A narrow sandbank island three kilometres long, sandwiched between the Dojima River to the north and the Tosabori River to the south, forming the administrative and cultural heart of old Osaka. The island concentrates the city's finest early 20th-century civic architecture: the Renaissance Revival Central Public Hall (1918), the Prefectural Nakanoshima Library (1904), and the former Osaka City Hall. The eastern tip holds Nakanoshima Park, with its famous rose garden.
The western end of the island is now dominated by the National Museum of Art and the Osaka Science Museum. Between the two poles, the island maintains a quieter, slightly formal atmosphere compared to the shopping districts to the north and south. The riverbanks on both sides are pleasant to walk, and several bridges give views back toward the city skyline.