rule of Toyotomi Hideyoshi and the violent emergence of the Tokugawa shogunate. You’ll visit the interior of the castle and, time permitting, take a glance at the rotating seasonal art installations. From here, you will also be able to view Osaka from a great vantage point before you venture across the city to other sites leaving the lush green park area behind us. You’ll hop in a taxi or use public transport as our route takes us to a buzzing district in Osaka: Dotonbori. Named after a 17th-century merchant, Yasui Doton, the area has a 400-year-long history of entertainment which you’ll touch upon. You may pop to a nearby temple tucked behind the bustle of the surrounding area as you step back in time to a more traditional Osaka. You’ll stroll through the warren streets and finish our time together at Kuromon market - an arcaded local haunt with shops specializing in everything from fresh urchins to seasonal vegetables. This will give us an opening to talk about the history of the market (which dates back to the Edo period) and the gastronomic scene in Osaka today. 

You will leave our introductory tour with a deeper understanding of this electric Japanese city. We’ll have traveled to several important locations, immersing ourselves in feudal history, Japanese entertainment tales, and local customs, traditions, and gastronomy with our expert guide. We’ll say Sayōnara (goodbye) with a more contextualized view of Osaka.

To continue your explorations of the city with Context, we recommend our Savoring Osaka Food Tour.