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Den Den Town in Osaka: the two shopping streets, the best shops for anime, figures, cards and retro games, shop hours and prices, Den Den Town vs Akihabara, and the way there from Namba

Den Den Town is the Akihabara of Osaka: an old electronics street in Nipponbashi that now sells anime goods, figures, trading cards and retro games, about five minutes on foot east of Namba Station, so it fits into the same day as Dotonbori and Kuromon Market. This guide covers what the district is and how it grew, its two streets, Sakaisuji and Ota Road, the shops to know for each kind of collector, where to eat, what things cost, shop hours and the tourist information centre, the Akihabara comparison, whether to go at all, the routes from Namba, Kansai Airport and Dotonbori, the Nipponbashi Street Festa and tax-free shopping. We checked each fact on Monday 19 October 2026 against the shopping street's own website, OSAKA-INFO (the official tourism site for Osaka), Japan's national tourism website and each shop's own page. Links to all of them are at the foot of the page, after the FAQ.

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A wide street seen from a pedestrian crossing, lined on both sides with arcaded shops and signs, with cars and a parking sign
Den Den Town, Nipponbashi, Osaka, July 2023 · Photo: Clemens Vasters, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons

In short

Den Den Town is the shopping district along Sakaisuji Avenue in Nipponbashi, Naniwa Ward, Osaka, running south from Nipponbashi Station to Ebisucho Station, both on Osaka Metro's Sakaisuji Line. Ota Road, the street with most of the anime and manga shops, runs parallel to it one block to the west. Namba Station is about five minutes' walk to the west. OSAKA-INFO counts more than 150 stores along an arcade about a kilometre long, selling electronics, manga, anime goods, games, figures and trading cards, and many of them deal in second-hand goods. It is free to walk around. Hours vary by shop, but most open between 10:00 and 12:00 and close at 20:00. The tourist information centre at 5-9-12 Nipponbashi, by Ebisucho Station, keeps hours of 11:00 to 19:00 and closes on Wednesdays.

Den Den Town at a glance

What Den Den Town is

Den Den Town is the nickname of the electronics and hobby shopping district in Nipponbashi, in the south of central Osaka. OSAKA-INFO's main page puts it this way: "The largest electric town and otaku town in western Japan." The goods it lists are the ones collectors come for, "namely manga, anime, games, figures, and trading card games", and it notes a district "with many stores that handle second-hand and junk goods".

The street did not start with anime. The shopping street's own history page, in Japanese, tells the story in stages.

From post town to otaku town

  1. Edo period: Nipponbashi grew at the start of the Kishu Kaido, the road south to Sakai and Wakayama, which was also the pilgrims' road to Sumiyoshi Taisha shrine. The history page calls it the largest post town in Kamigata, the old name for the Osaka and Kyoto region.
  2. 1888: a five-storey tower called Chobokaku went up, 31 metres tall and Osaka's first high-rise. Kimono fabric, small goods, furniture, stationery and toys were sold inside, much like a department store. It came down after only about 15 years.
  3. 1920s and 1930s: Matsuzakaya opened a department store here in 1923, and second-hand bookshops spread, from just over 40 around 1928 to more than 60 in the decade from 1935. The street was then a book town to rival Kanda in Tokyo.
  4. After the war: radio shops made the street grow again, and from the mid-1960s colour televisions, air conditioners and audio equipment turned it into a district of electrical stores.
  5. 1966 and 1967: the tram along Sakaisuji closed in 1966, Matsuzakaya moved away to Tenmabashi the same year, and the Sakaisuji subway line opened in 1967.
  6. 1978: the street took the nickname Den Den Town. Personal stereos were the hit of the day, and digital goods and personal computers followed.
  7. Today: Ota Road, to the west, draws the crowds, more visitors come from abroad, and the street calls itself an otaku town on a par with Akihabara.

The tower has one trace left. The area around it was known by the tower's five storeys, and the name Gokai Hyakkaten (the five-storey department store) is still used on the spot today.

  • 1978the year the street took the name Den Den Town
  • 150+stores along the arcade, by OSAKA-INFO's count
  • 5 minon foot east from Namba Station

The count depends on where you draw the line. OSAKA-INFO's main listing describes "more than 150 stores lining an arcade that stretches about a kilometer east to west of Sakaisuji", while its page for the tourist information centre takes in the wider area and calls it "home to over 500 stores, including those selling anime, games, robots, and maid cafes".

Not everything is aimed at fans. A second OSAKA-INFO page on Den Den Town notes: "Not just electronics and audio equipment, but carpentry tools, machinery, and computer stores line the streets." The same page says that "customers looking for these goods have slowly been on the decline", and it puts that down to big electrical stores opening elsewhere in the city: Bic Camera in Sennichimae and Yodobashi Camera in Umeda.

You will see the name written several ways. OSAKA-INFO uses both Den Den Town and DenDen Town, Japan's national tourism website writes Denden Town, and in Japanese it is でんでんタウン. The district's own name turns up as Nipponbashi and as Nippombashi, which is the spelling in the shopping street's web address, and OSAKA-INFO's directions call the station Nipponbashi, Nippombashi or Nihonbashi depending on the page. All three are the same place.

Sakaisuji and Ota Road: the two streets

Den Den Town is two streets that run side by side, and most visitors walk down one and back up the other. A third, Nansan Dori, is the way in from Namba.

The streets of Den Den Town

  • Sakaisuji Avenue: the main road, lined with the arcade. The big electronics chains and the large hobby buildings are here, with the tourist information centre at the south end by Ebisucho Station.
  • Ota Road: one block west, running parallel to Sakaisuji. The name is short for Otaku Road, and OSAKA-INFO puts most of the area's anime and manga shops on it.
  • Nansan Dori: the street east from Namba Station. OSAKA-INFO's route to Ota Road goes through it.

On Sakaisuji, OSAKA-INFO points to "a number of electronics stores such as Joshin, Sofmap and Bic Camera", and its Sakaisuji page puts the hobby side plainly: "Sakaisuji Street is full of large character goods specialty stores." Ota Road is the place for smaller shops. "Ota Road in particular is packed with niche stores", OSAKA-INFO says, and its page on the street puts it more simply: "It's like heaven for anime fans."

Nipponbashi as a whole is bigger than Den Den Town. OSAKA-INFO's page on Nippombashi describes a district running 1.6 kilometres along Sakaisuji, with Den Den Town on the Naniwa Ward side and Nansan Dori as the dividing line. The Chuo Ward side is a different world, home to the National Bunraku Theatre, Kuromon Ichiba Market and wholesale shoe shops.

The best shops in Den Den Town, by what you collect

Japan's national tourism website gives the short version: "Retail shops offer select wares catering to any number of specific interests, including anime, plastic figurines, trading cards, electronics and more." The shops below are the ones named by the shopping street's own shop list, OSAKA-INFO or both, grouped by what they sell. We took each address and opening time from the shop's own page where we could open one, and otherwise from the shopping street's list or OSAKA-INFO, on Monday 19 October 2026. Hours change, so check the shop's page on the day.

Anime and manga goods

OSAKA-INFO picks out the two names most fans already know: "Stores like Yellow Submarine and Animate can satisfy even the most hard-core Japanese pop culture fan, with their large selections of game and anime/manga merchandise respectively." Yellow Submarine is a card and hobby shop, so it is in the cards section below. animate is the anchor for anime goods.

The shop page bills it as having one of the biggest ranges in western Japan. Three more are worth the walk:

  • Gamers Namba. In the basement of 3-8-16 Nipponbashi, on Ota Road. Books, CDs, Blu-ray discs, DVDs, character goods and games, plus Osaka souvenirs and the glow sticks that fans take to live shows. Open 11:00 to 20:00 on weekdays and 10:00 to 20:00 at weekends and on holidays. It takes contactless Visa, Mastercard, JCB, American Express, Diners Club and UnionPay cards, Suica and ICOCA, PayPay, Alipay and WeChat Pay, but not the Kansai PiTaPa card.
  • K-BOOKS Namba Ichibankan. At 4-10-4 Nipponbashi, five minutes on foot from Nankai Namba Station, open 12:00 to 20:00. It buys and sells character goods, plush toys, figures, posters and clothing for manga, anime, games, VTubers and online singers, and says its range of goods is one of the largest in the area.
  • G-Store Osaka. On the corner where Nansan Dori meets Ota Road, at 7-7 Namba Sennichimae, so you pass it on the walk in from Namba. OSAKA-INFO says "This shop mainly sells official character goods and apparel". Open 11:00 to 20:00, and shut only at New Year and for stocktaking.

For how the bigger chains compare with their Tokyo branches, see the best anime shops in Japan for figures and goods.

Figures, Gunpla and model kits

OSAKA-INFO draws the map for this part of the hobby: "Sakaisuji-dori (Nipponbashi 3-chome to 5-chome) and Ota Road to the west are home to a concentration of specialty shops selling figures, anime goods, plastic models, and more". Every shop in the table is within those few blocks.

Shop Address Hours Good for
Joshin Super Kids Land (main store) 4-12-4 Nipponbashi 10:00 to 20:00, no closing day Gunpla, figures, model kits, model railways, die-cast cars
Super Kids Land Character Hall 4-10-1 Nipponbashi 10:00 to 20:00 Gunpla and Gundam goods, character kits, tools
Volks Osaka Showroom 4-9-18 Nipponbashi 11:00 to 20:00, closed when the building closes Figures, dolls, kits, display cases of collectables
Kotobukiya Nipponbashi 4-15-18 Nipponbashi 11:00 to 20:00 Kotobukiya's own kits and figures, anime and game goods
Jungle Osaka Nipponbashi 3-4-16 Nipponbashi 12:00 to 20:00, 11:00 at weekends and on holidays Figures, kits, anime goods, older robot toys
Jungle Mecha Store 3-7-5 Nipponbashi 12:00 to 20:00, 11:00 at weekends and on holidays Figures and anime goods
Popondetta Osaka Nipponbashi 4-10-3 Nipponbashi, 3F 10:00 to 20:00, to 19:00 on Sundays and holidays Model railways, rental layout

Joshin, the electrical chain, runs two of these. On Character Hall, OSAKA-INFO writes: "The giant Gundam sign is particularly eye-catching on Sakaisuji Street." Inside, the stock goes beyond Gundam to figures, character kits and modelling tools. If you are coming mainly for Gunpla, The Gundam Base Tokyo covers the official shop in Tokyo.

Volks has a whole showroom north of the tourist information centre, which OSAKA-INFO describes as "an entire building filled with character toys, figurines, various models, and dolls". Its own page claims more samples on display than any other shop in Nipponbashi. Most of the first floor and about half of the second are rental cases, glass cabinets of collectable toys and rare finds. The rest of the second floor has goods from current anime and games and PVC figures, and the third floor is for building things: character kits, materials and tools.

Kotobukiya is a maker as well as a shop, and OSAKA-INFO lists its Nipponbashi store with the Ota Road shops. Our guide to anime figure shops goes through its two floors.

For older and odder things, OSAKA-INFO sends readers to Jungle: "The shop is truly a world of hobbies, selling everything from special effects and super alloy robots to the latest works!" The shopping street's list gives Jungle two shops a few blocks apart, the main shop at 3-4-16 and the Mecha Store at 3-7-5. We could not open Jungle's own website on 19 October 2026, so the hours above are from the shopping street's list.

Popondetta, the model railway chain, has a shop on the third floor of 4-10-3 Nipponbashi, above a McDonald's. It sells N gauge, HO gauge and B-Train models from every N gauge maker, including KATO and TOMIX, and labels the condition of each second-hand piece. It also rents time on a layout where you can run trains, priced in the prices section below.

Trading cards

The card shops in Den Den Town follow the Tokyo pattern: packs and single cards at the counter, and a duel space with tables where players can sit down and play. Three are worth knowing.

  • Card Labo Osaka Nipponbashi. On the fifth floor of the same building as animate, Ikeda Building No. 2 at 1-1-3 Nipponbashi-Nishi. The shop calls itself the finish line of Ota Road. Yu-Gi-Oh!, Pokémon, Weiss Schwarz, Vanguard, Duel Masters and other games, with 32 seats in the duel space. Open 11:00 to 20:00 on weekdays and 10:00 to 20:00 at weekends and on holidays.
  • Card Labo Ota Road. The chain's main Ota Road shop, at 4-16-1 Nipponbashi, opposite the animate building. Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh! and ONE PIECE cards among others, also with 32 seats. Open 12:00 to 20:00 from Monday to Thursday and 11:00 to 20:00 from Friday to Sunday and on holidays.
  • Yellow Submarine Namba (main store). At 2-1-3 Namba-Naka. Card game packs and singles, arcade cards, new and used figures and kits, modelling tools and a duel room. Open every day, 12:00 to 20:00 on weekdays and 11:00 to 20:00 at weekends and on holidays.

Both Card Labo shops take Suica, ICOCA, PayPay and Alipay, and neither takes PiTaPa. Neither the shopping street nor OSAKA-INFO names a Pokémon Center in Den Den Town. For the cards themselves, what a pack costs and the official shops in the capital, see our Pokémon card guide for Tokyo.

Retro games and second-hand electronics

Second-hand is what Den Den Town does best. The writer of OSAKA-INFO's feature on the district walked into one shop with "a massive selection of used Nintendo 64 games, as well as even older gaming consoles including SNES and Sega Mega Drive".

The best-known name for old games is Super Potato, which has a shop on Ota Road at 3-8-18 Nipponbashi, on the ground floor of the Hirata Building. Its page claims the biggest range of retro games in western Japan and the most stock in the Kansai region. The list of systems runs from the Famicom, Super Famicom and Nintendo 64 through the Mega Drive, Saturn, Dreamcast and PC Engine to the first two PlayStations, the Neo Geo and rarities such as the Virtual Boy and the Cassette Vision. There is also a corner of plush toys, figures, T-shirts, key rings and cheap Japanese sweets. Open every day, 11:00 to 20:00 on weekdays and 10:00 to 20:00 at weekends and on holidays. Super Potato has a shop in Tokyo too, covered in retro games in Akihabara, along with how to check that a Japanese game will work on your console.

The old electrical trade is still here. OSAKA-INFO calls Den Den Town "a popular location for locals to purchase cheap and used electronics" and names Best Do as a shop for computer parts, alongside shops selling large home appliances and even office furniture. The same writer found a few capsule toy shops on Ota Road, rooms given over to nothing but the machines. Our guide to the gachapon shops in Tokyo explains how they work and what a turn costs.

Where to eat in Den Den Town, and its maid cafes

Food here is mostly quick and cheap. OSAKA-INFO's Sakaisuji page describes Nipponbashi as "an area with many cheap, hearty set meal restaurants", and the writer of its district feature found plenty of restaurants and cafes too, "some even being anime themed". OSAKA-INFO names these three on its Sakaisuji and Ota Road pages.

  • Ichimizen. A tempura bowl restaurant at 3-6-8 Nipponbashi, picked out on the Sakaisuji page as a stop for tired feet: "A large bowl of freshly fried tempura fills the bowl." The menu comes in English, Chinese and Korean. Open 11:00 to 20:30, closed on Mondays.
  • e-maid. A maid cafe at 2-3-6 Namba-Naka, from the Ota Road page, which is blunt about it: "If you come to Nipponbashi, you should definitely try a maid cafe." Here you are "greeted by maids in classic long skirts", and the omurice, rice wrapped in an omelette, is the house staple, made with three eggs, Hokkaido butter and fresh cream. Open 12:00 to 22:30 on weekdays and 11:00 to 22:30 at weekends and on holidays, with irregular closing days.
  • Good Smile x Animate Cafe Osaka Nipponbashi. On the second floor of 4-15-17 Nipponbashi. The rooms and the menu follow whichever anime or game the cafe is working with, and it sells goods made only for the cafe. The tie-ups do not last: "Collaboration works change depending on the season", so look at the cafe's own page before you go. Open 11:00 to 21:30, though the hours can change with each collaboration.

For a proper meal, Japan's national tourism website points you out of the shopping streets: "The casual traveler will also enjoy strolling through the neighboring Kuromon Ichiba marketplace and grabbing dinner in Ura-Namba on the way back to the station." Kuromon is the food market on the Chuo Ward side of Nipponbashi.

The arcade entrance of Kuromon Market with a row of lanterns, a cyclist seen from behind and shoppers
The arcade entrance of Kuromon Market, on the Chuo Ward side of Nipponbashi, a short walk from the shops of Den Den Town · Photo: DVMG, CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Den Den Town prices

Walking around Den Den Town costs nothing. What things cost on the shelves changes with the stock and, for second-hand goods, with the condition of each piece, so we leave shelf prices out. One OSAKA-INFO writer based in Tokyo did find "used electronics stores with more competitive pricing than somewhere like Tokyo", but that is one person's view, not a price survey. These are the fixed prices we could check.

What Price Notes
Entry to the district Free A shopping street, with no gate or ticket
Card tournaments at Card Labo Free or ¥300 The entry fee for each event on both shops' lists for 20 to 23 October 2026
Popondetta rental layout, 20-minute trial ¥700 The same price every day
Popondetta rental layout, 60 minutes ¥700 on weekdays, ¥1,000 at weekends and on holidays The shop's page sets which trains can run on each, so read it first
Nipponbashi Street Festa Free to enter Cosplayers and photographers pay a separate fee
Currency exchange at the information centre The day's rate 12 currencies, though some may not be available on the day
Tax-free shopping From ¥5,000 before tax Spent at a single shop on the same day; see Tax-free shopping further down

Den Den Town opening hours and the information centre

The district keeps no hours as a whole; every shop decides for itself. Of the shops we list, the earliest open at 10:00, the latest at 12:00, and nearly all close at 20:00. The cafes stay open later.

Place Opens Closes Notes
Joshin Super Kids Land (main store) 10:00 20:00 No closing day
animate Osaka Nippombashi 11:00, 10:00 at weekends and on holidays 20:00 Every day of the year
Super Potato 11:00, 10:00 at weekends and on holidays 20:00 Every day
Volks Osaka Showroom 11:00 20:00 Closed only when the building closes
K-BOOKS Namba Ichibankan 12:00 20:00
Card Labo Ota Road 12:00 Monday to Thursday, 11:00 Friday to Sunday and on holidays 20:00
Ichimizen 11:00 20:30 Closed on Mondays
Good Smile x Animate Cafe 11:00 21:30 Can change with each collaboration
e-maid 12:00, 11:00 at weekends and on holidays 22:30 Irregular closing days
Tourist information centre 11:00 19:00 Closed on Wednesdays and over New Year

So what time does Den Den Town close? For shopping, at 20:00. After that, the Good Smile x Animate Cafe is open until 21:30 and e-maid until 22:30.

Nipponbashi General Information Center

The shopping street runs its own information centre at the south end of Sakaisuji, and OSAKA-INFO's Sakaisuji page calls it the first place to visit, marked by the street's support character, Otone-chan. OSAKA-INFO's page for the centre gives the location in one line: "Located right outside the north exit of Ebisucho Station on Osaka Metro Sakaisuji Line."

Exit 1-A of Ebisucho Station on the Osaka Metro Sakaisuji Line, a tiled entrance with stairs leading down to the station
Exit 1A of Ebisucho Station on the Sakaisuji Line. The tourist information centre is about 100 metres north of this exit · Photo: Niiryoku2910, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Nipponbashi General Information Center, 5-9-12 Nipponbashi, Naniwa Ward, about 100 metres north of Ebisucho Station Exit 1A · Open in Google Maps

Where to start in Den Den Town

The arcade along Sakaisuji is about a kilometre long, with Ota Road one block to the west, so it is easy to walk the lot. The order matters less than where you begin, and that depends on what you collect.

Four ways into Den Den Town

  • Anime and manga goods: walk in from Namba along Nansan Dori to G-Store Osaka on the corner of Ota Road. Follow Ota Road for Gamers Namba at 3-8-16 and K-BOOKS at 4-10-4, and end at animate, 1-1-3 Nipponbashi-Nishi.
  • Figures and kits: stay on Sakaisuji. Jungle is at 3-4-16, Volks at 4-9-18, Character Hall at 4-10-1 and Joshin Super Kids Land at 4-12-4. Finish at Kotobukiya, 4-15-18, which OSAKA-INFO lists with the Ota Road shops.
  • Trading cards: Card Labo has two shops facing each other, one inside the animate building and one across the street from it. Yellow Submarine is at 2-1-3 Namba-Naka.
  • Retro games: start at Super Potato, 3-8-18 on Ota Road, then go to Sakaisuji for Jungle's older robot toys and the used electronics shops.

Starting from Ebisucho Station instead puts the tourist information centre first, which helps if you need a map, cash or somewhere to leave a bag.

Den Den Town vs Akihabara

Everyone compares the two. OSAKA-INFO's page on the information centre says Nipponbashi "rivals Tokyo's Akihabara as one of the largest electronics shopping districts in Western Japan and is also known as a pop culture district", and its page on Nippombashi opens with a local saying: "Akiba in the east, Pombashi in the west." Akiba is the short name for Akihabara, and Pombashi for Nipponbashi.

Den Den Town Akihabara
City Osaka, in Nipponbashi Tokyo
From a main station Five minutes on foot east of Namba Station From Tokyo Station, four minutes by JR Yamanote Line
From the airport About 40 minutes by express from Kansai Airport to Nankai Namba About 45 minutes from Haneda and roughly 90 from Narita
Shop hours Opening from 10:00 to 12:00, closing at 20:00 Usually from 10:00 or 11:00 to about 20:00
Later than 20:00 Cafes, until 22:30 at e-maid Two big electrical stores, until 22:00
Car-free street Sakaisuji, once a year on Street Festa day Chuo-dori on Sunday afternoons, except in rain
Retro games Super Potato on Ota Road Super Potato, on three floors, 3F to 5F

If you are in Osaka, Den Den Town is the one to see. animate and Super Potato, two of the big names in our Akihabara guide, both have a shop here, and Popondetta's page says its Nipponbashi shop aims for a bigger range of model trains than its Akihabara shop and its online store. If your trip is Tokyo only, start with what to buy in Akihabara, and see how Akihabara and Ikebukuro compare for the capital's other anime district.

Is Den Den Town worth visiting?

Yes, if you collect anything at all. Japan's national tourism website puts it simply: "Denden Town is a hobbyist's paradise." OSAKA-INFO's main page says much the same: "What's most attractive about Nipponbashi DenDen Town is its deep expertise and specialization." How long to give it depends on how much the hobbies mean to you, and the national website's estimate is wide: "a trip will span anywhere from 20 minutes to hours".

Den Den Town suits you if

  • You collect one thing in depth: figures, Gunpla, cards, retro games and model trains each have shops that do little else.
  • You like second-hand: many shops deal in used goods and junk, and the old electrical trade is still here.
  • You are staying near Namba: it is a five-minute walk east of the station, and Dotonbori and Kuromon Market are close by.
  • You want to see cosplay: the Nipponbashi Street Festa fills the street once a year, and it is free to watch.

If anime and games mean nothing to you, a short walk down Sakaisuji may be enough.

How to get to Den Den Town

Den Den Town has an Osaka Metro station at each end, both on the Sakaisuji Line: Nipponbashi to the north and Ebisucho to the south. Namba is a few minutes' walk to the west. Japan's national tourism website gives the simplest version: "From Namba Station, walk approximately five minutes directly east."

Den Den Town, along Sakaisuji Avenue in Nipponbashi, Naniwa Ward, Osaka · Open in Google Maps
Station Lines Exit On foot
Namba Osaka Metro Midosuji Line Exit 4 About 5 minutes
Nankai Namba Nankai Line South exit Right beside it, by OSAKA-INFO's main page, and 8 minutes to the information centre
Nipponbashi Osaka Metro Sakaisuji and Sennichimae lines, Kintetsu Exit 5 About 5 minutes
Ebisucho Osaka Metro Sakaisuji Line 1A for the information centre, North A or 1-B on OSAKA-INFO's pages The information centre is about 100 metres north of Exit 1A

The writer of OSAKA-INFO's feature on the district gives a line for each station. From Namba, "from the east side of Namba Station, the top of Den Den Town is just a five-minute walk away". From Nippombashi Station it is "just a short walk south down Sakaisuji and you're there!" From Ebisucho you "head north and within a couple of minutes you will be in Den Den Town!" OSAKA-INFO's main page adds the private railway: "Right next to the south exit of Namba Station on the Nankai Line."

Pick the station by where you want to start. Nipponbashi puts you at the north end of Sakaisuji, Ebisucho at the south end by the information centre, and Namba on the Ota Road side.

Ticket gates at Nippombashi Station on the Osaka Metro, with overhead signs pointing to the Sakaisuji and Sennichimae line platforms
Ticket gates at Osaka Metro's Nippombashi Station, where the Sakaisuji and Sennichimae lines meet, at the north end of Den Den Town · Photo: squeuei from Japan, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons

From Namba Station

Volks gives step-by-step directions to its showroom, and they make a good route through the district. From Namba, take the exit signposted for Namba CITY and walk straight east along Nansan Dori. Turn right at the second corner and walk south down Ota Road. When the large Volks sign comes into view on your left, cross Sakaisuji. From Nippombashi Station, Volks says to leave by Exit 5 and walk south along Sakaisuji until the building with the large sign is on your left, roughly a 15-minute walk.

From Kansai Airport

OSAKA-INFO's page for the information centre gives the route from the airport. An express from Kansai International Airport reaches Nankai Namba Station in about 40 minutes, and the centre is about 8 minutes' walk from there. If you arrive with a suitcase, the centre can keep it for a short time, but it is closed on Wednesdays.

Den Den Town to Dotonbori

The two are separate districts, and both are close to Namba Station. Dotonbori is in Chuo Ward, and OSAKA-INFO puts it "Right outside Namba Station on the Nankai and Kintetsu Railways and Osaka Metro Midosuji, Sennichimae, and Yotsubashi Lines". Den Den Town is in Naniwa Ward, about five minutes on foot east of the same station. No train is needed: walk back to Namba and on to Dotonbori. Kuromon Market, on the Chuo Ward side of Nipponbashi, fits into the same walk.

Nipponbashi Street Festa

Once a year Sakaisuji closes to cars and fills with cosplayers. OSAKA-INFO says the festa has been "primarily held at Nipponbashi DenDen Town since 2005" and calls it "the largest cosplay event in the entire country with over 10,000 cosplayers participating from all over the nation". The festa has its own site on the shopping street's website, and that is the place to check the date.

Each venue keeps its own hours, and the roads close for longer than the events run. These were the times for 2026.

Venue Event hours Closed to traffic
Sakaisuji, open to people on foot 12:00 to 15:00 11:00 to 15:30
Ota Road 12:00 to 14:30 10:00 to 18:00
Street Festa Square, at Times Osaka Namba 11:00 to 17:00
Gokai Hiroba 11:00 to 17:00
Namba Carnival Mall 11:00 to 17:00

The cosplay changing rooms opened from 10:00 to 17:30, though not all of them kept the same hours. The programme had the Nipponbashi Cosplay Festival, a cosplay parade that you had to apply to join in advance, a parade of the area's maid and themed cafes, an opening stage and booths along the street. Taking part in the cosplay events cost money; watching cost nothing.

Festa day can be hot. In 2026 the shopping street posted a request about heatstroke to visitors two days before the festa, and afterwards it thanked the cosplayers for keeping the event going in heat that was unusual for the season. Bring water and something to keep the sun off.

OSAKA-INFO's festa page gives longer walks to the event than its main page gives to the district: about 14 minutes from the south-east Exit 4 of Namba Station, about 8 minutes from Nankai Namba, about 10 minutes from Nipponbashi Station and about 7 minutes from Ebisucho.

Tax-free shopping in Den Den Town

Tax-free shopping is newer here than the shops themselves. The OSAKA-INFO writer noticed "some tax-free stores opening up to accommodate for the influx of foreign travellers". Among the shop pages we read, animate's lists tax-free service, and Card Labo Ota Road's page says in English: "We've also implemented a tax-free system for overseas customers." The other shop pages we read did not say whether that shop offers it, so ask the staff first, and keep your passport on you for the airport check.

On 1 November 2026, Japan's tax-free shopping switches to a refund scheme. Up to 31 October, the consumption tax is simply left off the bill. From 1 November it stays in the price at the counter, and the claim is made at the airport: customs see that you are leaving with the goods, and only then is the tax repaid.

Den Den Town purchases from 1 November 2026

  1. Paying: the floor is ¥5,000, not counting tax, spent in one day at a single tax-free shop. You pay the tax-inclusive price at the counter.
  2. Carrying: hold on to everything you bought. Customs treat each receipt as one unit, so a single missing item cancels the refund for the whole receipt. Things finished in Japan, food and cosmetics for example, earn nothing back.
  3. Leaving: you have 90 days from the purchase. Before bag drop, take your passport to a tax-free kiosk in the departure lobby. Goods already eaten or used have to be declared at the customs counter instead.
  4. At Kansai: Visit Japan Web can stand in for the kiosk, in the departure lobby before security. Seven airports offer this; besides Kansai, they are Haneda, Narita, New Chitose, Chubu, Fukuoka and Naha.
  5. Getting paid: the shop pays, or a refund company does it for the shop. Each shop decides how, so ask.

To estimate the refund, try our tax-free refund calculator. Our Visit Japan Web explainer covers the service itself.

Frequently asked questions

Is Den Den Town in Osaka or Tokyo?

Osaka. Den Den Town is in Nipponbashi, Naniwa Ward, in the south of central Osaka. Its counterpart in Tokyo is Akihabara, which OSAKA-INFO compares it with.

Where is Den Den Town?

Along Sakaisuji Avenue in Naniwa Ward, from Nipponbashi Station south to Ebisucho Station, with Ota Road one block to the west. It is about five minutes' walk east of Namba Station.

Is Den Den Town in Dotonbori?

No. Dotonbori is in Chuo Ward, right outside Namba Station, and Den Den Town is in Naniwa Ward, east of the station, five minutes or so on foot. They are close enough to walk between, so you can do both on the same day.

What is Den Den Town known for?

Anime and manga goods, figures and model kits, trading cards, retro games and second-hand electronics. It grew as a district of electrical shops and took the name Den Den Town in 1978. Many of its shops deal in used goods.

What time does Den Den Town close?

Most shops close at 20:00. A few cafes stay open later: the Good Smile x Animate Cafe until 21:30 and e-maid until 22:30. The shops open between 10:00 and 12:00.

Is Den Den Town open every day?

The district itself never shuts; closing days are up to each shop. animate and Super Potato are open every day. Ichimizen closes on Mondays and the tourist information centre on Wednesdays.

How long should I spend in Den Den Town?

Japan's national tourism website says a visit can take anything from 20 minutes to several hours. A walk down Sakaisuji and back up Ota Road is quick. If you collect, plan around the shops you want most, since nearly all close at 20:00.

Den Den Town or Akihabara?

Go to the one in the city you are visiting. Both grew from electrical districts into anime and hobby districts, and animate and Super Potato have shops in both. If you have time in both cities, the guide above compares them side by side.

Does Den Den Town sell Pokémon cards?

Yes, at the card shops. Both Card Labo shops, one in the animate building and one opposite it, list Pokémon cards, and Yellow Submarine Namba at 2-1-3 Namba-Naka sells card game packs and singles. Neither the shopping street nor OSAKA-INFO names a Pokémon Center in Den Den Town.

Where is Super Potato in Den Den Town?

On Ota Road, at 3-8-18 Nipponbashi, on the ground floor of the Hirata Building. It opens daily, at 11:00 on weekdays and 10:00 at weekends and on holidays, and closes at 20:00.

Are there maid cafes in Den Den Town?

Yes. OSAKA-INFO lists e-maid at 2-3-6 Namba-Naka, open until 22:30. At the 2026 Street Festa, the area's maid and themed cafes had their own parade.

Does Den Den Town have tax-free shopping?

Some shops offer it. animate and Card Labo Ota Road say so on their own pages, and elsewhere you should ask the staff. From 1 November 2026, shops charge the tax at the counter, and it is repaid once customs at the airport have seen the goods leave with you. The floor is ¥5,000 before tax, and it counts one shop and one day at a time.

When is the Nipponbashi Street Festa?

In May in recent years: Sunday 18 May 2025 and Sunday 17 May 2026. The 2027 date was not on any page we checked on 19 October 2026. Pages that say March are out of date.

Where is the tourist information centre?

At 5-9-12 Nipponbashi, about 100 metres north of Exit 1A of Ebisucho Station. It is open from 11:00 to 19:00 and closed on Wednesdays and over New Year. It changes money, keeps luggage for a short time and has maps in English.

How do I get from Kansai Airport to Den Den Town?

By Nankai express to Nankai Namba Station, about 40 minutes, then on foot. OSAKA-INFO gives 8 minutes on foot from Nankai Namba to the tourist information centre.

Sources

Official and primary sources used for this page. Checked October 19, 2026.

Show all 27 sources

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To cite or link to this page: Den Den Town in Osaka: the two shopping streets, the best shops for anime, figures, cards and retro games, shop hours and prices, Den Den Town vs Akihabara, and the way there from Namba — Japan Pocket Guide, https://japanpocketguide.com/things-to-do/den-den-town-osaka/