Osaka: eat till you drop (Day 1)

Osaka is the third largest city by population in Japan (after Tokyo and Yokohama).   It is known for its food, castle, port, underground shopping arcades, and Bunraku puppet theater.  It also has one of the nation's best aquariums, which Kirby and I had to check out (see the next post for our aquarium adventures).


We arrived in Osaka after a 30 minute train ride from Kyoto in the late afternoon on Friday.  We stayed in a hostel near the Umeda station.  We hadn't really planned out what were wanted to do here (a far cry from my overly detailed itinerary in Kyoto).  Osaka boasts the only Universal Studios outside of America, the oldest state temple in Japan, not to mention America-mura (a fashion district based on America for hipsters) or the "Kitchen District" (a district that sells everything you'd need to open a restaurant).  But seeing that we were running out of daylight, we decided to go to the best place for entertainment after hours - Dotonbori.

Dotonbori (pronouned dou-tom-boree) is a single street, running alongside the Dōtonbori canal between the Dōtonboribashi Bridge and the Nipponbashi Bridge in the Namba ward of Osaka. A former pleasure district, Dōtonbori is famous for its historic theaters (all gone now), its shops and restaurants, and its many neon and mechanized signs.  This includes snack/candy manufacturer Glico's giant electronic display of a runner crossing the finish line, Cui-daore's mechanical drum-playing clown, and the restaurant Kani Doraku's six and a half meter crab that moves its arms and eyes.

Tourists come from all over Japan, and the world, to try Osaka cooking.  There is even a Japanese proverb, "Dress (in kimonos) till you drop in Kyoto, eat till you drop in Osaka" (京の着倒れ、大阪の食い倒れ).  Osaka regional cuisine includes okonomiyaki (pan-fried batter cake), takoyaki (octopus dumplings), udon (Japanese thick noodle), as well as regional sushi and other traditional Japanese foods.  Kirby was in heaven!  We ate Subway (YUM!), drank chu-hi, and just people-watched while wandering down the busy street.  Dotonbori kinda reminds me of Vegas.  No casinos, but people out and about like it's two in the afternoon.  Osaka's population at night is still 2.6 million! (3.7 during the day).  We even found a Krispy Kreme! Unfortunately, the line was around the block, and the boy didn't want to wait all night to satisfy my craving for American junk food. ;)

We also found a pet store!  I was very interested to see what Japanese pet stores were like.  The pet store was packed even though it was close to midnight.  We immediately noticed some big differences.  The puppies are all small dogs (which makes sense in a society where your house isn't very big and your entire family lives with you), both dogs and cats are horribly expensive (think like thousands of dollars), and they don't just sell typical domestic animals.  They sell miniature monkeys.  

Cute tiny little fuzzy things that grab onto your fingers.  They had at least two different species, but this little guy was my favorite.  Extremely expensive, like everything else in Japan, but heart-achingly cute!  I know the environmentalist in me was saying, this fuzz-ball should be in the jungle, wild and free.  But the girl in me was saying I want to put him in a designer handbag and parade him around town!  These completely unrealistic desires are why so many animals end up in humane societies or released into the local habitat, which can have dire consequences.  In fact, I hate to support pet stores at all, but that doesn't stop my heart from melting when something cute and fuzzy looks at me.  Just need to back away from the pet...