Osaka's most atmospheric old neighbourhood, built around the distinctive Tsutenkaku Tower in the southern part of the city. Shinsekai was designed in 1912 as a modern pleasure district modelled simultaneously on Paris and Coney Island; today it is a neighbourhood of neon signs, kushikatsu (deep-fried skewer) bars, cheap restaurants, and retro arcades that feels unlike anywhere else in Japan.
The tower itself — rebuilt in 1956 after the original was demolished for scrap metal during the war — has an observation deck and a roof-level Billiken shrine, where the American-invented lucky god became Osaka's own mascot. The streets below are the best in the city for kushikatsu, the Osaka speciality of breaded and deep-fried skewers eaten standing at the counter; strict local etiquette says never dip a skewer twice in the communal sauce.