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Blog, English School Articles · December 7, 2009

スミス英会話川西校 梅田スカイビル Umeda Sky Building – a great outing

You are here: Home / Blog / スミス英会話川西校 梅田スカイビル Umeda Sky Building – a great outing
Osaka Bay - late afternoon view
Osaka Bay - late afternoon view

Whenever I ask students at my English school, Smith’s School of English, Kawanishi スミス英会話川西校, which cities in Japan they would recommend for a visit by overseas visitors, they invariably say Kyoto 京都, occasionally adding Nara 奈良市, and even more rarely, Tokyo. Only one has ever suggested Osaka 大阪市, which is also my choice. Why? Well, to me, tucked away (phrase) between the skyscrapers is the real Japan, the old, often slightly shabby, but authentic parts of this fascinating country: the magic of Tenjimbashisuji 天神橋筋, longest shopping arcade in Japan, but also with a real flavour of old Kansai (and delicious sushi), and even to me, the old world charm of Shin Sekai 新世界 (“New World”??).

Patterns
Patterns
Reflections
Reflections

But I have found some of the newer parts of Osaka really very lovely and worth a visit. One of my students had mentioned to me that there was a German style Christmas market at Umeda Sky Building 梅田スカイビル, so I suggested to Megumi, my wife, that we pay it a visit. We had always enjoyed these types of market in London before we moved to Japan.

So on a recent beautiful autumn Sunday afternoon we set off to Osaka 大阪市. The Christmas market was OK, but what really took our breath away was the view from the top of the building. Seldom has a destination more than lived up to expectations as this one. I have seen the building many times over the years that I visited Japan, always from the window of the Shinkansen 新幹線, and more recently, as a landmark on my numerous visits to Umeda 梅田, and I have always wanted to visit it. I find it a beautiful cross between architecture and engineering. Close up the design is staggering; it really works – and I don’t often say that about modern structures. On the day of our visit the morning had been foggy, but the afternoon was lovely with a gentle mist giving the sun a golden glow.

 

 The ride to the top is quite dramatic. First an elevator to the 40th floor, and then an escalator ride suspended almost 200 metres above the ground takes you to the Floating Garden Observatory. This comprises two levels, one indoors with restaurant, coffee shop and seating areas to enjoy the view. This is very much aimed at young couples with many “Love Seats” where they can sit in their own world and enjoy the views, which are amazing. On the lovely day that we chose to view Osaka , it could compete with any modern city on Earth for the beauty of the view.

.........but better at night
.........but better at night

 

Great for young lovers
Great for young lovers
It seems that courting couples are well provided for in Japan, with many locations very much aimed at giving them a secluded place from where to take in the view. 

 

 

 

Almost dark
Almost dark
Christmas Tree
Christmas Tree

 

Evening fun
Evening fun

The upper level of the observatory is open air, and as the sun sank low the view became breathtaking. As sunset approached many people arrived, most of them armed with cameras, to capture the images that unfolded. I found both the building and the view, and sometimes a combination of both, kept me taking photos until it was dark. This truly was a memorable day, and I am sure that this will not be my last visit to this landmark.

It only remains to say thank you to the student who told me about the German Christmas Market.
I also challenge any of our students to count how many phrases I have used; I always try to drop in a few.
John
ジョン
スミス英会話川西市

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Filed Under: Blog, English School Articles Tagged With: english school Kawanishi, English Schools Kawanishi, Floating Garden Observatory, Kawanishi, Osaka, photographs osaka, photography osaka, Shin Sekai, Shinkansen, sightseeing osaka, Smith's School of English, Tenjimbashisuji, Umeda, Umeda Sky Building, スミス英会話川西校, 大阪市, 天神橋筋, 新世界, 新幹線, 梅田, 梅田スカイビル, 英会話川西校

Mark Smith

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Comments

  1. Derek says

    December 8, 2009 at 11:58 pm

    John,

    I and my wife took my parents to the Sky Building when they came to Japan for our wedding in the summer of 2005. They enjoyed it. The view of the city there really is great. We had some coffee at the coffee shop on the first floor of the observatory. I didn’t know there was a second level that is open air. I’ll check it out next time, as I’d like to go again.

    I saw the German Christmas market last year with my wife and some students. We tried some German licorice that had some kind of strawberry filling inside which was interesting.

    Nice photos! My favourite one is the sunset one. Thank you for the nice post.

    Derek
    SSE Tsukaguchi

    Reply

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