Redevelopment project to make Osaka gateway to western Japan

It remains to be seen whether the stated aim of the project "becoming the hub of Osaka and western Japan" will come to fruition.

...but the profits from 'construction' will already be secure, so.....

Whatever people might say, it's a welcome addition to Umeda that the district sorely needed and I think they did a good job of adding greenery to the area. There's more that the photo doesn't capture.

Went there last weekend for a look and was pretty impressed with the first stage. There's also a shallow pond with water jets for kids to play in (visible at the bottom of the big grassy area in the photo) that my son went nuts over, so I think it'll be a popular spot for families during the warmer months.

Bad HaircutToday  07:27 am JST

Whatever people might say, it's a welcome addition to Umeda that the district sorely needed and I think they did a good job of adding greenery to the area. There's more that the photo doesn't capture.

Went there last weekend for a look and was pretty impressed with the first stage. There's also a shallow pond with water jets for kids to play in (visible at the bottom of the big grassy area in the photo) that my son went nuts over, so I think it'll be a popular spot for families during the warmer months.

Agreed. They've taken what was an eyesore and are converting it into a very nice area that connects everything together.

 a direct train service between JR Shin-Osaka Station and Kansai International Airport

But there already exists such a train! It's the Haruka limited express. How much time can this new proposed train shave off the existing journey time of 50 minutes? Will there be any other benefits besides a shorter travel time?

It looks really good. It is great for families and business.

Then get ready for the complaints about “too many tourists!”

It is for the people of Osaka.

But there already exists such a train! It's the Haruka limited express. How much time can this new proposed train shave off the existing journey time of 50 minutes? Will there be any other benefits besides a shorter travel time?

It seems the story includes some fuzzy information. Apparently Hankyu will run a line from Juso (near Shin Osaka) down through the temporarily named Kita Umeda under this new park, which will join the Naniwasuji subway line under construction and down to the airport. There's also talk of extending the line from Juso to Shin Osaka, but I'm not sure if that will happen.

Excellent..

Go Osaka, GO JAPAN !!..

how about some shade until those trees grow out, assuming they dont just chop all the branches off when they do

Hoping that Osaka will become the gateway of Japan in general.

This is way better than it used to be.

I used to work in Umeda but left in 1999. I've barely been back, maybe only twice since. It looks like this photo was taken from the Sky Biru, which was new at my time and somewhere I would occasionally meet a friend for lunch (on work days - happy times!). This angle is looking toward the station. The tall building with the narrow brown front is the North Gate Building, which looks very weird from this angle, almost like a PC case that's been opened.

There is an up to date Street View of the park here. The walkway has come out nicely. https://www.google.com/maps/@34.7043511,135.4927799,3a,53.5y,265.17h,77.25t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipNjpw8RI21J9BsZiioMfvk_c1pFfOjpMgu1aMrw!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipNjpw8RI21J9BsZiioMfvk_c1pFfOjpMgu1aMrw%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi0-ya182.17972-ro0-fo100!7i13888!8i6944?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI0MDkwOS4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

It looks great. But, isn't Osaka already the gateway to western Japan?

"Redevelopment project to make Osaka gateway to western Japan."

Great job!!

I wonder if this bloke who wrote this has ever been to Osaka and or used the transports hubs with a S. There is two Hubs. Umeda and Shin-Osaka the second being the gateway to Western Japan then Umeda which is the image above is the gateway to Osaka suburbia and airports.

Any greenery is welcomed in Osaka, and the development looks great and has potential to make Osaka station more intutitive too. But I would have thought Shin-Osaka is a better gateway to western Japan.

As it is, Kansai is closer to Kobe than Osaka as the birds fly, I think Osaka needs something to the north of Yodo river as well.

This is indisputably true. Having lived in both Tokyo and Kansai (Itami & Kakogawa) Kansai gets my thumb of approval for a good number of reasons one of which is you will find friendly, more outgoing people there. It's great to see Japan investing to make the great city of Osaka even greater.

It looks great. But, isn't Osaka already the gateway to western Japan?

If that's a lush park, I'm a monkey's uncle. It's better than nothing, but it's still just a patch of grass and a few trees, most of which will probably (if the rest of urban Japan is anything to go by) be pruned back to within an inch of their lives. 

Anyone who thinks that's a "lush park" has never been outside of Japan.

It looks and feels better when experienced from the ground, and will certain improve once the trees grow out and hopefully aren't butchered with the usual Japanese standards of "pruning." I agree it's a stretch to call it lush right now, but lush is possible given time and good management.

It looks great and I'm looking forward to it. For years, that area was either covered or some temporary events were there. From the windows of Grand Front Osaka, it looked like an eye sore. Whoever said that there would be complaints from tourists, I beg to differ. Actually, some of my friends in the US took notice of that development through the Internet, and they want to see that for themselves.

The context for people praising this is the Triangle Park in Shinsaibashi, which is 20m by 20m of paving stones, in the shape of a triangle. That's what passes as a park in Osaka.

(yes there are bigger spaces like the Castle or Tsurumi Ryokuchi, but not near the Midosuji line where most people go most of the time)

Those trees certainly don't look "lush." They look stunted. The grass is nice, but shade-producing large broad-leafed trees should be planted there with plenty of benches underneath. The planners should take a look at London's Hyde Park.

A lot of bodies were unearthed in the project, reminding us that the “plumb” character in Ume only recently appeared, replacing the“bury” character “umeru”

Glad to see they've FINALLY planted some grass and trees there. Back in 2003, the original plan for this area was to build a giant park which would be Osaka's version of Yoyogi Park but they kept scaling it down and down until basically it disappeared.

For the last 15 years, it's been mostly concrete so when it got hot, being out in that open space meant you got cooked and there wasn't much of anything to keep you hanging around out there. Now that might change.

Looking forward to being able to take the train directly from the western part of Umeda straight up to Juso without having to transfer at either JR Osaka or Hankyu Umeda.

"A lot of bodies were unearthed in the project"

Yes, I was just thinking that, obladi; I wonder what happened to the bodies.

Osaka is already the "Gateway to Asia" too: it says so at Kansai International.

Osaka is becoming more beautiful by the day. A complete makeover compared to when I first moved here. That's one of the reasons I left my decaying city in Los Angeles for this great place. Can't complain.

The Umeda area of Osaka is light and airy and the overhead walkways are great for fast travel without being bumped around all the time.

This actually looks nice. Nice to see a development projects that adds green space in such a big city.

And just a stone's throw from Kita-Shinshi so can go get wellied in the evening.

I remember that place.

was so different when I came first time to Osaka...did not have Yodobashi camera yet...

Osaka is becoming more beautiful by the day. A complete makeover compared to when I first moved here. That's one of the reasons I left my decaying city in Los Angeles for this great place. Can't complain.

I hear you and I'm also from LA. I was there last year, and really, I just couldn'(t believe how it was decaying; especially the west side, Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, Melrose, and other places. The time before that time I was there was back in 2018. It sure looked much better back then.

Anyway, yes, Osaka is looking better. It's interesting how both cities and their citizens (and other cities) have reacted to the COVID crisis.