During our day out we ended up in the district of Dōtonbori. As with our trip to Nipponbashi, we had no idea how the hell we got there - but we didn't care, because we ended up somewhere good.
Dōtonbori has a great deal of things to distract you. There's a shopping precinct nearby with some cool kitch style clothing stores. A Sega world arcade that looked really, really old and out dated, but featured lots of the latest arcade games and also the biggest Tekken 6 set-up I'd seen in my life. Lots of seafood and Chinese restaurants. And large groups of school kids wandering around in an assortment of uniforms that anime lovers would draw comparison to with characters their fave shows. Dōtonbori is a popular hang out spot for the young, hip and trendy, especially the popular bridge which arches over the small river; where there's always something going on: day or night. So of course me and my mate walked over it real slow. Just to make our presences felt and let the locals know how we do in the LDN.
Dōtonbori is also the home of the world famous Glico man! Who get his smile on during the day and then gets his shine on when night falls.
What made Dōtonbori was memorable for me were the signs. Every store and building had a really large noticeable sign or advertisement on it. As you're walking you just can't keep but look up above you. It makes everything all the more enticing and is what has you wanting to walk in and out of every building you see with a big sign. And as you could imagine, at night when the lights go on, everything looks even more spectacular. Especially Mr. Glico.
Dōtonbori is just random. But a good random. It's the deep end for Gaijin, as Dōtonbori is located in the heart of quite a few busy area's. So you get a high concentrated mix of people. So expect to be looked up and down from every type of Japanese person in one day. From school girls, to school kids, the elderly, the gals, the spikey haired dues who think they're the coolest thing since rice balls on toast, the OL's, the salary men, the folk in shops. You name it, you'll get looked up and down and whispered about by it. It's not as bad as it sounds though. There's so much going on in Dōtonbori that it is relatively easy to just blend in. And chances are once a person passes a bright light, something being shouted out of a PA system or big shop sign, or another freak walks past, that their attention will soon be diverted.
Dōtonbori is a small place, but worth seeing. It's like a shit loads of cool uniquely Japanese stuff shoved into one street and high fived in your face.
The prelude: The gaijin and the chugokujin's day out (part 1)
The interlude: The gaijin and the chugokujin's run in with porn
Dōtonbori has a great deal of things to distract you. There's a shopping precinct nearby with some cool kitch style clothing stores. A Sega world arcade that looked really, really old and out dated, but featured lots of the latest arcade games and also the biggest Tekken 6 set-up I'd seen in my life. Lots of seafood and Chinese restaurants. And large groups of school kids wandering around in an assortment of uniforms that anime lovers would draw comparison to with characters their fave shows. Dōtonbori is a popular hang out spot for the young, hip and trendy, especially the popular bridge which arches over the small river; where there's always something going on: day or night. So of course me and my mate walked over it real slow. Just to make our presences felt and let the locals know how we do in the LDN.
Dōtonbori is also the home of the world famous Glico man! Who get his smile on during the day and then gets his shine on when night falls.
What made Dōtonbori was memorable for me were the signs. Every store and building had a really large noticeable sign or advertisement on it. As you're walking you just can't keep but look up above you. It makes everything all the more enticing and is what has you wanting to walk in and out of every building you see with a big sign. And as you could imagine, at night when the lights go on, everything looks even more spectacular. Especially Mr. Glico.
Dōtonbori is just random. But a good random. It's the deep end for Gaijin, as Dōtonbori is located in the heart of quite a few busy area's. So you get a high concentrated mix of people. So expect to be looked up and down from every type of Japanese person in one day. From school girls, to school kids, the elderly, the gals, the spikey haired dues who think they're the coolest thing since rice balls on toast, the OL's, the salary men, the folk in shops. You name it, you'll get looked up and down and whispered about by it. It's not as bad as it sounds though. There's so much going on in Dōtonbori that it is relatively easy to just blend in. And chances are once a person passes a bright light, something being shouted out of a PA system or big shop sign, or another freak walks past, that their attention will soon be diverted.
Dōtonbori is a small place, but worth seeing. It's like a shit loads of cool uniquely Japanese stuff shoved into one street and high fived in your face.
The prelude: The gaijin and the chugokujin's day out (part 1)
The interlude: The gaijin and the chugokujin's run in with porn