Amerikamura (American Village) is a retail and entertainment area nearby Shinsaibashi, mainly catering for Japanese youth culture. It is known for its quirky clothing shops, cafes, music stores with an American influence. It even has a mini replica of Statue of Liberty on its roof to boot.
You know you are in Amerikamura when you see the mini replica of Statue of Liberty.
The street lamp posts here are being sculptured to look like robots, each dressed in different design.
A tattoo parlor in Amerikamura.
Anyone fancy trying “Ice Dog” instead of hot dogs? It is basically soft serve ice cream in a sweetened hot dog bun. You can try it in Amerikamura. Unfortunately, it wasn’t open while I was there as it was too early in the morning.
For a hearty breakfast, be sure to drop by Pablo Coffee in the area.
Or Elk Cafe which offers 3D foam coffee and fluffy pancakes.
If you are a fan of “Alice in the Wonderland”, you’ll be delighted to find an Alice-themed shop selling Alice-themed merchandise called “Alice on Wednesday” in Osaka. It also has similar Alice-themed shops in Tokyo, Fukuoka and Nagoya. My sister is a fan. So I wanted to show her this shop while visiting Osaka.
You can easily reach this shop by walking from Triangle Park (see photo above). The park is a small park on a triangle shaped land, hence the name.
Alice on Wednesday is easily recognizable with its blue and brown façade with many doors of different sizes. The main entrance is a small door half the height of normal doors. Adults will need to bend or crouch to get into the shop.
After entering through the “rabbit hole”, the interior of the first room is dimly lit with chandelier and decorated in Queen of Hearts theme.
The large table in the middle is piling with heaps of Alice-themed accessories from necklace, earrings to hair accessories.
You can also find other Alice-themed merchandise like notebooks, note pads, casing and more on the cabinet at the side.
The room next to it is bright and white in contrast.
This is where you can find Alice themed sweets and cookies.
The cookies are printed with “eat me” on it, daring you to take a bite. The cashier counter is also in this white room.
The shop itself is not big and you can probably quickly browse through everything in 10 to 15 minutes. But for Alice’s fans, it is a delight to find treasures within the heaps of Alice themed goods or should I say, junk (haha). The goods are a bit pricey but you might not get it elsewhere. It’s a money pit, as my sister aptly pointed out, for Alice’s fans.
For Lolita fashion lovers, there is a shop called “Angelic Pretty” in Amerikamura. We stumbled upon this shop while walking back to the hotel. Its pink façade immediately caught our attention.
Coupled with its brand name, it is not hard to imagine that the clothing style is girly, sweet and dreamy. It was a pity that it was closed when we were there. But fret not, a shop nearby sells second hand branded Lolita fashion clothing and accessories. We wouldn’t have spotted the shop if not for the advertisement board placed outside.
The shop is located on ground floor and the corridor leading to the shop is painted with this fierce-looking dragon.
My sister had a field day shopping in it. Another money pit for her, haha.
Overall, I really like the laid-back atmosphere in Amerikamura as compared to Shinsaibashi, the ever-congested tourist trap. It is a good place for shopping if you’re into Japanese pop culture.
Alice on Wednesday
Address: Nishi Shinsaibashi 2-12-25, Assahi Plaza Shinsaibashi 1F
Tel: +81 06 6211 6506
Opening hours:
Mon to Fri: 11am – 7.30pm
Sat & Sun: 10am – 7.30pm
Website: http://www.aliceonwednesday.jp/
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