Three passes, three jobs. The Osaka Amazing Pass is ¥3,500 for a day or ¥5,000 for two consecutive days: unlimited rides on the city subway and buses plus free entry to around 40 sights, including the castle tower and the Umeda Sky Building. The Osaka e-Pass is sights only, ¥2,400 for a day or ¥3,000 for two, no transit. The Kansai Thru Pass no longer exists: it became the Kansai Railway Pass and, from April 2026, the Kansai Railway Pass Lite, ¥5,200 for two days or ¥6,500 for three, any days, on the private railways and the Osaka subway but not JR or the Kyoto subway.
The maths. The castle is ¥1,200 and the Sky Building ¥2,000, so two paid sights and a day of subway rides already beat the Amazing Pass; it pays on a sightseeing day and loses on an eating day. The Pass Lite is for day trips to Nara and Kobe, not for Kyoto alone.
The castle. 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., last entry 4:30 p.m., ¥1,200 since the fee doubled in 2025. There is no fixed slot, but buy online: the QR skips the booth, and the elevator line inside runs to 45 minutes in blossom season. The Expo closed in October 2025 and its crowds have thinned, not gone; go at 9 a.m.
Dotonbori and Kuromon. The famous counters (Ichiran, Kani Doraku, Mizuno) line for an hour from noon and again from 6 p.m.; eat before 11:30 a.m. or after 9 p.m. Kuromon market is a morning place: most stalls open around 9 a.m. and shut by 5 p.m., and some rest on Sunday.
Tenma, kushikatsu, okonomiyaki. Tenma is a street of standing izakaya that fill from 5 p.m.; order two things and a drink, pay, move on. Kushikatsu in Shinsekai comes with a shared sauce pot: dip once, before the first bite, and scoop more with the free cabbage. Okonomiyaki is cooked on the griddle in front of you; cut it with the small metal spatula, eat from the iron, and never press it flat.
The towers. The Umeda Sky Building observatory is 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m., ¥2,000 at the 39th floor counter or online. Harukas 300 is 9 a.m. to 10 p.m., around the same price and taller. Stand on the right on Osaka escalators and walk on the left.
On the day. Department stores, chains and the towers take cards; Kuromon stalls, the Tenma bars and most okonomiyaki counters do not, so carry ¥10,000 in ¥1,000 notes and coins; break a note at a convenience store if you need to. Activate the pass at the first gate, do the castle at 9 a.m. and Kuromon at 11 a.m., and reach Dotonbori hungry at 9 p.m. when the line has gone. Waystop’s hours check will catch a market placed after lunch.