Once-forgotten ghost town is now one of the coolest neighbourhoods in Japan

Osaka was ready for its close-up in 2025. It hosted Expo, which attracted more than 29 million people during its 184-day run.

There’s a saying in this bustling food and nightlife mecca – kuidaore. It literally means “to eat yourself bankrupt” or “eat until you drop”. And that attitude permeates the Osakan way of life – to do everything to the full.

That’s on display in areas like Dotonbori, the city’s tourist hotspot. If you’ve seen photos of Osaka at night, there’s a good chance they were taken around here – the Glico Man billboard, the giant animatronic crabs, puffer fish and other novelties outside restaurants, the boats full of merrymakers cruising along the river, the crowds teeming around Ebisu Bridge.

But a little further north, tucked in next to the skyscrapers, department stores and upmarket restaurants of glitzy Umeda, is Nakazakicho, a bohemian neighbourhood that is a maze of walkable narrow streets and alleyways, lined with low-slung, wood-framed, cottage-style houses and buildings.

Much of it looks unchanged from a century ago – that’s because this is one of the few areas in the city that was spared by the firebombing of World War II. But as recently as 2000, due to neglect and an ageing population, this area was a ghost town.

First stop on my visit to Nakazakicho is Salon de Amanto, a cafe and cultural hub he established almost 25 years ago. You could be forgiven for walking straight past without noticing, as the front is shielded by overhanging vines, but once through the door it’s like entering a somewhat ramshackle but welcoming home, shelves stuffed with books, nooks and crannies and loft areas for sitting and lounging around, coffee, beer and home-cooked food on offer.

Amanto, who is a dancer and actor, first visited Nakazakicho in 2000, and was astounded to find this hidden corner of the city that even many Osaka residents didn’t know about. He opened Salon de Amanto soon afterwards, and convinced other artists, creatives and makers to set up workshops, galleries, cafes and stores in the area, while also encouraging the use of recyclable building materials and consultation with residents so it would be a low-waste, community-led rejuvenation of the neighbourhood rather than rampant gentrification.

Walking around Nakazakicho today, it’s obvious the plan has worked. Old school cafe New Masa exists alongside third-wave joint Osa Coffee. There are vintage stores everywhere, from small shopfronts Tad and Trico to larger, more swish emporiums Pigsty and Vivie. Many of the places I visit are hybrids, such as Arabiq, which is a quaint