APRIL 2020 businesstraveller.comLEOPATRIZI/ISTOCK;FOTOVOYAGER/ISTOCKABOVE:Streetfood
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its guide to the city – and there are numerous businesses
related to the environment, energ y, the internet of things,
robot technologies, and health and medical services.
For Chris King, a UK businessperson based in Osaka
whose projects include Food Tours Japan, the city also has
great potential for entrepreneurs. The Osaka Innovation
Hub, which is backed by the local government, estimates
that it is home to 1,000 early-stage start-ups. “Osaka is a
merchant city where small business has always thrived, and
continues to do so,” King says. “I think Osakans’ warmth,
friendliness and good-humoured nature has much to do
with historically viewing everyone as a potential customer.
It’s a great city to live in and the cost of doing business here
is very favourable.”
In 2019, the Economist Intelligence Unit ranked Osaka
as the world’s third safest and fourth most-liveable city
based on several factors, including quality of healthcare,
education, infrastructure and stability. According to
Numbeo, which compares some six million prices in 9,300
cities worldwide, consumer prices are on average 4 per cent
cheaper and rents 40 per cent cheaper than in Tokyo.HIGH ENERGY
The heart of Osaka City can be thought of as roughly
being divided into three main urban hubs – Kita (north)
and Minami (south), plus the small Honmachi areaINSIDER FOOD TIPS
“Osaka is a foodie’s paradise. There’s great street
food, but also fine dining. For something special, I’d
recommend a category called kappo,” says Asako
Onoyama, chief concierge at the Intercontinental Osaka.
“Focused on high-quality seasonal ingredients and
multiple small dishes, it’s omakase style – the chefs talk
to you to find out what you like and then decide what
to cook for you.” As part of the hotel’s Foodies in Osaka
plan, Onoyama can organise a night at one of Osaka’s
kappo restaurants. Or try a counter seat at the Michelin-
starred Naniwa Kappo Kigawa in Namba (roughly
¥15,000/£115 for dinner; 1-7-7 Dotonbori).between them. The north, centred on the busy, high-rise
Umeda neighbourhood and Osaka Station, is the city’s
main business and hotel district, as well as being home to
department stores, bars and restaurants. The south’s lively
Shinsaibashi and Namba neighbourhoods are mostly
about entertainment – the crowded streets here epitomise
Osaka’s high-energ y, fun-loving, neon-illuminated
reputation. Around that core, you also have Shin-Osaka
(where the bullet train station is located) north of Kita
and several other areas.
Like Japan’s other big cities – and Osaka is the third
biggest by population, behind Tokyo and Yokohama- Osaka frequently feels like it is under constant
redevelopment. With the Osaka Expo 2025 on the
horizon, and, with it, an estimated 28 million additional
visitors expected during the 184-day event, construction
is set to move up another gear.
“In the whole city, there will be more parks, cultural
facilities and hotels ahead of the Expo,” says Asako
Onoyama, chief concierge at the Intercontinental Osaka,
a 272-room property located by Osaka Station. “There’s
already a lot happening in our neighbourhood in Umeda.”
Starting with the creation of Grand Front Osaka – a
multi-purpose complex adjoining the Intercontinental
that opened in 2013 – the ongoing Umekita development
project is seeing the area immediately north of the station