Situated along the south bank of the Dotonbori-gawa Canal, colourful, eccentric Dotonbori with its huge illuminated advertising boards and the 17th-century atmosphere is one of the most popular destinations in Osaka for both tourists and locals. Osaka is known as the ‘food capital’ of Japan and Dotonbori certainly does its share to uphold that reputation with an unbelievable number of restaurants serving regional favourites such as okonomiyaki, takoyaki and of course, sushi. But Dotonbori is not just about food, entertainment and shopping options abound with traditional puppet shows, storytellers’ halls, several movie theatres, game centres, bars, clubs and shopping arcades, most of which are open till midnight or later.