How walkable is Sakai?
By Oscar Higson-Spence. Updated
Sakai has a walkability score of 82 out of 100 across the 5 km around its centre, which makes it very walkable: most errands can be done on foot. It is the joint 13th most walkable of the 70 cities ranked in Japan, with 1 other.
What's within walking distance of the centre
1,724 shops, restaurants, parks and other everyday places are mapped within a 30 minute walk of central Sakai. The nearest grocery is about 2 minutes away on foot. It earns full or nearly full points for groceries, restaurants & bars, shopping, coffee, banks, parks, schools and culture & entertainment. It is weakest for books & libraries.
Groceries
- サンプラザ 堺東駅前店, 2 min
- 成城石井堺東店, 3 min
Restaurants & bars
- とっつぁん系おかあちゃん, 1 min
- 大衆鰻うな輔, 1 min
Shopping
- ファミリーマート, 1 min
- ローソン 堺中瓦町二丁目店, 1 min
Coffee
- メディアカフェポパイ堺東店, 1 min
- スイス 本店, 1 min
Banks
- りそな銀行 堺東支店, 3 min
- みずほ銀行堺支店, 4 min
Parks
- 土居川公園, 4 min
- 翁橋公園, 5 min
Schools
- LVAV, 4 min
- 個別教室のトライ 堺東駅前校, 4 min
Books & libraries
- パルネット, 22 min
- シェア型書店 Honbako, 22 min
Culture & entertainment
- 堺東Goith, 1 min
- ジャンカラ 堺東2号店, 1 min
Further than usual
- The nearest library or bookshop is 19 minutes from the centre on foot, against 6 minutes for the median city ranked.
Measured from the centre at 34.5744, 135.4829, the point near Sakai's middle with the most places in walking range. Walking times assume 80 m per minute along an estimated street route.
Street layout
Within 800 m of the centre there are about 290 street intersections per km², and blocks average 62 m long. That is a well-connected street grid, so the score is not reduced.
How far walkability reaches
Sakai's score of 82 is the average across the 5 km around its centre, the point with the most everyday places within a walk. Walkability averages 93 within 1 km of the centre, 89 from 1 to 3 km out and 76 from 3 to 5 km out. 12 of the 91 points within 5 km fall on water or on land without streets, such as hillsides, forest or farmland, and are left out, so the score describes only the built-up part. 87% of the sampled area scores 70 or more, where most errands can be done on foot.
- 90+
- 70–89
- 50–69
- 25–49
- 0–24
Each hexagon is the score at a point, 1 km from its neighbours, across the 5 km around central Sakai. Rings mark 1, 3 and 5 km from the centre. Gaps are water or land without streets.
| Area | Score | Scoring 70+ |
|---|---|---|
| Centre | 94 | 100% |
| Within 1 km | 93 | 100% |
| 1 to 3 km out | 89 | 96% |
| 3 to 5 km out | 76 | 81% |
Neighbourhoods of Sakai by walkability
Each neighbourhood is scored across the area around its centre, so the score describes that part of Sakai rather than the city as a whole.
| # | Neighbourhood | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kita-ku | 85 |
Nearby cities
| City | Distance | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Osaka, Japan | 13 km | 94 |
| Higashiōsaka, Japan | 14 km | 93 |
| Amagasaki, Japan | 16 km | 80 |
| Nishinomiya, Japan | 19 km | 82 |
| Toyonaka, Japan | 22 km | 85 |
Questions about walking in Sakai
Is Sakai a walkable city?
Around its centre, yes. Sakai has a walkability score of 82 out of 100 across the 5 km around its centre, which makes it very walkable: most errands can be done on foot. Its centre scores 94. The score covers about 80 km² around the busiest point rather than the whole city, and suburbs further out are usually less walkable, so check a specific address on the map. It ranks joint 13th of 70 cities in Japan and joint 97th of 690 worldwide on How Walkable.
What is the most walkable city in Japan?
Tokyo is the most walkable of the 70 cities ranked in Japan, with a score of 98. Sakai ranks joint 13th with 82.
How does Sakai compare with nearby cities?
Sakai sits between its nearest ranked neighbours: it scores 82, against Osaka (94, 13 km away), Higashiōsaka (93, 14 km away) and Amagasaki (80, 16 km away).
Which part of Sakai is most walkable?
Sakai's most walkable area is its centre, the point near the middle of the city with the most places in walking range, which scores 94. Walkability averages 93 within 1 km of it. Beyond 2.5 km, it holds up best to the north-east (averaging 89) and falls most to the west (29).
How is Sakai's walkability score calculated?
For Sakai it is the average of 79 points spaced 1 km apart within 5 km of its busiest point, leaving out water and land without streets; 69 of them score 70 or more. Each point counts groceries, restaurants, shops, cafés, banks, parks, schools, libraries and cultural venues within a 30 minute walk, gives nearer places more weight, and loses up to 20% where streets are sparse or blocks are long, using open map data from Overture Maps (release 2026-09-23.1) and OpenStreetMap. It measures what is within a walk, not what the walk is like: pavements, traffic, safety, hills and heat are not part of the score.
This page is generated from open map data with a published walkability method, explained in the methodology. Places from Overture Maps release 2026-09-23.1. City position and population from GeoNames.
Ask about walking anywhere in ChatGPT with the How Walkable app, for example "How walkable is Sakai?"