Osaka Loves Chicago

I’m not sure that we knew this but Osaka is a sister city to Chicago. We were delighted to learn this as we walked through the Namba metro station and came upon the “Chicago Gallery”.

It was an area marked by signs and this floor announcement and is filled with reproductions of some of the world famous paintings found in the Art Institute. A little sprinkle of home here in Japan.

Osaka is also known as Japan’s second city (even though it is now the third largest), with what feels like the same second city brashness you find in Chicago.

We started our tour at the fantastic Osaka Castle. It is one of Japan’s most famous landmarks and has played an important role in Japanese history.

Construction began in 1583 and by 1597 was completed. Aside from the impenetrable rock walls, the Castle also had two large moats dug around the perimeter. So attackers had to cross the outermost moat, scale the enormous outer wall, then cross another moat and scale yet another wall.

In an attack around 1615, the army in the castle was outmanned by 2:1 and still held the castle. The attacking general was so frustrated that he had the outer moat filled in for a future attack. That is someone who was mad.

We went to the top floor of the castle which gave us a panoramic view of Osaka.

From there we walked to an area called Shin Sekai, which was built in 1912 as an entertainment district and even today contains a lot of shops that hold carnival games and pachinko parlors.

From here we walked over to the main shopping and dining district in Osaka called Dotonbori. Canals run right through the middle of Dotonbori and restaurants line both sides.

It’s a bright lights, big city sort of area and on a Saturday night was filled with people looking for fun. Even geishas need to get out once and a while.

All manner of food stalls can be found in Dotonbori. This one was all octopus, all the time including the famous octopus balls that Osaka is known for.

This one was nothing but fried anything and everything.

This guy we’re not sure about, maybe yakitori, but he was gigantic and rotated high up on his pedestal.

Out in front of an eight floor store called Don Quixote you can find the world’s only oval ferris wheel. The store itself is sheer madness, there is nothing you can’t buy there. While walking around inside the store it feels like a shipping container just exploded.

Fun stuff was also happening, here we see them making mochi. If you’ve never had mochi, it is a dense and sticky rice treat that is usually filled with sweets. We generally see them in the U.S. filled with ice cream, but it could be anything.

Here they are beating the rice gluten to within an inch of its’ life as one of the steps in making mochi.

As the sun set Dotonbori started to light up.

So much fun!

It’s almost dinner time in Dotonbori and people are circling.

This is the famous Osaka Glico running man. He is a symbol of Osaka and has been there for almost 90 years, originally as a neon sign and now as an LED. Glico is a candy company known for making many things but most famously Pocky Sticks.

Right next to Dotonbori is the cavernous Shinsaibashi shopping mall. In person shopping is alive and well in Japan.

What’s so charming about Osaka is that immediately to the side of all this glitz and glamour you can find yourself in quiet alleys and laneways.

If you’re coming to Japan, Osaka is definitely worth a stop.