Hoping for an authentic Japanese cultural experience?
But you don’t want to travel all the way to Kyoto?
Then I know exactly where you should go! Come with me to Sazanka Osaka, one of the best places for a traditional experience in Osaka.
If you’re no stranger to my blogs, you know that I live in Osaka and love to try new and exciting things around town. You can imagine my excitement when I found out that there’s a wonderful traditional Japanese cultural experience located right in Tanimachi 9-chome, Osaka.
<<Big shoutout to my friend Saho for coming with me on this wonderful traditional Japanese journey!>>
Sazanka Osaka is a beautiful cultural facility that offers a variety of authentic Japanese experiences in Osaka. They offer different experience packages, including:
If you’re looking for a fun and educational traditional Japanese experience in Osaka, this is the place to go!
Getting there was fairly easy! My only suggestion is to make sure you have the correct Sazanka Osaka location — because they actually have two locations in Osaka. 😉
If you go to the one I visited (and that I highly recommend!), you’ll want to use either Osaka-Uehommachi Station or Tanimachi 9-chome Station.
Here’s the exact location I went to:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/cBPY9uhZ1YTtuPnF9?g_st=com.google.maps.preview.copy
Now let the fun begin!
This part was SO much fun. I absolutely loved looking through all the beautiful kimonos and being able to pick out my favorite ones. With the help of the friendly staff, I chose different colors that suited me best. I was really grateful for their guidance — they made sure I picked something that would make me the happiest during my time there.
When you do the kimono experience, you get the full kimono set, including the Obi, collar, and other traditional kimono accessories. It was such a dreamy experience to feel so elegant and dressed up in traditional Japanese clothing!
The staff at Sazanka Osaka are also well-trained in traditional Japanese hairstyles. They styled my hair perfectly to match my kimono look, and honestly, I felt like a princess! It made the whole experience even more magical.
After dressing up, the staff kindly gave us time to take as many photos as we wanted. There’s a really beautiful area right when you walk into Sazanka Osaka that’s perfect for pictures! They even took multiple shots for us using our phones.
If you post your pictures on social media, don’t forget to leave a review for Sazanka Osaka to support them! 📸💕
Next up was the Japanese calligraphy session — and wow, it was so much fun! Even if you don’t know how to write in kanji or do calligraphy, don’t worry — they teach you during the session! 😄
I was excited to see kanji characters that I was familiar with. The staff taught us how to hold the brush properly, the correct stroke order, and even different styles for writing the same kanji.
For example, if you chose the kanji for “love,” you could learn both the modern writing style and the older, more artistic stroke style. (I personally thought the older style looked even cooler!)
At the end, you get to take home your calligraphy piece as a souvenir. You can even choose to decorate a fan or a coaster with your kanji art — I chose a fan for mine! It’s such a perfect memory of your traditional Japanese cultural experience.
After calligraphy, we moved across the hall for the tea ceremony.
The setup was so unique! You’re instructed to walk carefully across stepping stones while watching a video about Japanese history, the tradition of tea ceremonies, and how geisha would enter the room through sliding doors.
After watching the video, you actually get to slide through the door yourself just like the women in the video! It was my first time doing that and it made me so excited. (I felt like I was stepping into history!)
Next, we watched the staff perform a traditional Japanese tea ceremony. I’ve seen tea ceremonies before, but this one felt so detailed and focused. The way she used the ladle and positioned her hands was mesmerizing. Even if you’ve been to other tea ceremonies, I promise you’ve never seen one quite like this!
The next part was so much fun! We were able to perform our own tea ceremony after. Look at how much fun we had 🙂
Overall, this was such a beautiful experience. I loved that it was a wonderful cultural exchange between me, my Japanese friend, and the amazing Sazanka Osaka staff.
Even my Japanese friend told me that she rarely does these kinds of traditional activities and sometimes forgets about them. It reminded me how important these cultural experiences are — not just for foreigners, but for locals too!
If you’re looking for a traditional Japanese experience in Osaka that includes kimono wearing, calligraphy, and tea ceremony, Sazanka Osaka is absolutely the place to go.
I can guarantee you will have so much fun.
Stay happy, safe, and healthy as you explore more of Osaka! 🌸
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