Osaka is a thriving commercial metropolis that, with Tokyo, divides the country into two main business zones. Built on the commercial foundation laid down in the Edo period (1600-1868), Osaka has become the mercantile hub of Japan. At the same time, the city boasts a lavish and varied cuisine that has earned it the nickname "kitchen of the world," while emerging as an international entertainment mecca. Let's take a look at the many faces of Osaka today.

The Venice of Japan

To survey the soaring skyscrapers, or the shopping arcades that you come across unexpectedly while wandering around the city, is to get a new feeling for Osaka and a new appreciation of the pleasures of travel. The attractive and abundant merchandise piled up in such profusion in the shops is enjoyable enough in itself, but to experience the first rate service of the sales people is like discovering a hidden Japanese treasure, guaranteed to bring a ray of sunshine into the hearts of travelers every time.

Thanks to the most advanced construction methods, the fabric of the city is just as delightful below ground as above. A place where you can wander in the midst of the rainy season without feeling a drop of rain: that’s where Japan is at today.

Downtown Osaka is divided into four main areas: the city center, Tennoji, the Bay Area, and Universal Studios Japan.

The city center shows the contemporary face of Osaka, a city very much living in the present. Apart from the area around Osaka Castle, it is famous for shopping streets. Wherever you look it’s exciting.

There’s a saying in Korea that even the sea can change into a mulberry grove, and just 130 years ago, this place was a bunch of green onion fields. Its fortunes began to change in 1874, when the intercity highway was built. Today, the shopping streets of southern Osaka stand at the vanguard, decked in the latest fashions and dazzling ornaments.

Universal Studios Japan (USJ) is equally impressive. It’s hard to believe that California’s Hollywood or Florida’s Universal Studios has suddenly landed in Japan. Taking full advantage of the Japanese talent for imitation, this massive movie theme park must be seen to be believed. More than half a square kilometer of attractions in nine distinct zones add up to an endlessly fascinating experience.

To the east, in the Tennoji district, lies Suruhashi, Osaka’s largest Korea Town, with more than 200,000 Korean residents. Its Korean market, known as the international market, has a deep-rooted history. Extending 300 meters from east to west and 500 meters from north to south in the shade of Suruhashi Station on the overhead railway, this crowded market looks exactly like a traditional Korean market. The lively atmosphere, the Korean signage, ample goods for sale, Korean food stalls and enticing smells make this a true Little Korea within Osaka.

Just ten years ago, most Japanese couldn’t bear the smell of garlic, but now they come by the thousands to buy kimchi.

“If Osaka is ruined by food, Kyoto is ruined by clothing.” “Kyoto people dress well but don’t care what they put on their feet; Osaka people don’t care what they wear so long as they have good shoes.” These sayings have been repeated in Japan for ages. They satirize the empty formality of upper-class life in Kyoto, for centuries the Japanese capital, but also suggest the satisfying wholesomeness of Osaka cuisine.

Osaka’s nickname, “the kitchen of the world,” dates back to a visit from a Korean envoy in the distant past. When he and his party reached Osaka Harbor after a long and arduous voyage, daimyos and military commanders from nearby harbors came to greet them in as many as 150 boats.

According to historical records, Koreans in the Joseon Dynasty who took roles as correspondents were given a royal welcome in a two-story pavilion boat that was towed upstream by thousands of men lined up on the banks. The envoy responded with a musical performance by a popular Korean band, in what was perhaps the first ever international open-air concert.

The inns of Osaka were crammed to capacity with people who had come from all around to watch this spectacular event. It was from this time on that Osaka became known as the “kitchen of the world.”

The local cuisine developed further as the event repeated every few years. To this day, Osaka’s shopping and entertainment districts such as Dotombori are so crowded with restaurants that visitors are always amazed.

Osaka’s role as the kitchen of the world has been aided both by its proximity to the sea providing an abundant supply of fresh seafood, and by the growth of trade, which has made cooking ingredients and other products from all over Japan readily available. Food in Osaka has become a delicacy to which visitors flock from far and wide to endulge.

Dotombori is a food and entertainment district that has grown on the banks of a man-made waterway called the Dotombori River, originally built as a transport canal. Taverns and kabuki theathers have lined Dotombori since the Edo period (1600-1868), and today the district has become Osaka’s biggest shopping and entertainment zone.

Here, all kinds of restaurants bustle with customers. An ever-popular item on the menu is takoyaki, finely chopped octopus, perfectly fried in a delicious batter. Equally savory is kinryu ramen, noodles cooked in a rich chicken-pork broth.

When night falls, the face of Dotombori changes. Instead of distributing cheap and tasty foods, the streets are clad in multicolored neon as Dotombori turns into a nightlife mecca, as bright as can be. The colorful lights on the banks of Dotombori will cheer the heart of any traveler.

City of Daily Festivals

There are some unusual statues not found on the mainland.These stone figures stand as tall as a full-grown adult.The faintly smiling dolhareubang, “stone grandfathers,?have their eyes wide open, and have black bodies with large prominent hands. Made of basalt, they once served as village guardian idols. In the days before the development of medical science, they were set up to protect the village from contagious diseases.

They were also placed beside gates to keep evil out. Accordingly, whenever the people passed a dolhareubang, they lowered their heads to say a prayer for their family and village. The dolhareubang has become the predominant symbol of Jeju, widely known around the world.

But Jeju also has many other sights connected with stone.“We came from the rocks, and to the rocks we will return,?say the Jeju people. It’s no exaggeration to say that the whole island is covered with volcanic rock.Looking at Jeju’s fields, it’s easy to see how the long walls have been built up from lumps of basalt.The graceful curves of the basalt walls sweeping between wide open fields, and between houses, make a scene that springs to mind whenever one thinks of Jeju.

There are plenty of rocks along the coastline, too. Jeju’s stony beaches keep coming into view along the road, black beaches thickly strewn with big basalt rocks. To those accustomed to sandy beaches, it may look strange, but for those born and raised on Jeju, the endless black beaches form an image that always remains with them even after they leave. These black rocks are ancient monuments of an island formed by volcanic activity.

Through the big plate glass window of the observation deck at the Osaka Historical Museum, the scene around Osaka Castle looks like an Oriental painting. With its moat, the castle speaks without words of the vicissitudes of 400 years.

For three long years, tens of thousands of people toiled in the service of Hideyoshi’s determination to show the world Japan’s unity, prosperity, and everlasting glory. But nothing lasts forever. Not without reason does the old proverb tell us there is no flower that remains red for ten days, and no power that lasts for ten years.

The fortress that now shows its imposing appearance before my eyes is a new building erected in 1948, amounting to only one fifth of the original castle. This gives a vivid impression, not just of the castle’s former grandeur, but also of Hideyoshi’s overreaching power and ambition.

The cherry blossoms are in full bloom, and with each gust of wind, they flutter brilliantly as their petals fly off high above the castle and descend lifelessly to the ground. The falling petals whisper of the brevity of human desires and power. Yet, the flowers that now lie on the ground, will once more rise from despair to blossom with renewed vigor, like a great cheer resounding through the city.

The clear faces of these petals could be an image for the quiet determination of the Japanese, who don’t despair but begin again, rise again, and even when bowing their heads, maintain a firm will. Perhaps it is because of this national character that the world seems to have a special place in its heart for Japan.