If you’re looking for an Osaka-Jo Hall review, chances are you’re either off to see New Japan Pro Wrestling or a sumo competition. This review focuses on attending the former, although much of the information is still good for the latter.
Getting to the venue is incredibly easy since Osaka has a robust public transportation system. There are two stations, Osakajokoen Station and Osaka-Business-park station, that are a short walk away.
Alternatively, you can stay at one of the hotels located around Osaka Castle Park where Osaka-Jo Hall is located. I stayed at APA Villa Hotel Osaka Tanimachi Yonchome-Ekimae which is a 15-minute walk from the arena. Hotels in this area are cheaper than ones in the city center and the property I stayed at had an onsen which was awesome. The tradeoff is that there isn’t much around besides the castle.
Walking through Osaka Castle Park to get to the arena was pretty cool. There are a lot of signs to get you there so don’t worry about getting lost. It’s once you show up where things start to disappoint.
More stadium reviews from The Touchback
As seems to be the case with most Japanese wrestling venues, there is only one way to get in Osaka-Jo Hall which means you are going to get stuck in a line. That’s not the worst thing in the world and there are certainly larger things to complain about in this review.
Like the fact the merchandise stand is simply this long line of tents outside the venue. It is difficult to find what you want in this madness and then once you do find something, you have to take it all the way to the cashier at the end. However. There is no extra space for people leaving which creates this unnecessary bottleneck of people waiting in line to pay blocking everyone from leaving.
After you have navigated both lines and get into the stadium, there isn’t much to do apart from go to your seat. There are like four concession stands selling various fried items and yakisoba. If you just want a bottle of water or other drink, there are plenty of vending machines around.
On the bright side, I had no issues finding my seat and there are plenty of helpful stewards around in case you need assistance. The seating is a bit cramped but this is standard at most Japanese stadiums.
Osaka-Jo Hall review score: 6
Separating the event from the arena was important. This makes Osaka-Jo Hall difficult to review. I really enjoyed watching NJPW Dominion here, but that had nothing to do with the arena. Osaka-Jo Hall has very little going on apart from a cool location. It’s not nearly as good as Ryugoku Sumo Hall in Tokyo for watching an event and overall there is nothing memorable about it.
