Osaka: A culinary high point

WHERE?

Set by the sea in the southwest of Japan's largest island, Honshu, Osaka is the dark horse in the country's urban stable. As the capital of the Kansai region, known for its traditional Japanese architecture and culture, you might expect it to be characterised by immaculately groomed temples and shrines and shady hot springs. Instead, it is a dynamic, modern, cosmopolitan city, the third largest in Japan (after Tokyo and Yokohama), with a correspondingly futuristic cityscape. Add to that a spectacular international airport and easy train access to other regional attractions - including Kyoto, Kobe, Mount Koya and Nara - and you understand why Osaka is a good jumping-off point for British tourists to Japan.

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Celebrated for the earthy, no-nonsense character of its population, Osaka tends to be divided into two areas, Minami (south), which is the main entertainment quarter, and Kita (north), the business district. Between them are two rivers, the Dojima-gawa and Tosabori-gawa, and the city's castle, Osaka-jo. Originally constructed in 1583, this has been rebuilt and refurbished several times since, the latest nip and tuck carried out in 1997. Though the building complex is impressive, the gardens are what really draw the crowds. Try to visit in spring or autumn to see them when the foliage is at its best. Open from 9am to 5pm daily, admission ¥600 (£2.60) 1-1 Osaka-jo, Chuo-ku; 00 81 6 6941 3044).

Osaka has a good range of accommodation, though it tends to be geared more to the business market than to tourists, with the best deals at the big chain hotels. One of the best is the Swissotel Nankai, with comfortable, modern, sound-proofed rooms set right above Nankai station (direct trains to or front Kansai take 30 minutes). Double rooms here start from ¥28,000 (£117) (5-1-60 Namba, Chuo-ku; 00 81 6 6646 1111; www.swissotel.com). A reliable option for those on a budget is the Ramada Osaka, which has clean, contemporary doubles from ¥12,500 (£52) (16-19 Toyosaki, 3-Chome Kita-Ku; 00 81 6 6372 8181; www.ramada-osaka.com).

If style is a bigger consideration than price, book a room at the newly opened Dojima boutique hotel. Set in Kita, this is Osaka's most glamorous hotel. It boasts two restaurants, a patisserie, a bookshop, a spa, a flower store and a wedding chapel, as well as 76 design-savvy guestrooms. Doubles start at ¥27,500 (£115) per night (2-1-31 Dojimahama, Kita-ku, Osaka-shi; 00 81 6 6341 3000; www.dojima-hotel.com/english/).

WHY?

Osaka, which reigned briefly as Japan's capital, does not have a plethora of ancient sites, largely through damage sustained in the Second World War. One thing that hasn't diminished over the years, however, is the heartiness of local appetites. The Osakans are such renowned gourmands that the city's population is directly associated with the Japanese word kuidaore, a term which roughly translates as "to eat until you drop". One of the best ways to get to know Osaka, therefore, is to explore it with your stomach.

Many of the local specialities are snacks, bought for well under ¥700 (£3) and eaten on the run. Stroll through Minami's streets from early evening onwards and you won't go far without coming across the sights and smells of its armies of street food vendors. Dishes which originated in Osaka include takoyaki, little dough balls filled with ginger, spring onion and octopus. If you get a taste for them you can find out more at the Takoyaki Museum (Shimaya 6-2-61, Universal Citywalk; 00 81 6 6467 5144). As well as branches of the five most famous takoyaki shops, this also features a souvenir area selling frozen takoyaki to take away.

Another local flavour that has spread throughout Japan is okonomiyaki, the local take on tortillas, made with shredded cabbage and diced seafood or meat and laced with a gooey brown sauce. For the genuine article head to Mizuno, run by the same family for over 60 years. All the ingredients used here are locally sourced. Try the ones made with yam flour. Prices start from ¥945 (£4) 1-4-15 Dotomburi; 00 81 6 6212 6360; www.mizuno-osaka.com).

Visiting gastronauts should head to Kuidaore, a restaurant recognisable by the clown who bangs a drum by the front door. Opened in 1950, its eight floors of restaurants serve everything from tempura and yakitori to sushi, shabu-shabu (a kind of hotpot) and Western food. Prices start from ¥1,000 (£4) for a plate of sushi (1-8-25 Dotonbori; 00 81 6 6211 5300).

For the most surreal blend of sightseeing and eating, head to Dotonbori Gokuraku Syotengai, a theme park based around the region's food (Sammy Ebisu Plaza, 1-8-22 Dotonbori; 00 81 6 6212 5515). Entrance is ¥315 (£1.30) and, inside, you'll find a mocked-up version of Twenties Osaka, featuring 50 food stalls. This is one of the best places to appreciate how the city's port has helped shape its eating culture. Alongside noodles and okonomiyaki you'll find castera, little sweet cakes the locals got a taste for after being introduced to them by visiting Portuguese traders.

WHAT?

The Osakans are so proud of their heritage that, when they visit Tokyo, they exaggerate their accents rather than hide them. Take a stroll through the Dotonbori district at night and you'll see why. The centre of the city's entertainment district, it's the closest you'll get to a Gwen Stefani video this side of Tokyo, yet it still has a down-to-earth Osakan feel.

More conventional attractions include one of the world's largest aquariums, Kaiyukan, and the only Universal Studios outside America, both set out in the Bay Area. The aquarium (1-1-10 Kaigan-dori; 00 81 6 6576 5501; www.kaiyukan.com) houses a 4.3m-long whale shark, ocean sunfishes, giant crabs and all manner of penguins. It's open from 10am to 8pm daily and entrance costs Y2,000 (£8.35).

Universal Studios (2-1-33 Sakurajima; 00 81 6 4790 7000; www.usj.co.jp) is open from 10am to 5pm (longer in high season); an adult day pass will set you back ¥5,800 (£24).

For more details of attractions, contact the Japan National Tourist Organisation (020-7734 9638; www.seejapan.co.uk).

FIVE GREAT EVENTS

Nitten Japan Fine Arts Exhibition

The most comprehensive modern-art show in the city takes place from February to March at the Osaka Municipal Museum of Art (1-82 Chausuyama-cho, Tennoji-k; 00 81 6 6771 4874; www.nitten.or.jp).

The March Basho

One of six annual Grand Tournaments featuring the greatest sumo wrestlers, it takes place from 11 to 25 March at Osaka Municipal Gymnasium (3-4-36 Nanbanaka Naniwa-ku; 00 81 3 3623 5111; www.sumo.or.jp/eng).

Zoheikyoku cherry blossom

The gardens of the Osaka Mint Bureau (Zoheikyoku) are one of the best places in the city to celebrate the hanami (cherry blossom) season. They are opened to the public for just one week a year in late March or early April (1-1-79 Tenma, Kita-ku; 00 81 6 6351 5361).

Tenjin Matsuri

One of the biggest festivals in Japan takes place on 24 and 25 July. Around 3,000 people join a procession through the streets before boarding torchlit boats.

11th World Athletics Championships

See the world's best athletes in action in Osaka between 25 August and 2 September (Nagai Stadium, Osaka; 00 81 6 6533 0055; www.osaka2007.jp).

WOW!

The neon-bright wonderland of Dotonbori is a buzzing tangle of raucous pachinko parlours, restaurants pinning their colours to their culinary masts with giant hydraulic crab hoardings and armies of too-cool-for-school students.

'To experience the true taste of Zen, travel to Kyoto'

Japanese cuisine is nothing without freshness. That's why raw fish (sashimi - though this includes raw meat too), and small parcels involving raw fish (sushi), have come to embody the idiom.

If fish is eaten raw then it follows that it has to be fresh. But notions of freshness, purity and seasonality lie behind all Japanese cuisine. As Japanese chefs say "the best cooking is the least cooking". Japanese food tastes of itself, not of "what has been done to it".

By Shojin Ryori

To experience the true taste of Zen, travel to Kyoto, Japan's old Imperial capital and its spiritual centre. Here, amid the largest concentration of Buddhist temples in Japan, you can taste the strictly vegetarian temple cuisine called shojin ryori.

Nanzenji Temple in Kyoto is renowned for tofu dishes, served in myriad ways. In summer, sit under the shade of lacquered parasols in the temple gardens and eat hiya yakko - delicate, creamy tofu floating in iced water, served with soy sauce and condiments. In autumn, try dengaku - firm tofu grilled with a rich miso topping. At Daitokuji Temple, feast on fu - pure protein in the form of wheat gluten. At Fu-Ka, Kyoto's oldest fu shop, you can see it being made according to techniques hundreds of years old. To try shojin ryori in Tokyo the best place is at Toshio Tanahashi's restaurant Gesshinkyo.

STREET FOOD - YATAI

Japanese food isn't all purity and piety. "Yasui! Oishii! Hayai!" (Cheap! Tasty! Quick!) is the slogan of one of Japan's fast-food chains, Yoshinoya, who serve bowls of steaming hot rice with meat toppings, called gyudon. It's delicious and nutritious. In Japan, fast food doesn't have to mean junk food. Yatai are Japan's original fast food merchants - They've been selling street food since around Edo times (17th century). Stalls vary from moveable carts to semi-permanent dwellings erected under railway arches, like the ones in Yurakucho in the centre of Tokyo. Here you can join office workers swilling beer and tucking in to yakitori - little chicken kebabs grilled over charcoal. Watch the mama-san waft away the smoke with a traditional uchiwa paper fan.

Station exits are good places to find yatai, perhaps selling takoyaki - little pancake balls containing grilled octopus and coated in a sweet soy sauce, a speciality of Osaka but widely available. There's one in Tokyo by Yoyogi Park. Or try oden - a stew of fish cake, eggs and assorted root vegetables simmered in an aromatic and rich broth made from dashi, the seaweed and bonito-flavoured stock at the basis of all Japanese cooking - except for ramen. These Chinese-style noodles are cooked in a meat-based stock, whose recipe is always a closely guarded secret.

Street food is often eaten standing up, such as at Kaotan Ramen, a ramshackle hut in Aoyama, or the ramen stall at Shibuya Station (JR Tokyu Plaza exit).

Another popular street snack is isobemaki - grilled patties made from mochi, sticky pounded rice, and wrapped in nori seaweed. At ¥100 (40p) a piece they are just what you need to fill up after an evening knocking back sake.

REGIONAL SPECIALITIES

Kansai cooking, influenced by Imperial and temple cuisines, is light and refined. Wheat noodles and light soy sauce are favoured here. In autumn try aromatic dobinmushi, a delicate clear soup flavoured with matsutake mushroom and sudachi citrus. Tokyo cooking is more robust and is characterized by the use of dark soy sauce and heavier flavours, such as soba - buckwheat noodles. The northern Nagano region, though, is where buckwheat grows, so eat soba here if you can.

Kawagoe, a small town easily reachable from Tokyo's Ikebukuro, is known for its quaint streets selling confectionery, and for sweet potatoes. Purple crisps are currently in fashion, or you can try a variety of sweet potato dishes at Imozen restaurant, entered through a red noren curtain.

Fukui is celebrated for grilled mackerel, whilst Kanagawa is famous for kamaboko fish cakes, Matsumoto for grapes and pears and Tohoku for rice.

Osaka gave birth to okonomiyaki: a pancake mixed with seafood and vegetables. Hiroshima boasts a similar version which is layered rather than mixed.

The southernmost islands of Okinawa were incorporated into Japan a century ago, resulting in a distinct cuisine - spicy and rich, with lots of pork and Chinese influence. Try goya chanpuru: pork stir fry with tofu, vegetables and goya - it's nutritious and bitter.

The northernmost island of Hokkaido has some of the most varied cuisine. Specialities include lamb, eaten as "Genghis Khan" barbecue; salmon in ishikari nabe; fresh squid cut into thin strips and eaten like noodles (called ika somen); and ruibe, an Ainu dish of frozen salmon sashimi.

White "curry", inspired by the snowy landscapes of the region, is part of a recent fashion for either white or black food. Other examples of the black and white food craze are the white burger (a deep fried white fish fillet served in a white bun); black sesame custard; and kuro inari (lunchboxes containing charcoal-flavoured black tofu with hijiki seaweed and black beans). Perhaps it's another example of Japan's obsession with purity.

By Shirley Booth

Nanzenji Temple: Fukuchi-cho, Nanzenji, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto (00 81 75 771 0365)

Daitokuji: Daitokuji-cho, Murasakino, Kita-ku, Kyoto (Izusen 00 81 75 491 6665; Ikkyu 00 81 75 493 0019)

Fu-Ka: Shimodachiuri dori sagaru, Nishinotoin dori, Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto (00 81 75 231 5561)

Gesshinkyo: 4-24-12 Jingumae, Shibuya ku, Tokyo (0081 3 3796 6575)

Koedo Kawagoe Imozen: 15-1 Komuro, Kawagoe-shi, Saitama-ken (00 81 49 243 8551)

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