Japan's tallest Ferris wheel (123m), and the fifth tallest in the world, opened in 2016 and offers sweeping views over Expo Park and the Tower of the Sun statue. Not for acrophobes, the gondolas come with transparent floors to peer down through on the 18-minute rotation.
Redhorse Osaka Ferris Wheel
Osaka
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
18.83 MILES
The covered Nishiki Market (Nishiki-kōji Ichiba) is one of Kyoto’s real highlights, especially if you have an interest in cooking and dining. Commonly…
11.15 MILES
This César Pelli–designed tower, which opened in March 2014, is Japan's tallest building (300m, 60 storeys). The observatory on the 16th floor is free,…
16.39 MILES
The thick green bamboo stalks seem to continue endlessly in every direction and there’s a strange quality to the light at this famous bamboo grove, which…
19.13 MILES
Nara's star attraction is its Daibutsu (Great Buddha), one of the largest bronze statues in the world. It was unveiled in 752, upon the completion of the…
28.32 MILES
Located atop 848m-high Hiei-zan (the mountain that dominates the skyline in the northeast of the city), the Enryaku-ji complex is an entire world of…
17.48 MILES
Hōryū-ji was founded in 607 by Prince Shōtoku, considered by many to be the patron saint of Japanese Buddhism. It's renowned not only as one of the oldest…
19.19 MILES
A buzzing hive of activity perched on a hill overlooking the basin of Kyoto, Kiyomizu-dera is one of Kyoto's most popular and most enjoyable temples. It…
25.29 MILES
Located high on a thickly wooded mountain, Kurama-dera is one of the few temples in modern Japan that manages to retain an air of real spirituality. This…
Nearby Osaka attractions
0.26 MILES
The 70m-tall Tower of the Sun was created by Japanese artist Okamoto Tarō for Osaka's Expo '70. While the curious three-faced creature (there's one face…
2. National Museum of Ethnology
0.56 MILES
This ambitious museum showcases the world's cultures, presenting them as the continuous (and tangled) strings that they are. There are plenty of…
3. Open-Air Museum of Old Japanese Farmhouses
3.25 MILES
Easier than a trip to the countryside is a visit to this collection of traditional Japanese country houses, transported here and painstakingly…
4. Momofuku Andō Instant Ramen Museum
6.24 MILES
From its humble invention in 1958 by Andō Momofuku (1910–2007; later chair of Nissin Foods), instant rāmen has become a global business and one of Japan's…
5. Osaka Museum of Housing & Living
6.83 MILES
Two subway stops from Umeda, this museum contains a life-sized reproduction of an 1830s Osaka neighbourhood with shophouses, drug stores, an old-style…
7.38 MILES
Japan's largest covered shopping arcade, which began as a wet market during the Edo period (1604–1868), stretches 2.6km over six blocks. The majority of…
7.44 MILES
Osaka's landmark Sky Building (1993) resembles a 40-storey, space-age Arc de Triomphe. Twin towers are connected at the top by a 'floating garden' (really…
7.66 MILES
Hiding in plain sight amid the skyscrapers of Umeda, this 1300-year-old shrine owes its fame to one of Japan's best-known tragic plays (based on true…