Shinsekai Audio Guide

Shinsekai: what does the audio guide cover?

1. 01

   Welcome to Shinsekai

   Welcome to Shinsekai, whose name in Japanese is 新世界, meaning New World. This is an entertainment district in the Ebisu-higashi area of Naniwa Ward, in the south of Osaka. This guide tells the story of the district as a whole, the streets, the tower and the lively atmosphere around you, rather than of a single building. Look for Tsutenkaku, the tower standing a little north of the district's center. Toward the southeast runs Janjan Yokocho, a covered shopping lane. Between them lies a patchwork of eateries, old theater and cinema sites, and big, bold signs. Osaka's official tourism guide singles out the tower, the lane, and a giant pufferfish lantern as the district's calling cards. Here is the surprise. This busy corner was once farmland. Until the Meiji era, the area was green onion fields. In the next few stops, you will see how those fields became an exposition ground, then a kind of early theme park inspired by Paris and New York, and finally the beloved, slightly scruffy neighborhood you are standing in today.

2. 02

   Shinsekai: From Exposition Ground to New World

   The story begins in 1903, when the Fifth National Industrial Exposition took place here and in neighboring Tennoji. Historians note that this fair moved away from a purely serious idea of recovery and brought in plenty of amusements and attractions. Later the grounds were used by the army during the Russo-Japanese War. Then the land was split. In 1909, the eastern half, roughly 50,000 tsubo, became Tennoji Park, run by the city of Osaka. The western half, about 28,000 tsubo, went to a company backed by Osaka business interests, called the Osaka Land and Building Company. On the third of July, 1912, they launched Shinsekai, billed as a new attraction for Osaka. Tsutenkaku and the amusement park Luna Park opened together at its heart. The name was not the first choice. During planning the project was called Shin Pari, meaning New Paris, and Daini Sennichi, meaning Second Sennichi. At the opening it became Shinsekai. The arrival of theaters, cinemas, and restaurants followed, and that is how the district took shape.

3. 03

   Shinsekai: Paris, New York, and a Tower Reborn

   The original idea behind Shinsekai feels a lot like a modern theme park. Its planners borrowed the look of two great Western cities, Paris and New York, and blended it with the latest in culture and fashion. The first Tsutenkaku was designed to look like the Eiffel Tower perched on top of the Arc de Triomphe, and it stood a little south of where today's tower rises. By some accounts, the first tower reached 75 meters, and around 1912 it was billed as the tallest in the Orient. A second tower, called the White Tower, stood nearby, and a gondola linked the two. A ropeway also ran between Tsutenkaku and Luna Park. It was made by the Italian firm Ceretti and Tanfani and is described as Japan's first passenger ropeway. That first tower did not last. A fire in January 1943 badly damaged it, and it was taken down when iron and steel were collected for the war effort. The tower you see today is the second one, built during the postwar rebuilding years.

4. 04

   Shinsekai: Billiken, Janjan Yokocho, and Street Food

   Now for a character with a rocky career: Billiken, the god of good luck, whose statue became a famous mascot of Shinsekai. A statue stood in Luna Park, and later Billiken became a guardian figure associated with Tsutenkaku. Locals tell it this way: he was first placed at the entrance in hopes of drawing crowds, but people found him eerie and stayed away. He was moved to the third floor, then a game center, where video games crowded him out. Finally he found his place on the fifth-floor observation deck. Slowly he won hearts, and visitors are told that stroking the soles of his feet makes a wish come true. Back at street level, Janjan Yokocho is a shopping street about 180 meters long in the southeast of the district. It opened as a route linking Shinsekai with Tobita Shinchi, a former pleasure quarter that opened in 1918. It was packed from the early Showa era, and the crowds have never really left. Today it is famous for kushikatsu, skewered deep-fried food, and for casual street fare of the kind Japanese people call B-class gourmet. The district was crowded in its heyday too. In 1919 the Osaka Kokugikan sumo hall was built in Shinsekai. Together with the theaters and cinemas, it made Shinsekai the third great entertainment district after Dotonbori and Sennichimae.

5. 05

   Before You Head Off from Shinsekai

   One last piece of the puzzle: Shinsekai grew up as part of a bigger plan. The Hankai Tramway, which opened in 1911, competed with the Nankai Railway, based in Namba. Because its terminal was less well placed, Hankai treated Shinsekai as a destination to draw passengers and became deeply involved in running it. Nankai answered in 1914 by opening an attraction called Rakutenchi in Sennichimae, which had been devastated by the great fire of the Minami district. In 1915, Hankai merged into Nankai and stepped back from running Shinsekai. That same year, Osaka Municipal Zoo opened in neighboring Tennoji Park. As you wander on, try a little detective work. Look up at the tower and imagine the Eiffel Tower on top of an arch, standing a little to the south. Look along the street for the pufferfish lantern and for the sort of old theater and cinema signs that hint at the district's entertainment past. Which of these layers do you hear in the crowd today? There is plenty more to discover, so let your curiosity pick the next turn.