Osaka: Dotonbori River Cruise Popular with Overseas Tourists

By Yusuke Sato / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

11:03 JST, January 24, 2026

OSAKA — Osaka City has become closer to the global community after hosting the 2025 Osaka-Kansai Expo, which drew over 25 million visitors from Japan and abroad.

As a record number of foreign tourists have visited Japan, the city is buzzing with energy to promote itself to a broader market.

Honichi Lab, which distributes news and information about foreign tourists, surveyed reviews posted online and found that Universal Studios Japan was their most popular spot in Osaka Prefecture, followed by Osaka Castle. In third place was the Dotonbori area.

The Dotonbori River runs east-west through the Minami district in Chuo Ward, Osaka. The Tombori River Cruise attracts about 500,000 visitors a year. It takes about 20 minutes to travel the roughly 1-kilometer stretch between Nippon Bridge and Ukiniwa Bridge, along which there are such eye-catching sights as Ebisu Bridge with its circular plaza and Osaka’s landmark Glico Sign.

As the boat approached Ebisu Bridge, the guide’s voice grew louder, “Look. It’s round, like an okonomiyaki!”

Many passengers are foreign visitors so English words such as “Nice!” or “Amazing!” are heard as the boat passes each sight.

Amy Smith, a 33-year-old American who has visited Osaka three times, took the boat cruise for the first time, saying the view from the boat was really great.

The operator Ipponmatsu Shipping Co. had focused on shipping before fully entering the cruising business. The trigger for the change in business model was the opening of USJ in 2001.

“Osaka is a city of water,” said Eizo Ipponmatsu, deputy manager of the company’s sales department. “It all started when we thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be fun if we could travel along the rivers?”

The company launched a cruise service between the Minami and Nakanoshima areas, but the business failed to gain traction and soon ended. However, the company saw potential in the business and did not give up. It began cruises on the Dotonbori River in 2005 with much trial and error such as planning a cruise with rakugo storytellers.

The Dotonbori River was once known as one of the dirtiest rivers in Japan, so the novelty of “Cruising that dirty river?!” drew attention at first, attracting people.

“But gradually, people stopped coming,” he said. On the worst days, the total number of passengers across all 15 daily trips barely reached 10.

Nearly a decade has passed since then, and Dotonbori’s flashy store signs and diverse food culture gained attention, and many foreign tourists began to be seen.

Around this time, Ipponmatsu found that his company’s boat passing in front of the Glico Sign was featured on English and Chinese-language tourism websites.

The company also started receiving inquiries via phone and email in English and broken Japanese. He was surprised, but not flustered.

“Since we had few customers, we welcomed anyone, including foreigners. We were happy to get busy,” he said.

Tourists from overseas began arriving in droves, and before long, the boat tours became a new Osaka sightseeing attraction.

Alongside the scenery, friendliness is another selling point.

When tourists began coming to Japan, guides had given explanations with memorized English and Chinese scripts, only to get lukewarm responses.

This mood changed when they forgot about foreign languages but stuck to the Osaka dialect with certain gestures and expressions.

“Cultural exchange is all that matters,” said Mikiko Wagata, 69, who has been a guide for eight years. “Even if you can’t explain everything, our friendly spirit can make people happy.”

From the boat, passengers can see residents and tourists along the riverbanks or bridges waving at the boat with a smile.

“I think the Osakan spirit of welcoming guests with the whole city becomes etched on tourists’ hearts,” Ipponmatsu said.

Besides the Tombori River Cruise, the company also operates the Jazz Boat, in which live music is performed on the boat. The company has planned to expand its routes in cooperation with municipalities along the Yodo River, aiming to draw foreign tourists beyond the city.

“We want to convey the appeal of the prefecture’s entire waterfront to the world,” Ipponmatsu said. “We hope to become the base for that outreach.”