Experience– category –

You see them tucked between apartment buildings and bustling shotengai shopping arcades. The tell-tale sign is a tall, slender chimney reaching for the sky, a relic from a time of wood-fired boilers. A curtain, or noren, hangs over the e...

Step off the train in Osaka, and the first thing you feel isn’t the humidity or the energy from the crowds. It’s the whiz of a bicycle passing an inch from your elbow. A high school student, one hand on the handlebars, the other scrollin...

They tell you Osaka runs on two things: laughter and flour. Before I moved here from Tokyo, my friends painted a picture of a city paved with okonomiyaki and drowning in takoyaki broth. "You're vegan?" one of them said, shaking his head ...

So you've pushed your way through the Shinsaibashi crowds, you've eaten takoyaki until you can't stand, and you've seen the Glico Man more times than your own reflection. You're living in Osaka, or thinking about it, and you've hit a wal...

It’s a Monday morning ritual I’ve come to recognize. My colleagues, normally fueled by canned coffee and a deep, world-weary sigh, are buzzing. They’re not talking about the weekend’s Hanshin Tigers game or the latest gossip from Namba. ...

They call it the city’s artery, the big red line that slices Osaka straight down the middle. From the corporate calm of the north to the chaotic, vibrant pulse of the south, the Midosuji Line is more than just a subway. It's a thirty-kil...

You see them tucked away on quiet side streets, their distinct high chimneys piercing the skyline of residential neighborhoods. A traditional tile roof, a warm light spilling from a sliding door marked with the unmistakable ゆ (yu) symbo...

When you first arrive in Japan, you learn the retail gospel. You learn the crisp, clean call of "Irasshaimase!"—welcome! It echoes through department stores, rings out in convenience stores, a polite and uniform acknowledgment of your pr...

So you've landed in Osaka. You've navigated the train systems, found a decent apartment, and maybe you've even figured out how to separate your burnable trash from your plastics. You're settling in. But then comes the hard part, the part...

When I first moved to Osaka from Tokyo, I thought I had the daily commute figured out. You get your IC card—an ICOCA here, not a Suica—tap it on the reader, and zip through the gates. It’s the rhythm of urban Japan, a seamless, thoughtle...

Forget what you think you know about shopping in Japan. Erase the images of silent, gleaming department stores where every apple is a flawless work of art and the only sound is the gentle hum of the escalator. That’s one side of the coin...

When you first hear the word ‘Kuidaore,’ it hits you with the force of a cartoon anvil. The common translation, ‘to eat oneself into bankruptcy,’ paints a wild picture of a city populated by hedonistic gluttons, joyfully devouring takoya...