Hotel Hankyu International, Osaka

Advantages: Good Location, Lots of stores, the big red Ferris Wheel
Disadvantages: Busy (very busy)

...Hep 5 is located in central Osaka, and competes with quite a few other stores and shopping centres for your attention. Immediately nearby you will find Yodabashi Camera building with a wide variety of stores and also Hep Navio, the Hankyu shopping centre and scores of shotengai (shopping streets). A must do for Hep 5 is the ferris wheel on the top. A fun ride and a great view over town, not too many shopping centres decide to put Ferris Wheels on the top! Its on the 7th floor and costs about 800 yen for a ride. The Shopping Centre itself is very big, with the obligatory games arcade - which does have a few fun rides (try the virtual hanglider). There is also a food court, with a few restaurants. There are escalators inside, or you can wait (its a popular choice) and get one of the elevators, which have a glass front... Read review

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Advantages: View and fake mist
Disadvantages: Glass Elevator

...selling your usual things. The cafe doesnt have a great amount of choice but is fine for a snack. Downstairs (in between the towers) there is also a cinema that will occasionally run English movies, and there are often markets, or festivals (I went to an International Beer Festival and a Christmas Market). There is also a small garden downstairs and a restaurant. The rest of the building is offices. It is a short walk from Umeda station and easily visible so you dont need a map (as long as you know what the building looks like). The sky building is 173 meter tall and has two towers which are connected with each other on the 39th floor. More information (including pics) can be found at http://www.skybldg.co.jp/ http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e4002.html The sky building costs 700 yen to enter, but if you are only in Osaka for a short time... Read review

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Advantages: clean and modern
Disadvantages: long walks

...Kansai is Japan's nesest international airport, serving the cities of Osaka, Kyoto and Kobe. It's built on reclaimed land in the sea, so it makes for an interesting approach as you get closer and closer to the water. On arrival in the terminal, be prepared for a hike - Kansai is enormous and your hike to immigration will involve lots of corridors and flights of stairs. Goodness knoes how a wheelchair user or someone with a pushchair would manage. Immigration are efficient and as long as your paperwork is in order you shouldn't wait too long. Once through immigration bagage collection is efficient too. I wasn't stopped by Customs, but several westerners were. Officials speak English, so you should have no problem with their questions! There is a railway station in the airport which is the best way from the airport to Osaka... Read review

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