"OSAKA Mania Exploration" delves into the charms of Osaka with guests who are enthusiasts who pursue the things they love. This time, we asked photographer Julie Watai, who expresses a unique worldview that combines technology and pop culture, to guide us around the retro-pop and cyberpunk photo spots of Nipponbashi Electric Town.

Osaka and the Nipponbashi area is now gaining recognition even overseas. The area around "Denden Town," which is home to specialty stores selling not only home appliances and PC peripherals but also figures, games, and other anime and manga related goods, is the largest electronics town in western Japan, known as "Akiba in the east and Pombashi in the west.

Our guide through Nipponbashi will be Julie Watai, a video game and electronics enthusiast and photographer who has been acclaimed overseas for her self-portrait photo book "SAMURAI GIRL," which incorporates Akihabara culture using computer graphics in the early days of Photoshop.

Even for her, who is well-versed in so-called otaku culture, Nipponbashi has always been her "favorite town," where she can enjoy shopping while consulting with store clerks who are professionals in the field about rare games, niche parts, and more.

To promote the great things about Nipponbashi, we asked Sophia, a German international student who loves Japanese anime and games, to take some retro-pop and cyberpunk photos.

Start Nipponbashi tour at a pioneering shop in retro gaming culture!

The first place we visited was Game Detectives, a retro game shop in Nipponbashi area that has been in business since 2000. The shop carries a huge variety of game software, from classic classics to rare titles that are difficult to find.

The store is filled with a huge number of video games on display, almost filling the walls! Recently, it seems that many foreign tourists have been visiting after seeing them on social media or YouTube, and Sophia, who loves Japanese games, seemed very happy.

Famicom software lined up on the wall.

The showcase is lined with rare software that game enthusiasts covet. Just looking at them is so much fun!

A store where anyone can find a game that will make them say, "This is it!"

 

Recently, Japanese retro games have become increasingly rare, thanks to their popularity overseas. Game Detectives, which has been operating in Nipponbashi for over 20 years, is said to be a pioneer of retro game culture in western Japan. It doesn't have the intimidating atmosphere that can be found in specialty stores, and is a place where both game enthusiasts and casual gamers can enjoy rediscovering nostalgic games.

Nipponbashi Electric Town, where Game Detectives has its shop, is known as "Den Den Town," and is one of Osaka's leading shopping districts, with stores lined up along an arcade stretching about 1 km east to west on Sakaisuji. It is home to over 150 stores, including specialized retailers.

Game Detectives is always fun to visit! They not only sell game software, but also game music soundtracks, strategy guides, doujinshi, and more. The shops in Nipponbashi aren't biased towards so-called otaku shops, nor is it a place where only anime fans gather. I've always been attracted to the eclectic atmosphere that's so typical of Osaka.

Game Detectives

5-7-18 Nipponbashi Naniwa Ward, Osaka City

Google maps

Business hours: 12:00-19:00 (purchase acceptance ends at 17:00)
Closed: Open year-round
Phone number: 06-6636-8175
Official website

A fusion of Showa-era mood and cyber!? Photographing cutting-edge apparel outfits from Nipponbashi Shopping Street

Just a few minutes' walk west of Den-Den Town, you'll find the Nipponbashi Shopping Street. This area, filled with a Showa-era retro atmosphere, is a different story from the bustling Den-Den Town, and is packed with a wide variety of shops, including not only power tool and home appliance specialty stores, but also kimonos, furs, antiques, accessories, and more.

This store, which has built up trust and a proven track record over the years, is still in business today.

Nipponbashi Shopping Street has a nostalgic feel to it, unlike Den-Den Town.

This shop, located next to the shopping district, is a "five-story department store" despite being only three stories tall. The name of the store comes from the "chobokaku" (Chobokaku), which was once known in this area as "Minami's fifth floor."

Showa Noie: A shop selling nostalgic Showa-era items such as black-and-white televisions and vacuum tube radios

 

This is Lunlun store, an apparel shop in Nipponbashi Shopping Street. The LED spotlight sign illuminating the ground in front of the store reads "100% Introverted"...! Its unique appearance raises expectations.

The concept of this shop is "nerd gal." With designs based on themes such as games, science fiction, and cyberpunk, they offer apparel and goods that will help introverted people who can't start a conversation to speak up and express themselves.

The owner, Lunlun, began her creative activities about four years ago while working as a company employee, and after opening pop-up stores and other outlets, opened Lunlun store in August 2024.

This time, Sophia will be wearing the outfits taught to her by Lunlun, and Julie will be taking photos!

Check out the photos taken by Julie here!

Sophia is wearing an original hoodie, metallic skirt, and colorful leg warmers. She looks great in them. The contrast between the cyber fashion and Nipponbashi Shopping Street really stands out, and Julie's excitement as she holds the camera rises.

A moment during filming that really gets the excitement going.

After the photoshoot, we bought Sophia's favorite original product, "Batten," a hair clip from the game.

The lively store is filled with not only original products but also products selected by Lunlun.

 

Some products can be purchased online as well as in stores, so be sure to check out the official website!

Lunlun store

4-17-6A Nipponbashi Naniwa Ward, Osaka City

Google maps

Business hours: 14:00-21:00
Closed: Tuesdays
Official website

Take a break at this chic neo-junkakaji cafe near Ota Road

After enjoying the retro atmosphere of Nipponbashi Shopping Street, we walked along the nearby Ota Road. Our destination was the retro coffee shop Kissa Matsutake Cafe, located in a corner of Ota Road. Upon entering, we were surprised by the chic interior, which was hard to imagine amidst the hustle and bustle of Ota Road.

This cafe opened in 2021. The name "Kissa Matsutake" comes from the fact that it took over from a coffee shop called "Take" run by the previous owner. Sophia was captivated by the interior, saying, "The stained glass is beautiful, like a European church."

Kissa Matsutake 's attention to detail extends beyond the interior design. All of the cakes are homemade, and they offer a wide selection of food as well as sweets. The popular dish, Neapolitan, is a proud dish made with homemade bacon. This time, we ordered mainly sweets, typical of a cafe.

The pancakes are not only beautiful to look at, but are also delicious with a fluffy interior and perfectly cooked to perfection! The classic appearance of the cream soda and lemon squash also gives off a retro charm.

"This is my first time trying Japanese pudding," said Sophia. "It's completely different from German pudding, but Japanese pudding is also very delicious!" and it seems she liked it.

Ota Road, where Kissa Matsutake has its store, is also famous for hosting the Nipponbashi Street Festa, one of Japan's largest cosplay events, which has been held there since 2005, but it was originally an area where furniture stores were concentrated. From the early 2000s, the number of subculture shops increased, and the name "Ota Road" became established around 2010.

Recently, the area has become even more lively with the rapid increase in foreign tourists seeking to experience uniquely Japanese subculture, such as figure shops, manga specialty shops, concept cafes, and maid cafes.

I knew about maid cafes, but I was surprised to find such a relaxing coffee shop in Nipponbashi! It's the perfect place for a break, so I'd like to stop by again when I'm tired of the crowds.

Kissa Matsutake

Fukushima Building, 3-7-20 Nipponbashi, Naniwa-ku, Osaka

Google maps

Business hours: 8:00-20:00 (last order 19:30)
Closed: Irregular holidays
Phone number: 06-6641-5555
Official website

Wear retro neon fashion that's loved by people overseas!

Just a short walk from Kissa Matsutake, Magic Planning is a shop specializing in apparel, a rarity on Ota Road. They offer apparel themed around satire of current trends and virtual reality. Their popular products are based on nostalgic motifs reminiscent of the 1990s, and feature retro neon colors.

Apparel products with kanji designs or manga illustrations are apparently popular with people from overseas. At this store, the store manager, Roll, helped choose clothes that would suit Sophia!

"SUCCECC STORY hoodie" (¥18,700 including tax)

The clothes with pop and poisonous messages such as "The Dark Side of Generation Z" and "The City is Sick" are striking.

Fashion accessories also have a unique personality.

 

Roll's choice was a hoodie made in collaboration with popular manga artist Yuto! This item is also popular with cast members working at a nearby concept cafe, and fans of the cast members often buy it as a gift, giving it a very Nipponbashi feel. Since we had the chance, we put on the hoodie we bought and headed out to our next spot!

The shop has an unusual history, as the owner used to design uniforms for concept cafes, which led to it opening on Ota Road. There are many unique clothes that can only be purchased here, and it's hard to stop looking around.

Magic Planning

3-8-20 Nipponbashi Naniwa Ward, Osaka City

Google maps

Business hours: 15:00-22:00
Closed: Irregular holidays
Phone number: 06-6121-6465
Official website

Filmed at a game center where you can enjoy both old and new arcade games!

We arrived at ATHENA Nipponbashi, a game center located on the north side of Ota Road. The six-story building has prize games on the first and second floors, a capsule toy specialty store on the third floor, and fighting games on the fourth to sixth floors.

The fourth to sixth floors offer a wide range of games, from the latest releases to nostalgic classics, making it a popular spot for game enthusiasts.

Sophia was very satisfied when she played the classic fighting game "Street Fighter" for the first time, saying, "It's so exciting!"

We had another photo shoot in the store, where the blue fluorescent light spilling out from the cabinets creates a unique atmosphere! The hair clips from Lunlun store and the hoodies from Magic Planning matched perfectly with the cyber interior, and we were able to take some great photos.

There were so many Japanese arcade games I had never seen before! There are hardly any facilities like Japanese game centers in Germany, so it was a really fresh experience.

ATHENA Nipponbashi

2-1-22 Namba Naka, Naniwa Ward, Osaka City

Google maps

Business hours: 9:00-0:00
Closed: Open year-round
Phone number: 06-6641-7008
Official website

Break the stress of society by breaking things and having fun! Capture the extraordinary with crash bars

Aside from anime and games, a new culture known as "destructive entertainment" is gradually gaining influence in Nipponbashi area. This time, we visited "U2 Unusual Underground," a complex entertainment facility that has gained popularity as a "crash bar" where you can destroy various objects according to your plans.

The store is divided into a "Destruction Entertainment Room," a "Japanese-style room (for flipping tables)," and an "Air Gun Area." In the Destruction Entertainment Room, you can destroy appliances, furniture, plates, bottles, and more depending on the plan you choose (the amount and items you can destroy will vary depending on the price). It's a spot where you can satisfy your destructive urges to your heart's content, swinging around hammers and bats provided by the store!

This shop, where customers can rent protective gear and wear it over their own clothes, is apparently seeing an increase in the number of foreign tourists visiting. The owner, Mr. Shirayama, opened the shop after feeling the stress he had built up at his previous job at a shady company. He says, "Even though Japanese people come to relieve stress, they tend to be reserved at first. Foreigners come for entertainment, and they enjoy destroying things to the fullest right from the start."

Sophia, who was trying out the crash bars for the first time, chose the light plan for "Destruction Entertainment," which allows her to destroy 10kg of breakable items as she pleases. At first, she struggled to break the bottles, but once she got used to it, she had fun smashing them with all her might and throwing them against the wall.

We also had the chance to try flipping a table. A comedy-style script is provided, and many people take videos of themselves and upload them to social media. The tableware, Japanese food, and other accessories on the table are all very well done, and Sophia burst out laughing at the sight of the table falling over. She seemed delighted, saying, "This is truly an experience you can only have in Japan!"

It was a really fun shoot in an extraordinary location! It seems that many customers realized for the first time how stressed they had been...

U2 unusual underground

Osaka City, Chuo Ward, Namba Sennichimae 1-22, Takarakawaramachi Hall B1

Google maps

Business hours: 11:00-24:00 (night reservations required)
Closed: Open year-round
Phone number: 06-6537-7082
Official website

Kowloon Walled City in Namba...End the tour with a toast at a cyberpunk standing bar

After having so much fun, it's already pitch black outside! The neon lights of the cabarets in Ura-Namba stand out against the night sky. Under the colorful signs, the chaotic streets of Namba, where people of all ages and nationalities come and go, are an area that really gives you a sense of Osaka.

The final stop on the tour was Stand Harajuku, a standing bar in Sennichimae. Opened in 2020, this popular bar is known for its cyberpunk interior, which is inspired by the underground world of Kowloon Walled City in Hong Kong.

The interior of the store is filled with soothing background music played on a Technics record player, Panasonic's high-quality audio equipment brand. The owner, who hosts music events and is a DJ himself, is particular about playing all the background music at Stand Harajuku and other affiliated stores on vinyl.

We ordered the recommended coffee martini, the smoked godfather and the smoked honey cheese.

The coffee martini, made by quickly cooling hand-dripped coffee in a shaker, is delicious!

The Smoked Godfather and Honey Cheese are smoked in an instant smoker and flavored with cherry chips.

This sign in front of the Senju Building, which houses Stand Harajuku, has a beehive-like design that gives it a somewhat retro feel.

 

At Stand Harajuku, we took photos that made the most of the cyber interior! Stylish standing bars are on the rise, but a "cyberpunk" themed standing bar is probably rare. The unique atmosphere of the bar is sure to make for great photos!

Stand Harajuku

2F Senju Building, 1-6-10 Sennichimae, Chuo-ku, Osaka

Google maps

Business hours: 9:00 PM - 2:00 AM
Closed: Irregular holidays
Official website

Find your own photo spot in Nipponbashi, where the charms of old and new intersect

This episode of "OSAKA Mania Exploration" introduced the charm of Nipponbashi, a place where various cultures blend together, not just anime and games. While retaining the good old Showa era atmosphere, Nipponbashi 's openness to accepting new cultures is what sets it apart from other electronics districts.

Sophia said, "It was fun not only to see stores I'd never seen before, but also to try out games that were created before I was born at 22 years old, and experience things for the first time." Our guide, Julie, is an expert Nipponbashi, but by taking photos as we walked around, she was able to rediscover the charm of Nipponbashi, where old and new intertwine.

Come visit Nipponbashi with your camera or smartphone in hand and find your own favorite spot!

A person involved in this article

Text

Aya Watanabe

Photo

Mei Hirano

Edit

Mihotan Tanukiyama

Direction

NINGEN Editorial Department（NINGEN Inc.）

*The information listed is current as of March 2025. Please check the website of each store or facility for the latest opening hours.