Contrast between Cities inside a Country

Since 2018 I gave myself a clear goal of visiting Japan atleast once a year. Reason for this is Japan serves me as some kind of a reset button. Having always dreamed of seeing and experience the things I got interested in while watching the Art of Anime, being interested in the People and their daily life behind the screen or just discovering new purposes for yourself. Japan also serves as an Inspiration from a standpoint of a Designer and Photograph as the people there tend to build their craft with certain philosophies as a foundation. Yet the folks of Osaka present themselves in a different manner.

The first thing you do when you land in Tokyo is having to think like you got into a Mirror World. When everything is right, think left like standing on an Escalator, walking down the streets or driving your car. That goes for the most parts in Japan, but for some reason it doesn't apply in Osaka. People in Osaka are different and they will tell and show you that they're different which is also very uncommon in Japan.

The "O" in Osaka stands for "open".

It's genuinely astounding to see that a 3 hour trainride seperates a whole different mentality. My friends told me about their conversations they had when they went to a Bar. The name of that Bar is "Bar Abare". They told me that a lot of people in Osaka genuinely don't like Tokyo because of the "perfect image" they have to bring up day by day and I can actually understand why they think like that. Let's clarify.

Tokyo is big, modern, very clean and has literally everything you need or want. People there are very nice and this is where the problem lies for the Osaka hometowners. They feel like it's not genuine and they had problems shaping a longterm relationship with the people of Tokyo. After that rant the Barowner gave out drinks for free, met up with my friends the next day and in the evening the rant about Tokyo continued. To round it all up for this topic, People from Osaka are very open. If you genuinely want to meet new people and have fun at a Bar or meet up with them the next day, just do it.

First time Osaka through the Lens.

I took my camera with me to practice streetphotography or photography in general. It was difficult for me to get warm with Osaka's infrastructure because of how everything is cramped in one place and the thing you actually want to see or need it somewhere else. But that doesn't mean anything bad.

Shinsekai, Nanba/Namba and Umeda are the Places to visit for your first trip. That's where the main actions runs and the most interesting things are happening. These also serve as good locations for streetphotography. If you want to find your niche, Osaka is way too underrepresented in the photography scene. The streets in Nanba/Namba offer very nice compositions and with the streetfood stands all over the place, you have a good amount of content to grab. Keep in mind though that there is still the law of privacy, so if you notice that some people are unconfortable with you taking a picture of them, apologize and delete the picture or better of: Ask them if you can take a picture of what they are doing right now but in general they don't really care and they just move on with their lives.

My plan for this year is definitely going back to Osaka. Especially because I need to explore the unseen paths and the corners I couldn't get into and the Aquarium is also still on my bucket list.