O(MG)saka

Well we ain't, as the lady said, in Kansas anymore.

Figuring out how to contextualise can be hard, and all we have is all we have, a lot of the time.  So for me Kyoto was Japan while we were there.  My trip started with a 6am visit to Honganji temple, the largest wooden structure in the world.  We saw a lot of traditional architecture, and the city, though full of people, was relatively quiet.  So I figured this was Japan:  traditional, quiet, not much to do after about eleven pm.

Then we hit Osaka.  OMG.

So of course it is ludicrous to think that one city (or any city) is a whole country, and of course it is ludicrous to think that one neighborhood is a whole city.  But again, what we have is what we have, and what we have just now is hotel rooms just off of Dotonbori Street and it is a trip.  This is the chunk of the world that was used as a model for "Blade Runner," if that helps explain things.  It is a district of shops and restaurants that are all vying for the title "most insanely loud and bright signs" and is associated with a Japanese word "kuiadore," which I understand roughly translates to something like "To ruin oneself with extravagance in food."  You could sure do that here.

The first night we were here we had just come from Kyoto Seika University, and had lugged all of our possessions on the train.  We were tired and hungry, and checked into our hotel.  We are all staying in what are referred to as "traditional rooms."  This means tatami on the floor and at night you pull out a futon and sleep on it on the tatami.  It is quite nice, I have to say  The sun coming through the shoji in the morning is lovely as well.  Here is a shot of my room:

Then we went out on the town to look around.  The students clearly had a good time:  Many of them were drooping the next morning.  I think some photos and video are going to do a better job of explaining this joint than my words will, so here they are:

Yes, these are bedazzled cars.  No, I have no idea why one would do this:

Street manga store:

And then there is this:

There is a booming (apparently) business in "hosting," which as far as I can decipher involves hot young men with carefully sculpted hair.  These guys are all over Dotonbori, loitering and looking around.  Waiting for customers, clearly.  It is sort of like being surrounded by Asian David Bowies.  Totally strange.  Some of them are really duded up, too.

Now, to be clear, Osaka is a huge city, with a population of almost three million.  There are a lot of parts of Osaka that are not this.  There are a lot of architecturally significant buildings here as well, which is why we are here.  Tadao Ando did several structures here, which we walked around and looked at yesterday, and Kengo Kuma is still doing work here, so there is a lot to see that is not a riot of shopping and eating.

But the eating is pretty damn good.

Today we are off to see one of the structures that I am most excited about this whole trip:  Tadao Ando's Church of the Light.  More about that tomrrow.