Visitors to Osaka's Umeda district are often perplexed to see only a few pedestrians in the streets, despite it being the city centre.
Japan is notorious for its six-way pedestrian crossings and trains so packed that rush-hour commuters are shoved into carriages. In contrast to all that, even Osaka's busiest train station is relatively quiet.
Why is Umeda - one of the liveliest commercial and business districts in the Kansai region, home to 24 million people - so bustle-free? Because life has gone underground. A few metres below the tree-lined boulevards and gleaming skyscrapers, such as the reflective landmark arch of the Umeda Sky Building, is an entire town that has spread down and across.
What makes Umeda unique is that it works as an independent city equipped with the basic facilities needed daily, and then some. Seven railway stations carry people to and from the numerous underground office buildings. In addition to the department stores, there are designer, drug and book stores, travel agents, and convenience and bargain shops that hawk 100 yen ($6) goodies. Then there are banks, post offices, movie theatres and playrooms, where stressed parents can drop off their children for an hour's peace - or even longer, because there are also hotels.
Visitors can also head to various schools and colleges teaching anything from foreign languages to flower arranging.
In Umeda's perpetually warm utopia there's even a slice of nature. The Park Space features a small stream, fountain and flowerbed. Some of Osaka's best restaurants are also in this subterranean city, their exteriors set off by Umeda's tungsten glow. Most of the office buildings are linked by underground passages, as are the main shopping centres: Diamor Osaka (left), Whity Umeda and Dojima Chikagai.