The Rough Guide to Japan describes Osaka as "the urban equivalent of the Elephant Man", not the most flattering description! It's not a city renowned for its architecture or cultural sights, but it certainly makes up for that with vibrant streetlife and very chilled-out locals. Usually ugly concrete boxes and endless rows of pachinko parlours slightly depress me, but in Osaka you somehow ignore this and you just enjoy people-watching & soaking up the atmosphere. After the squeaky clean vibe of Fukuoka it was so refreshing to wander around in a place without pretences, proud of its raw and rather gritty character. Being approached by random strangers also felt bizarre at first -this never happens in Fukuoka-, but I really enjoyed contact with the locals :-). All in all a great place to visit, although after two days of frantic hectiness Vaughan and I were ready to move on to the serene temple mountain of Koyasan (more on that later).
Funky girls in the 'America Town' district. There were heaps crazier dressers around, but chasing them with my camera felt inappropriate...
Our JET gang looks disturbingly normal compared to the fashion victims surrounding us (Vaughan, Fiona, Dean, Jenni & George)!
Osaka by night: neon as far as the eye can see
Thanks to Jenni's fluent Japanese we got pointed to a popular okonomiyaki restaurant in a back alley, where we got to observe our meal being prepared.
The result was delicious and begged for more (I'm still thinking about it!)
2 comments:
Only ever saw Osaka when passing through. Full of concrete & really makes you appreciate having parks where entry is free - & you can walk on the grass.
Friends said they like it to party but wouldn't want to live there.
You'll enjoy Himejii but avoid the tour groups so go early. If you can try & get to Kyoto for a few days & up to Hikone on Biwako. Very nice
Hey Brett, we actually visited Himeji on our last day, it was pretty impressive! Kyoto is definitely still on the list, probably in October when Vaughan's mum comes over.
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