TAKANAWA GATEWAY CITY | Review by 陳毅榮

Don Quijote Dotonbori Store

Known for its late-night hours, quirky shelf displays, and handwritten promotional signs, Don Quijote is a beloved all-in-one discount store. The Dotonbori branch is especially eye-catching thanks to its iconic yellow Ferris wheel attached to the building’s façade-now a well-known landmark along the Dotonbori River in Osaka’s Minami district.

• Shinsaibashi, Namba, Nipponbashi (Minami)
• Commercial Buildings

Osaka Ikuno KoreaTown (Miyuki-dori Shopping Street)

Osaka Ikuno Korea Town refers to the “Miyuki-dori Shopping Street, Miyuki-dori Central Shopping Street, and Miyuki-dori East Shopping Street”. The area is the home of Miyukimori Tenjingu Shrine, which has a history of 1,600 years. It is a shopping street with about 120 stores lined up along a 500-meter stretch from east to west.

• Tsuruhashi, Eastern Osaka
• Shopping Streets

Tsutenkaku Tower

In 1912, a 75-meter steel tower modeled after the Eiffel Tower was built atop a building inspired by the Arc de Triomphe. It is said that Nangaku Fujisawa, a Confucian scholar from the early Meiji period, named it Tsutenkaku, meaning “a tall building reaching toward heaven.” The original tower was later dismantled following a fire, but strong public demand led to the construction of the current second-generation Tsutenkaku Tower in 1956. Standing 108 meters tall, it is 33 meters higher than the original.

• Tennoji, Shinsekai
• Observatories