Grand Front Osaka

Grand Front Osaka グランフラント大阪

Alan Wiren

• Umekita Ship Hall
• Koji Kinutani Tenku Art Museum
• Panasonic Center
• North Tower
• Osaka Grand Front Access

Grand Front Osaka

Signs, Grand Front Osaka

I would not call it a town, but its designers did. Completed in 2013 on the grounds of what used to be a Japan Railway freight yard, now renamed, Umekita (north part of the Umeda district) Grand Front Osaka is a complex of buildings and landscaping just to the north of JR Osaka Station.

And when you consider how much is packed into this just under 50,000 square meter area they just might have a point. It includes two towers that offer shopping, dining, and more; a building named Umekita Ship Hall and an underground area called Umekita Cellar; plus several water features and concourses. A covered walkway provides access to and from the station.

Grand Front Osaka

Grand Front Osaka

Umekita Ship Hall

Although the towers are not particularly noteworthy as works of art, they are architecturally interesting incorporating geothermal heating systems, wind driven ventilation, rooftop gardens and solar collectors.

Umekita Ship Hall sits at one edge of the complex, hosting the restaurant, Garb Monaque, and has a semicircular footprint with exposed steel posts surrounding the exterior suggesting a tsuzumi (a traditional Japanese drum).

Grand Front Osaka

Umekita Ship Hall, Grand Front Osaka

Umekita Plaza

On both sides are pools of water where you might find children wading and splashing in the summer. In front is the Umekita Plaza, frequently the site of events or promotions, which leads to a stepped arc reminiscent of an amphitheater with water cascading down it just in front of the window-lined terrace of the restaurant in the Dean and Deluca store, one of over a dozen eating and drinking places in Umekita Cellar.

If the latter is of interest to you, check out the Enotica wine shop which offers around 1,000 wines from around the world that you can sample in their cafe. In total Grand Front Osaka is home to over 260 shops and restaurants. There is even an Intercontinental Hotel if you want to make it your base for a visit to the Osaka area.

There is a beer garden on a rooftop of the eighth floor of the South Tower. On the sixth and seventh floor you can sample the cuisines of virtually every region on Earth. Floors one through five are a shopper's paradise with things to wear, foods to take home, sporting goods, and traditional Japanese craft items. There are restaurants and cafes here and there so you can take a break as you explore the diversity.

Enotica wine shop, Gate Tower Building

Umekita Plaza, Grand Front Osaka

Panasonic Center

For the technology buff, just to the right of the South Tower entrance that faces Osaka Station, there is the Panasonic Center. From the first to the third floor it provides opportunities to see the company's cutting edge products in situ and to get a feel for them: pick them up, push their buttons. Of course, you can buy them if you choose. You can ask questions of the staff or even offer your opinions or make suggestions (in Japanese). Panasonic intends the center to be a place where the company comes in direct contact with it's customers and gets their feedback.

The road between the North and South Towers is lined with trees on both sides and restaurants on the first floor of the South Tower that face out onto it. I have visited one called Aux Bacchanales. It is of course French. The cuisine is authentic. The portions are generous and the prices reasonable. And sitting outside in the shade on a breezy summer day with a glass of wine...well, I'll always have Grand Front Osaka.

North Tower

The North Tower has a more cerebral atmosphere. The mood is quieter, less dazzling. To be sure there are places there for shopping, but they are mostly big ticket items. There is a Mercedes dealership and a home furnishing display suite, an audio store, a musical instrument shop, an insurance company. More services are offered there than in the South Tower. There is a beauty salon and a climbing gym.

The core of the North Tower, however, is called Knowledge Capital. The vision of its underwriters is to bring together organizations and individuals to combine creativity and technology. And thus create valuable, new directions for business and research that will shape the world of tomorrow.

To that end they maintain facilities in the North Tower such as a display area where you can see innovative products still under development, and a theater for performances and presentations. There is also a cafe with sources of information designed to stimulate learning and communication, the Active Studio where workshops and seminars are held, and the Future Life Showroom where products and services are available for purchase.

The latter includes a play store with lots of children's toys and activities as well as a sushi restaurant where you can try the blue fin tuna farmed at Kinki University.

In addition there is a Suntory whisky shop and a cafe where you can sample the hydroponically grown vegetables that are displayed next door. There is also the Knowledge Salon, a facility for members and their guests that provides a variety of very comfortable venues for relaxation, work, dining, meetings, and conferences. The membership fee is 100,000 yen per year.

Along with all of these facilities there is an engine which makes the project move. I spoke with Shunya Yamada who works at Knowledge Capital as a Communicator.

He explained that his job was to attend the activities and events and talk with people to gather their impressions and ideas then pass them along to the sponsors. The Communicators also spend time in the Knowledge Salon bringing people with similar interests together and inspiring communication among them.

Grand Front Osaka is, if anything, inviting in many ways, offering options that allow you to get involved with this microcosm as deeply as you choose.

North Tower, Grand Front Osaka

Access - how to get to Grand Front Osaka

Grand Front Osaka

4-1 Ofukacho, Kita

Osaka 530-0011

Grand Front Osaka is a short walk from the following stations: Hankyu Umeda Station, Hanshin Umeda Station, JR Osaka Station and Umeda Station on the Midosuji Line of the Osaka subway.

The green Umegle-Bus is a loop bus around the Umeda area: Chayamachi - Grand Front Osaka - Osaka Station - Nishi Umeda - Kita Shinchi - Higashi Umeda. Fares are 100 yen or a day pass is 200 yen.

Green Umegle Chari rental bikes are also available 8 am-8 pm. 200 yen for the first hour then 100 yen per hour.

There is free WiFi throughout the complex. Other facilities for visitors include coin lockers, the Gurunavi （Tourist Information Center）with information in a variety of languages and a currency exchange.

Hours:

Shops: 10 am - 9 pm

Restaurants: 11 am - 11 pm

Umekita Cellar: 10 am - 10 pm

Umekita Floor: 11 am - 4 am

Days preceding weekdays/holidays 11 am - 11 pm

Umekita Dining: 11 am - 11 pm

Panasonic Center Osaka: 11 am - 8 pm

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