A new sightseeing spot, Solaniwa Onsen Osaka Bay Tower, opened on Tuesday 26 February, with mayor Hirofumi Yoshimura noting that the expansion of attractions was part of the city’s efforts to prepare for the launch of an integrated resort.
The Osaka Bay area has become an area of increasing development interest with the coming Expo and IR, with Solaniwa Onsen Osaka Bay Tower now the biggest hot spring theme park in Kansai.
The entire facility covers approximately 16,000 square meters and reproduces the expensive tastes of the Azuchi–Momoyama. Visitors can enjoy natural hot springs, hot stone spas, a standing bar and restaurants.
Nearby is the popular Universal Studios Japan, the Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan and Mount Tenpo, while it is also close to Yumeshima, candidate site for Osaka’s IR.
The facility is directly connected to the Osaka metro Bentencho Station and only 15 minutes to central Osaka and Umeda station, so its location is fantastic. However, it is also the same location as an indoor pool called POOLS that closed in 2017. As a result, some may say it has inherited a “negative air”.
On 21 February, mayor Yoshimura visited and declared, “Bentencho is the gateway to the Bay Area. We expect to have attracted IR to Yumeshima by the time of the Osaka Expo. The scale of investment will be JPY1 trillion. Until now, the core areas of Osaka have been the North (Umeda) and the South (Namba/Shinsaibahi), but now we are focusing our efforts on the East and the West. The West is the Osaka Bay area and the East is the Osaka Castle Park.”
A related official of the Osaka Bay Tower Company that operates the facility added, “This area is going to start to develop more. We are hoping that families and foreign tourists alike will enjoy the theme park and we hope to turn the inherited negativity into a positive.”
The visitor target for the first year is 600,000 people.
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