Nakanoshima, Osaka
About the Nakanoshima, Osaka Camera
Nakanoshima is a long, narrow island in central Osaka, formed where the Dojima and Tosabori rivers split from the Old Yodo River. It is roughly three kilometres end to end and only a few hundred metres wide, and it has been the administrative and business core of the city for centuries.
The island carries an unusual density of civic buildings: Osaka City Hall, the Bank of Japan's Osaka branch, the red-brick Central Public Hall completed in 1918, the Nakanoshima Library, and the museum cluster at the western end. Bridges cross to both banks every few hundred metres.
Water is what makes the view. Osaka was built as a city of canals and rivers, and Nakanoshima is the clearest surviving expression of that. The rose garden at the eastern tip and the riverside walkways are lit in the evening, and the bridges reflect on the water when it is still.
Highlights & Nearby
- •Watch for: the Dojima and Tosabori rivers, bridges and river traffic, the civic buildings along the island
- •Nearby: Osaka City Hall, Central Public Hall, Nakanoshima Park rose garden, Umeda
- •Note: the roses at the eastern tip are usually at their best in May and again in autumn
