Osaka

Osaka is second only to Tokyo as Japan's economic powerhouse. Deborah had been to both cities on her previous Japan trip, but I wanted get my own taste of ultra-urban Japan on this trip, and Osaka is an easy day trip from Kyoto. To get the most out of our day we decided to take a guided walking tour in English. It was a new venture for the same tour company that provides similar services in Kyoto – so new in fact that we were their first and only customers. So we had what turned out to be a private tour with our guide Shomi. As an Osaka native, she had a lot of insight into the people and culture of Osaka and how it differed from Kyoto.

While Kyoto is classy, refined and traditional, with hundreds of temples and shrines and limits on building heights, Osaka is jovial, modern and edgy, with skyscrapers and lots of neon. Osaka is not an attractive city – think endless expanses of dreary concrete boxes. But it makes up for this with colorful commercial signage, flashily dressed youth and nighttime neon. Here are some pics.

 Osaka commercial signs are not subtle.

 Tsutenkaku Tower was originally built in 1903, partially patterned after the Eiffel Tower.  It was damaged by fire in 1943 and then disassembled to support the war effort, but was rebuilt in 1956.  It advertises the Hitachi brand.

 Deborah finds a hairdressing comrade.

 Anime and manga pop culture is big here.  There is even a restaurant chain called Maid Cafe where young attractive waitresses dress and act like maid characters from the comics and address their typically young male girlfriend-less clients as "master."  It's kind of a Hooters for geeks.

 

 Those are sumo wrestlers depicted on the building on the left.  It's a good bet that the place on the right is a restaurant that serves blowfish.

 Plastic food displays are an art.

 There is an entire shopping arcade where restauranteurs can acquire anything kitchen related, including amazingly realistic plastic food for their displays.

 The young and fashionable.

 Check out those nylons and shoes.  By the way, we have found out the primary reason for all the face masks is to filter out pollen, which probably actually works.

 Of course, the masks could just be a fashion statement.

Although it can't compete with Kyoto in the temple and shrine department, Osaka does have its share of sacred places, including this one where worshipers regularly sprinkle nourishing holy water on what can only be called a Chia Pet Buddha.

 Or maybe this guy is under all that greenery.

 The neon madness.