Bay Area

Plaza and shopping centre, which houses an aquarium, Ferris wheel, an art gallery, Legoland and a cruise terminal. On the weekend, musicians and street performers offer additional entertainment to people outside the aquarium.

This is one of the world's largest aquariums, with 11,000 tons of water and plenty of sharks (including a whale shark), dolphins, otters, seals, and other sea creatures. The largest tank, representing the Pacific Ocean with 5,400 tons is nothing but overwhelming. Can get intensely crowded, but the aquarium is a spiral featuring the same tanks, and crowds thin out as you get to deeper views of each tank. Back Stage Viewing is available for an additional fee.

One of the largest Ferris wheels, overlooking Osaka Bay and surrounding areas such as Mount Ikoma to the east, Akashi Kaikyō Bridge to the west, Kansai International Airport to the south, and the Rokko Mountains to the north. 17-minute ride. There is an option of a gondola with a see-through floor for no additional cost, but lines for these gondolas tend to be dramatically longer as they are fewer and in greater demand (most report a fairly underwhelming experience too).

Food theme park (or food court, depending on who you ask), with an aesthetic and theme of nostalgia for the 1960s streets of Osaka. Various Osaka delicacies are available here, including Takoyaki, Okonomiyaki, Kushikatsu, and Ikayaki.

Without a doubt, the best sludge center you've ever seen. The incineration plant makes other waste facilities look like dumps. These two buildings were designed by eccentric Austrian architect Friedensreich Hundertwasser. They are fantastical works that have to be seen to be believed. There are display panels in the lobby of the sludge centre. Tours are available if you contact the facilities in advance, but Hundertwasser's work is on the outside: inside, these are functioning waste treatment facilities. When you arrive, make sure to check the bus schedule to find out when you can leave.

Maishima Pottery Village opened in Osaka’s manmade island in 1998 for the education and promotion of naniwazuyaki, made from the vast amounts of unwanted marine clay which resulted from the construction of Kansai International Airport. The main building has studios with electric and momentum potter’s wheels, rooms for preparing clay and glazes, a gallery, a noborigama climbing kiln and an anagama tunnel kiln. There are also studios for visitors to experience hand-building and painting.