Places to go in Osaka
 

I was just wondering if you guys know some places that I MUST visit in Osaka. I am going to Osaka this summer and I really want to visit some stores to pick up some goodies for my car. I know for sure I will be heading to UpGarage but other than that is there any place that I must go? And say if I do end up finding something like a TRD lip in UpGarage does anyone know the estimate to ship it back to North America?

TRD lip is easy to get out here. If it were me, I would try and find something that is very difficult to get ahold of here stateside/eh side

As far as locations, I have no idea cause I've never been but I have a few friends that have gone and they said that it's not to difficult to travel by using the trains. Maybe check out Ebisu or Meihan-provided that they aren't too far.

Maybe check and see if there's an Autobacs nearby as well.

I only said the TRD lip because I saw like a almost new one will only cost me 200 bucks or so, even if I spend like 150 to ship it back it'll be a mint condition lip for 350, which is a steal tbh. What I really want are stuff that usually are hard to get here in North America (not overpriced), for example the Rocket Bunny street version rear lip, which is small enough for handheld and i would save a fortune because I am buying directly from source. Rocket Bunny street rear lip costs like 500 shipped from Japan parts so I suspect it to be like 300 if I get it directly from Japan.

I know for a fact there will be an Autobacs near by, that I will check out for sure. I just want to know if there are some places where if I missed out I would punch myself hahaha

i don't care where you go (i was on okinawa, didn't get to the mainland) but you NEED to get some japanese curry. you will thank me later. :D or crave it forever. one or the other.

Oh for sure XD I will be there for a week or so and I'm just going to ball out on food, since I'm Chinese so I'm already used to Japanese food but this time it'll just be 10x better and of course double the price, but you get what you pay for, it can't get fresher than straight out of the fish market in the morning XD

I lived on the south side of Osaka for a year, about 20 years ago. So, it's been a while, and my memories have faded, but I never really felt that there were 'must see' items in Osaka, and I don't have any pictures of must see places from there. It's primarily a commercial city, kind of like the Chicago of Japan. For 'must see' tourist stuff, we went to Kyoto (imperial city) where you can still see traditional dress/geisha/temples/etc., and Nara (famous temples). Both of those are close enough for a day trip.

In Osaka, I always enjoyed going through the Umeda subway/train station, and the underground malls around it (a novelty to me as I hadn't been to NY's Penn Station yet). Back in that day, they had a monster TV in the station that people would meet at, so it had good people watching.

Otherwise, to quote Pulp Fiction, "It's the little differences. I mean, they got the same shit over there that we got here, but it's just...it's just, there it's a little different." (In this case, it might be a little more than just a little different.)

So, my number one recommendation is to walk around, and go in every shop/store/whatever with an open door. Just walk. Get lost. It's an amazingly safe country. The little things that made an impression on me all those years ago: Beer vending machines on the street. Pizza toppings (I never did reconcile myself to squid pizza). Convenience stores (e.g. 7-11)and, basically, the different snack foods, sweets, and drinks they had. Teriyaki Burger at McDonalds. And, yes, Japanese curry. Yum.
Oh, make sure to try Okanomiyaki, and hit up an Izakaya (for drinks and food) one night, at least.

Hope this helps. Enjoy.

Will do, I go to HK every once in a while so the Asian culture/style (all the funky stuff) I am used to. I guess I will need to research some shops like UpGarage and splurge there. Food I pretty much know what I'm going to get. EVERYTHING TRADITIONAL I CAN'T GET IN CANADA! XD. I can't wait for this trip and really want to see how the JDM scene there will be like.

p.s I heard that they only sell smokes at vending machines which requires a scan on Japanese ID, is this true? Or can I just head into a 7-11 and just buy smokes with my passport as ID?

You don't need ID if you just go to a family mart, Lawson, etc. Well unless you look like a 12 year old. You're not going to see much of a "scene", mostly just minivans and Japanese cars you've never seen before. I'm actually in Tokyo now as I'm typing this.

Thank you! Is there a must visit car accessories place I must visit in tokyo? And I assume if I went to a wreckers they will probably ignore me if I dont speak Japanese right? I want to see if im lucky enough to land on some jdm headlights haha


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Someone in the NW section was just over there and picked up some headlights, not sure how he got them but you might want to ask around. A wrecking yard sometimes tends to be private property, and you might have a hard time to get access to one without a translator. They also tend to be in the BFE. I'm new to Subaru, so not sure where the popular spots are to find parts. Sounds like you're wanting to see any modded cars in general, I would prob just say stop by a super autobacs. It's common to see skylines and 86's, maybe even watch one on the dyno if you're lucky. I stopped by one today and snapped a pic of what you might find there. Saw about half a dozen 86's today but no BRZ's during my trip unfortunately.

Ōsaka-jō

As another Tokyo resident I'll make a couple of comments

As was said unless you look 12 you won't be asked for ID for smokes (or beer or whatever), you'll just have to press the screen to confirm that you're 20. All the vending machines need a tasbo so you won't be able to use them unless you're in a bar, they'll usually have one so you can just ask.

Japan has more in common with France than Hong Kong, seriously, HK and Japan are completely different. And trust me, on the food side you really cannot get everything in canada.

Don't obsess about the car stuff too much but if you do look for events, not shops. Whether thats a track day or a car show or something like that events are much more interesting and give you a decent chance to meet fellow enthusiasts, chat about things etc.

That said, I can probably send you some stuff with some shops, wreckers and stuff. About 10 years ago when I was racing we used to fly to japan to pick up parts for the racecars so I put together a bit of a list with maps etc of all the car related places. I haven't looked at it in 10 years and I know there's a bunch of places that are out of date but I can send it to you so you get a bit of an idea and then if there's places you want to visit I can check to see if they're still open, haven't moved etc.

Where I live it's far more exotic cars than modded JDM stuff (even had an F40 drive past me a couple of weeks back) and to be honest the JDM scene is much much quieter and underground than it used to be. It used to be pretty easy to go out and see night drifting and the like but these days, well, not so much.

During the day I find Osaka a bit dull, you're much better off going up to Kyoto, across to Nara, Himeji etc. Nights out in Osaka are awesome though, go nuts in shinsaibashi, kitashinchi etc, I've had some completely crazy nights out there (including christmas eve last week when I 'missed' the last shinkansen back to Tokyo and stayed the night there instead)

Thank you very much for the inputs! I will def try all your recommendations. I can't wait to go XD