"I know that you believe that you understood what you think I said, but I am not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant." - Robert McCloskey, State Department spokesman (attributed)

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Japan trip
Day 9 - 14th June - Osaka (Part 5)

I saw a few girls in leggings and a few supermen; as we know, Japan leads Singapore in fashion. Yet, hypothesis testing through visual inspection confirmed my suspicion that Japanese women generally eschew bra padding (and more so, it seems, than Shanghai and Hong Kong). This is assuredly one trend that won't be flying over. The lack of bra padding is even more remarkable given how, from the AV selection, Japanese men seem to like well endowed women and how they're smaller than Singaporean women.


I hadn't had a proper lunch, so I was looking for a good dinner. I went to a Edo-era themed food alley next to the aquarium ("Naiwa Kuishinko Yokochi" [misspelt somehow], described by Lonely Planet as a "faux Edo period food court" with Osaka specialities).


Food alley


Dinner. I now see that it was an aquarium special. I chose chicken (though it says pork here, for some reason).


Rice with fried chicken on top, mayo, egg strips, and gyoza in the shape of pork ribs (with chives and meat inside). The last were probably "hitokuchi gyoza", translated as "Steam baked meat pie".


Gyoza

2 of the rules of food are that mayo is good and deep fried is good. So this was quite nice.

Other shops had things like sauceless takoyaki you could eat with your hands, but it was getting late so everything was closing.


"Ziddy brand has a cool and grown-up atmosphere. Our smart items are suitable for fashionable kids."
This sign was amazing for using English (almost) correctly.

I then went to check out a busier (probably the busiest) part of Osaka, and headed to Namba JR station.

When I emerged I thought I was in the Esplanade:


Osaka's equivalent of the Esplanade ("Shingapōrumura")


Shingapōrumura 2


With my reckless Kanji-guessing this seems to be an ad for a Narita-san traffic safety prayer service. On top of a building.

There was this place called Amerikamura (America Village) which Japanese kids go to to live the American Dream.


See the silly Statue of Liberty in the distance.

After wandering around, I concluded that besides the dumb statue, the only thing American about it was some clothing stores (but then due to globalisation you can get such clothes anywhere in Japan) and a "Manhattan Records West", which has as much relation to Manhattan as Manhattan Fish Market. I didn't see any Starbucks (I saw one in Dotonbori), McDonalds or fast food.

I actually had a message for all the kids: "If you want to go America, you better start speaking English. Or Spanish. Mucho Gracias", but in the end I didn't confront anyone with the cold, brutal truth, in case they'd picked up another aspect of American culture: street violence.


More of Amerikamura


"Loose House". I'm guessing it doesn't have the same connotation(s) in Engrish that it has in English.

Moving out of that area I also saw Apple and Nike stores - and a Bridgestone store (well, it has an American-sounding name).


More streets of Osaka

I then moved towards Dotonbori, a shopping area.


Square


Soemon cho


Dōtonbori river area. Unfortunately I didn't notice the picture was blur.


Blade Runner-esque neon lights

I then saw a very familiar sight:


"無料案内所" (Information centre)


"GAL STOP"

Yes. I had landed up in the red light district. Again. Fortunately (or otherwise), here I got solicited a grand total of 0 times. Actually out of all the red light districts I visited on field research (or inadvertently stumbled into), the only one where I got solicited was Kabuki-cho in Tokyo.


"Free Feel Cafe". Gah. Given that it was near the red light district: gah gah gah.


Wth Ferris Wheel

Since I had already glimpsed (even if not tasted of) one of Osaka's twin attractions, I diverted my attention to the other:


Food


More food, including grilled pork


Even more food


Are you sick of food yet?


Food street

Unfortunately, I was quite full from my filling and late dinner (I don't know how Jap women finish their food)


Building facade: Dotonbori Gokuraku Shoten-gai, a theme park dedicated to - you guessed it, food.

I then walked back to the train station.


Popular ramen place. Unfortunately I was still too full to eat more.


Ramen ticket vending machine. This is a gem to illustrate gains from specialisation, as the store only has 2 items on its menu, and both are essentially the same.

At this shop I knowingly encountered a group of Taiwanese women for the 2nd time (the first time was at Fushimi), and offered to help them take a picture (Taiwanese get visa-free travel to Japan. No wonder it's a popular destination for them. Don't forget the resemblance Kanji has to 繁体字 [Traditional Chinese characters]). Oddly enough, neither group had any guys - probably the girls come for the shopping and the guys have their betel nut girls to occupy them already.

Strangely enough, given my abominable Mandarin, the Taiwanese girls asked if I was from Taiwan. Wth. Maybe they thought I was an aboriginal Taiwanese.


Man KOed by the roadside. Either he drank too much or (more likely, this being Osaka) ate too much.


Disturbing magazine I had come across this day:


"I bring up a girl till the day when a girl grows up"
Unfortunately, due to logistical issues I couldn't capture the whole page, but there is a picture of a schoolgirl above this text.
GAH GAH GAH