Running Man Osaka

Dotonbori is one of the most iconic areas in osaka japan and it is often featured in guidebooks or on social media.

Running man osaka. One of osaka s most popular tourist destinations this street runs parallel to the dotonbori canal. At night it is lit by hundreds of neon lights and mechanized signs including the famous glico running man sign and kani doraku crab sign. Of all these signs however the most famous is that of the glico running man above ebisubashi bridge. It is a popular shopping and entertainment district and is also known as a food destination.

The previous five incarnations of the sign used neon lights. Yes it s where the running glico man sign a symbol of the city and all the flashy 3d signboards are. Running man was like that. Originally installed in 1935 the sign depicting a giant athlete on a blue track is a symbol of glico candy the sign has been altered on several occasions to celebrate events such as the world cup and to show support for the osaka baseball team the hanshin tigers the current version is the sixth which uses leds.

In november 2011 the rights to air the show was sold to nine areas in asia namely taiwan thailand indonesia china hong kong japan singapore cambodia and malaysia proving running man s rise in popularity as a hallyu program. With its popularity i got curious about its history and why it became. When i went there the first time and saw the crowd taking pictures with the huge running man signboard i was amazed how popular the landmark seemed particularly to travelers. The famous running man sign is an advertisement for glico a well known confectionery company.

Dotonbori is famous for its eye catching signage and billboards with a giant pufferfish an octopus a clown the kani douraku crab all vying for your attention and creating an amusement park like atmosphere. Producer jo hyo jin stated that the program would be touring two countries. Glico running man sign. The glico running man is one of the most well known landmarks in osaka.

Let s get the gilco running man out of the way we can also throw in osaka s famous but scarily myopic clown. When i first visited osaka in 2014 i admit that i wasn t aware of the famous landmark located in dotonbori ebisubashi in osaka s minami district. This huge brightly lit sign has glowed over the dotombori canal in osaka s premier shopping and entertainment district for more than 80 years. The glico running man.

Gilco is a confectionary company and has been running the advert in osaka for the last 80 years and for some reason it has become iconic in osaka. In january 2013 sbs announced running man in asia as one of the big projects of 2013. 15 things to do in dotonbori near the glico man sign osaka osaka city. Weirdly you can land in a place hear about a symbol place mascot that must be seen and suddenly you find yourself chasing those must sees all around town.

If you ve ever eaten pocky the infamous candy coated pretzel sticks then you ve eaten a glico product.