Osaka Stories


The Chiba University "Sausage Festival", Kobe Luminarie, and the Delights of Engrish

I have long maintained that Japanese is tied with Latin for the prize of "most inately badass-sounding language" on the planet. By contrast, english as spoken by the Japanese is probably one of the more adorable things ever. English is a rich and subtle language, qualities I had marvellously demonstrated to me last Friday riding the train to Osaka. I...


Fat Men in a Skinny Man's Country

Yukie took me to see the Sumo grand tournament in Osaka and I must admit that it is a strange and wonderful sport. In a county of skinny people, they find the fattest, chuck them into a ring with only a small lyon cloth on and make them jump on top of each other. I used to watch it on the telie box, but seeing it live is no comparison. The crowd were...


Is there any city i DON`T get lost in?

my activities of the day consisted of exploring Kyoto, essentially. After rising and having my first shave in at least six days (bliss!) i boldly took to the shinkansen. arriving in Kyoto, i found the Kyoto Tourist Information Center (for some reason on the ninth floor of the station), obtained a map and set forth. my first stop was Senjusangendo...


Attack of the schoolchildren!

well, i am now in Osaka, having once again gotten lost trying to find my lodgings (though this time i bucked the tradition by gaining help from, not a Kindly Old Person, but the occupants of a Kindly 24-hour Doctors Office). i spent the morning completing one or two errands i had assigned myself and generally wandering Asakusa. after i posted off so...