Osaka baby clothes shopping at Markey’s in Namba Parks, plus an Ocean&Ground backpack review
Before our trip, every search for baby clothes and baby gear shopping in Osaka kept leading me back to one place:
Markey’s.
It’s inside the Namba Parks mall connected to Nankai Namba Station,
but you do have to step outside to get there,
so if you’re going with a baby, make sure you’re ready for the outdoor walk first!
Markey’s isn’t really a single in-house brand.
It’s better to think of it as a curated kids’ clothing boutique.
If you’re shopping for baby clothes in Osaka, Markey’s is full of colorful pieces
and easy, comfortable outfits that are great for everyday outings.
To be honest, the super bold graphics and loud prints
aren’t really my style,
so I didn’t spend that much time digging through the clothes.
That said, there was definitely a lot more for kids than for babies.
I feel like once your child is a little older,
there’ll be way more fun things to browse.
My daughter was only 8 months old at the time, so our options were a bit limited.
They even have a height chart,
so if your little one is already walking, it’s kind of fun to measure them.
The Crayon Shin-chan clothes were cute, but also… something I would probably never actually buy.
There are also plenty of simpler designs, so it’s worth checking every corner of the store.
They also carry well-known brands like The North Face, Patagonia, Champion,
and Montbell Kids.
I spent a good amount of time looking at the baby outdoor clothes too,
but of course I forgot to take photos. That’s what happens when you shop with a baby.
Anyway, the real reason we stopped by Markey’s in Osaka
was this Ocean&Ground backpack.
Apparently it’s one of the store’s best-selling items.
It comes in sizes from XS to L.
XS is great for little ones in daycare,
and L can even work for older elementary school kids,
so it’s basically a backpack that works for a wide range of ages.
The color-block version is the most popular,
but even the solid-color backpacks come in bright, beautiful shades.
When we visited, the color-block style had sold so well
that there was only this one left.
I actually wanted something a little more girly,
but this one had coral and light lavender in it,
so I figured it still worked well enough for a baby girl and bought it.
It was about 3,000 yen, and if you buy it in Korea,
you’d pay over 50,000 KRW, so picking one up in Japan definitely felt like a good deal.
This is the Ocean&Ground backpack in size XS
modeled by my bigger-than-average 8-month-old baby.
At the time, she was 73 cm tall and weighed about 10.5 kg.
Like a hiking backpack, it has a chest buckle
that clips the shoulder straps together in front,
so even babies who barely have shoulders yet
can wear it without it constantly slipping off.
The shoulder straps are blue, so it’s not quite my ideal color combo for my daughter,
but the design itself is so adorable
that I already can’t wait to see her toddling around with it on her back.
It’s incredibly lightweight,
and the stitching and overall finish are excellent.
This was such a satisfying purchase. Definitely recommend it!