Lost in the Umeda Dungeon? Here’s some friendly guidance and help!

The Kita Entertainment Area Environmental Purification Promotion Council is working to realize a safer and more secure “Better City, Kita City! As a part of this effort, we offer a “town guide” service. Wearing matching bibs, let’s call out to those who are looking at a map and guide them to their destinations. They can also give them a little information about the local area. Let’s offer hospitality to those who have come all the way to Osaka. They will be very happy to see you. That alone will make your visit to Osaka 20% more memorable. It will make them want to come back again. Just by standing in the street and escorting people, we can deter crime. They will also reduce the number of illegal touts and bicycle vendors. Let’s increase the likability of our neighborhoods and the quality of our city!

Project Inauguration

They are an organization that usually focuses on crime prevention activities in entertainment districts for community development. The reason why they are involved in what at first glance appears to be a tourism activity, namely, guiding and escorting people around town, is because we believe that this will lead to crime prevention activities. By standing in the streets wearing matching bibs and guiding inbound visitors, illegal touts and snatch-and-grab catchers will disappear, and as a result, inbound visitors will be able to leave with good memories of Osaka without having any unpleasant experiences. Crime prevention and hospitality are two sides of the same coin! This project was launched with this in mind. It has been more than 10 years since we started this project.

Project Activities

Umeda has one of the largest underground shopping malls in Japan and one of the largest in the world. The urban space stretching upward and downward has become so complicated that it is called the “Umeda Dungeon,” and even locals can get lost, and tourists even more so. This activity involves talking to people who are standing around lost in such an Umeda Dungeon, guiding them to their destinations, and in some cases, escorting them there. The number of participants continues to increase year by year as this is an activity that can be done by making the most of one’s specialty.

Future Prospects for the Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai

In Umeda, which has become so complicated that it is called the “Umeda Dungeon,” there are many cases where one cannot reach one’s destination only by using information boards. On the other hand, there is an overwhelming shortage of people who can give directions. They would like to enhance our activities and increase the number of participants even more for the Expo, where even more international visitors are scheduled to come to Japan than at present.