Tsuruhashi and Korea Town: Market Food Walk

This walking route takes you from the market and shopping arcade extending before Tsuruhashi Station to Osaka Korea Town along Miyuki-dori Street to sample Korean flavors, followed by a visit to Miyukimori Tenjingu Shrine on the west side of the shopping street. In the area of Ikaino, which preserves traces of an ancient port, you will encounter the history of people who crossed the sea and a town nurtured by postwar markets.

History and Regional Charm

Korea Town is located in the heart of the district formerly called Ikaino. Approximately 1,600 years ago, this area was a port along an inlet of Naniwa known as "Ikai-no-Tsu," where immigrants from Baekje and other regions settled. The origin monument at Miyukimori Tenjingu Shrine is inscribed with the account that it came to be called "Miyuki no Mori" (Forest of the Imperial Visit) because Emperor Nintoku, who established his capital in Naniwa, frequently rested in the forest here.

During the 1920s, as Osaka was transforming into a major industrial city referred to as the "Manchester of the Orient," people who faced harsh living conditions under Japanese colonial rule crossed the sea from the Korean Peninsula and Jeju Island in search of a livelihood. The Miyuki-dori shopping street was originally known as the "Chosen Market," a market closely tied to daily life.

A stop was first established at Tsuruhashi in 1914 with the opening of the line between what is now Kintetsu Uehommachi and Nara, and the current JR Tsuruhashi Station opened in 1932. After World War II, a black market emerged in the vacant lots around the station created by wartime building evacuations, and shops subsequently lined the site, giving rise to today's international market.

Major Highlights

• ​Tsuruhashi Shopping Street​​: Spanning the three wards of Tennoji, Higashinari, and Ikuno over an area equivalent to two Koshien Stadiums, the "Osaka Tsuruhashi Market" is home to roughly 800 shops. Barbecue restaurants, Korean grocery stores, and ethnic attire shops stand side by side, while proceeding further into the maze-like narrow alleyways reveals specialty dry goods and fruit stores, as well as a wholesale fresh fish market.
• ​Osaka Korea Town​​: A collective name for three shopping streets along Miyuki-dori, this 500-meter-long street between JR Osaka Loop Line's Tsuruhashi Station and Momodani Station is lined with Korean food shops and eateries. Featuring over 100 establishments including street stalls selling Korean casual gourmet snacks and sweets, as well as Korean cosmetics shops, visitors can sample distinctive Korean tastes such as yangnyeom chicken and makgeolli while strolling. It is now a sightseeing destination visited by 2 million people annually.
• ​Miyukimori Tenjingu Shrine​​: A shrine dedicated to deities including Emperor Nintoku. The main hall (honden), hall of offerings (heiden), and worship hall (haiden) built in 1930 are registered as national Registered Tangible Cultural Properties. The haiden made of Japanese cypress and the honden viewed beyond the see-through fence present an elegant appearance. The venerable muku tree (Aphananthe aspera) on the grounds is another notable highlight.

Recommended Route and Duration

The approximate duration is about 3 hours. Upon stepping off the train at Tsuruhashi Station (served by the JR Osaka Loop Line, Kintetsu lines, and Osaka Metro Sennichimae Line), the market and shopping arcade spread out immediately before you. Many streets are covered by roofs, and in summer, you can enjoy market strolling and food sampling from morning into the late morning hours.

Walking about 790 meters southeast from in front of Tsuruhashi Station brings you to Osaka Korea Town. The Central Gate and Kudaramon Gate stand as symbolic architectural designs of Korea Town. To learn about the history behind the creation of today's Korea Town, consider visiting the Osaka Korea Town History Museum, located roughly 50 meters north along Ichijo-dori, which intersects with Korea Town Main Street.

Since the shopping street extends east from Miyukimori Tenjingu Shrine, walking about 240 meters west along the street brings you to the shrine. In the same Momodani 3-chome area lies the Tsurunohashi Site Park, said to be the ancient site of the Ikai-no-Tsu bridge recorded in the "Nihon Shoki" (The Chronicles of Japan). For the return journey, head to JR Osaka Loop Line's Momodani Station, which is roughly a 10 to 15-minute walk from Korea Town.

Experience Summary

Peer into storefronts in the station-front market retaining echoes of the postwar black market, taste Korean dishes along the streets of the former "Chosen Market," and take a quiet pause at the forested shrine holding legends of Emperor Nintoku. From an ancient port to a modern sightseeing spot, eat and walk your way through the town of Ikaino where people have crossed paths through the ages.