1. Put
on your shoes – you’re
not going far without them.
2. Put
on your shades – how else are you meant to
impress/scout the local talent?
3. Put
on some tunes – this can be any album you want as long
as it’s Wasting Light by FooFighters.
4. Go!
That’s by no means an
exhaustive list, I’d say that having a shower and some
breakfast are pretty important too, and it’s unlikely you’ll get far without
putting some clothes on, but I wanted to be dramatic.
Anyway! I finally got the chance to see
some of central Osaka today when I visited a district called Namba. It’s mainly a shopping
area but there’s a tonne of interesting stuff going on and some
really impressive buildings. This was my first proper time out on my own so I had
to use the train – not the easiest thing to do when you
don’t speak any Japanese.
I strode confidently to the ticket
window at the station and mumbled my way through the sentence I’d been repeating in
my head for a good 20 minutes beforehand - “Namba kippu ku da sai”, which translates as “One ticket to Namba,
please” according to Lonely Planet. Whatever I said must have worked
because I ended up with this, and I made it to Namba unscathed.
My first stop in Namba was “Namba Parks” – a new ten-storey
shopping centre where the shops arehidden among one huge interconnecting park.
Memorabilia shop in Namba Parks
Namco Arcade
Unfortunately I’ve not been in Beaver
since arriving in Japan. I’m hoping to find time for it soon.
Once I’d seen everything
there was to see in Namba Parks, I headed outside to find possibly one of the
longest, and busiest, arcades in the world.
I did indeed stick out like a
sore-thumb.
The locally famous Glico Man…
…and an idiot taking a photo of himself
at it.
This would make a killing in the UK – a vending machine
full of beer flanked by a champagne dispenser.
This huge big wheel was right near the
arcade, but the queue was huge.
A Namba side-street
A big dragon.
By the time I’d finished battling
through the endless sea of Japanese people and the odd fat American tourist I’d worked up quite an
appetite. Unfortunately most of the restaurants were packed and my limited
Japanese language skills meant I’d struggle to get a table anywhere, so
I thought I’d try the local street food – Okonomiyaki. I think
it’s basically a ball of flour and cabbage with octopus inside.
It might sound weird, but they looked delicious…
...they were awful.
I retreated with my tail between my
legs to try and find the nearest McDonalds or supermarket. Luckily I found a “Family Market” that sold sandwiches…
The choice was either chicken or strawberries and cream. I played it safe and got the
chicken.
After lunch I went searching for an
area called “Den Den Town”, which I’d heard was worth a
visit. It’s the geeky quarter of Namba; filled with electronics shops,
trading card exchanges and, strangely, a few transvestites.
This building had a huge arcade on the
ground floor.
Inside a retro-gaming shop in Den Den
Town.
Japanese geeks in a trading card shop.
I like to think they call themselves “Jeeks”.
Of course I was on the lookout for Pokémon cards, but it
seems they’re not that popular in Japan anymore. Eventually I managed to
find one cabinet with them in. I could feel my 10 year old self screaming at me
just to buy all of them. A Charizard will set you back ¥3,800 (£25).
Back on the street again I got quite
excited when I saw this. A Turkish guy selling kebabs!
A little down the road I realised I’d wandered away from
the PG area and into the weird anime,dressing up part of town. This young lady
was handing out flyers.
I couldn’t go without having a
quick look around!
Who needs real women when you can have
cartoons?
I was out a total of 7 hours, so I was
done in by the time I got home. I’ve still not seen everything central
Osaka has to offer though; Namba is just one of the city’s various central
districts. I think I might need to give my legs a rest tomorrow though so the
rest will have to wait.
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