r/Osaka • u/Gorgantus • 9d ago
Esaka and Higashi-Mikuni
I am moving to another area in Osaka to be on the Midosuji Line and closer to work and I was told about these two locations. Esaka has everything there, beautiful area, everything I need right by the station but it seems to be expensive. And according to my estate agent there isn't that much choice there.
Higashi-Mikuni, we found a place that is much bigger and is cheaper. The only thing is, Higashi-MIkuni seems kinda boring and literally just a few shops. A place I feel like I could get bored of because there aren't many things there compared to Esaka.
What do you think? Which place should I go for?
Also should I go with a different estate agent? I wonder how useful he is to just essentially show me 5 listing in Esaka and then just say that's all that are available at the moment.
Thanks
4
u/Trafford3Devil 9d ago
Higashi Mikuni is practically Shin Osaka so you'll get JR access and Shinkansen access. Very practical. By JR you'll be only one station away from Umeda which probably has everything you'd want from Esaka. If you really like Esaka higash mikuni is only one station away or 10 minutes by bike. Only issue you might have in higashi mikuni is the noise from the planes flying over to Itami. Sit around your prospective place for 30 mins and see if you'd be able to put up with it.
2
u/NefariousnessFun3026 9d ago
If I am not mistaken, Esaka is supposedly very Tokyo like in terms of atmosphere, so many Kanto people who got transferred here tend to prefer that area, which explains the very high demand.
I am actually looking to move to somewhere around the Senri Chuo area sometime later this year, early next year, but it's looking quite expensive as well. Takatsuki-shi is another option, but ... yeah that too is not looking too hot either price wise.
2
u/ThatLady123 9d ago
I lived in Higashimikuni for almost 3 years. It's a bit boring and noisy. If I was you, I'd go for Ryokuchi-koen or Momoyamadai instead.
2
u/Numerous_Ball1240 9d ago
I've been living in Esaka for 1.5 years. I find it to be a very convenient neighbourhood; you can find almost everything you need around the station, supermarkets, restaurants, banks, Uniqlo, etc.
As someone mentioned, there are a lot of transplants in Esaka, and I'm originally from Tokyo myself. This can be appealing, but at least for me, I sometimes regret choosing Esaka because I don't really feel immersed in the Osaka atmosphere.
Also, being a convenient neighbourhood doesn't necessarily mean it's culturally interesting. Many of the restaurants here are branches of big chains, and there seem to be fewer independent/local businesses.
I personally like going to the cinema, so I usually have to take the Osaka Metro into the city centre, which can get pretty expensive.
There also seem to be quite a few people who work in the nightlife industry living around here. When I leave for work early in the morning, I sometimes see drunk hosts and hostess around the station.
Anyway, these are just my unorganised thoughts. Hope this helps!
2
u/Gorgantus 9d ago
No no, thank you for your kind words and thoughts!! I have heard it being mentioned as being like a Tokyo place online.
Knowing what you know now, If you could have chosen differently, where would you have chosen instead?1
u/Numerous_Ball1240 9d ago
In terms of Osaka-esque culture, 天神橋筋六丁目 would be nice IMO. But I think access to the Midosuji Line is a must for you, and I agree it's a very convenient transport option for Osaka residents. My last post exaggerated the cons of Esaka a bit because my workplace isn't in the direction of the city centre. Overall, it's a convenient neighbourhood. Good luck finding your new convenient, cozy, and economical place. All the best!
1
u/chrisjeligo 9d ago
I used to work near the Esaka station, I rented a place near Ryokuchi Koen station, and just wlak 15 mins to work every day.
Might be a good choice for you.
1
u/Away-Appointment-494 9d ago
I Iive in Higashi Mikuni, while it isnt super interesting, it is a very convenient area with a lot of cheap places to eat and easy access to Umeda and Namba
1
u/User09060657542 8d ago
HIgashi-mikuni is fine. Make sure you have a bicycle. Esaka is a short bicycle ride away. Actually, getting to Umeda is not that much of an effort by bicycle.
Choose the better place with the real estate agent and see what the difference moneywise is.
1
u/CatCatJinsei111 7d ago edited 7d ago
Used to live around there for a while. It's pretty quiet so yeah it might feel a bit boring lol, but the food is good, there's supermarkets, and people were mostly nice. Liked it honestly.
(tho the east side toward Higashiyodogawa is maybe not that safe)
If you're living alone I'd go with Esaka, or Shin-Osaka is nice too.
Anyway the food around there is really good.
1
u/Gorgantus 7d ago
Why is Higashiyodogawa not that safe?
1
u/CatCatJinsei111 7d ago
Not an expert, but a lot of it is pretty old and the backstreets get kinda empty at night. You see stuff in the news now and then too. People disagree on how bad it really is tho, plenty of locals think it's fine. Also some really good old school kissaten, chinese places and ramen spots there, so it's not all doom lol
1
u/kozdotkby 7d ago
you probably overestimate how much time you'll actually spend in the station area you live in.
1
u/bosscoughey 9d ago
What kind of things are you interested in? What's your life situation? Where are you commuting to?
Impossible question to answer without knowing more about you and your basis for making a decision
1
u/Gorgantus 9d ago
Just the usual things like as long as there’s shops there places to eat a decent gym that’s it I don’t need like some extravagant nightlife
1
u/deehicks420 9d ago
Lived in Higashi-Mikuni for about 2 years 2 years ago. It's got a few really great restaurants and enough shops in bicycle distance so you can get just about anything you need. Plus it's so close by train to plenty of places that aren't boring. So in the end unless you wanna be out really late at night after the trains stop running there's no big reason to pick one over the other.
8
u/inimicus_1 9d ago
The trains at Esaka and Higashi-Mikuni are gonna be already kinda full during rush hour, maybe you could try finding some other place around Minoh-Kayano, Mino-Sembahandai-Mae, or even Senri-Chuo.