Meet your fearless leader: Running Man - Osaka, Japan

Meet your fearless leader: Running Man – Osaka, Japan

November 15, 2019

efore visiting Osaka I wasn’t sure what to expect; a tiny Tokyo without the decadence of Shinjuku or Roppongi? An oversized Kyoto without the history, Geisha, and temples? It turns out that even though Osaka is one of the largest cities in Japan (with over 2 million people), it still manages to feel culturally rural compared to Tokyo. if endless rows of brutalist block apartments towering along the banks of the river can be considered ‘rural.’

Osaka turned out to be neither Tokyo or Kyoto – instead, a visually overwhelming shopping mecca of mostly Japanese things for Japanese people – but that left me a little wanting. Although, it has enough quirks to keep you occupied, at least for a few days. I found myself missing the nightlife of Golden Gai, the side-street speakeasy bars and all that Tokyo had to offer – and of course, the whole Geisha culture and historic buildings of Kyoto.

But you can’t judge a place for what it’s not, instead – on what it offers. What Osaka has in abundance is mascots – giant neon and LED signs that rein over most of the tourist streets around Dōtonbori. It feels like the city that is famous for its manufacturing acumen is trying to manufacture a unique brand or identity. That sounds jaded, but I saw this several times across Japan – like Tokyo’s mural city.

Hello Osaka… Korea?

When I disembarked from the train at Osaka Central Station I felt like I had been suddenly transported to Korea! That feeling never left me. Osaka was just the most un-Japanese city I visited in Japan. This was only emphasized as demonstrations were going on in the center of the city and I was forced to take some extremely long taxi rides around the outskirts and it just looked like millions of tons of gray lego buildings had been spilled across the landscape. Surprisingly, Korea (Seoul) turned out to be the party city I was thinking Osaka would be.

Aesthetic storefronts and restaurants are the norm

Who doesn’t love colored lamps and jim Beam?

The black monster thingy wants peace on earth

Vintage Americana in Osaka

Can you guess what this restaurant serves?

RUN!

Let’s get the Gilco Running Man out of the way, we can also throw in Osaka’s Famous (but scarily myopic) clown: Kuidaore Taro.

Weirdly, you can land in a place, hear about a symbol, place, mascot that ‘must be seen’ and suddenly you find yourself chasing those ‘must-sees’ all around town. Running man was like that. ‘But you HAVE to see Running Man, everyone said. It’s true, I DID have to see it… At least until I saw it.

Essentially it’s a giant LED billboard that shows… “A healthy, Japanese running man”. But from a company that sells candy (huh?). Interestingly enough it’s been around since 1935 and the last incarnation was created using neon – I think I would have preferred that one. You can almost get a suntan as you bake in front of the light of Candyman.

There’s also a canal that stretches through the heart of Dōtonbori – if you’d like to pony up some Yen, you can take a tourist boat ride that drives you 10 min up the canal, turns around, and comes right back. I did this, mostly to rest my feet and due to a total lack of anything else to see. But fear not, you get an excellent boat-eye view of Running man! Oh, the pictures you will take at odd angles!

Candy is healthy for you, really… It is!

Yup, I lost all my bad-ass-traveler-points when I boarded this tourist boat 🙁

The clown

As for the clown, that’s more interesting – and I genuinely found him aesthetically pleasing in a creepy-cute way. I would gladly have walked away with the entire store of clown kitsch if only I could have fit it all in my luggage – but I settled for a magnet and a sticker (sigh). Anything that could have a clown printed on it, was for sale in their shop. He looks a bit like Harry Potter in clown drag.

Most of my time in Osaka was spent walking up and down shopping streets, and lots of them, many shopping streets were covered so you could continue to shop – even in a typhoon. Alas, I didn’t find the stylish, cute and edgy shops like in Tokyo’s Harajuku, nor anything really interesting to the traveler or tourist.

I stayed in the Dotonbori neighboorhood, which – in addition to being adjacent to the clown shop and running man is full of nightlife and restaurants. Another thing Osaka is famous for its food, and food mascots – this time in the shape of giant animals (food) hanging outside their restaurants – like the ultimate visual menu. The enormous crab, gigantic cows, chickens, fish. You get to walk around and ‘photo collect’ the various signs. That’s Osaka. Dontonbori would be my choice again if I had a do-over. There’s lots of energy and action even if I couldn’t find the magnetism. But, I had just come from Kyoto and Tokyo – both overflowing with charm.

Dotonbori would be my choice again if I had a do-over, there’s a lot of energy and action however I couldn’t find the magnetism – but then I had just come from Kyoto and Tokyo – both overflowing with charm.

Shinsaibashi – another ground zero for shopping. But this time a bit more upscale. You’ll find the same 50 brands you’ll find in most big cities – from Rolex to Forever 21. Speaking of which – you can find some great deals even in the big stores, and certainly more unique stock than in the Philippines. I walked away with some wool skirts and other clothing for a song.

Harry Potter san

Totally need a few of these, this is NOT travel junk – it’s treasure… (sigh)

In Osaka they suffocate the poor little Geisha…

Don’t you love it?

Osaka Castle?

Osaka Castle is another hyped place. It took 100,000 workers to finish the castle in 1583, of course – like many things in Japan it was destroyed and then rebuilt – so well, not magic. To get to the castle you walk through a ‘park’ and the castle is encircled by a large moat which is good for some photos. I can’t say I fell in love with the castle, Id’ rather have been shopping for some cute clothes or sipping a cocktail someplace or sleeping. I started on the top floor and made my way down. Each floor has displays with weapons and artifacts. You’d have to be REALLY interested in this, however. I think I made it from the top (where there were some decent views) to the bottom in under 15 minutes – then out the door, Osaka Castle magnet clutched in my hand like a prize.

Every castle I saw in Japan just didn’t feel like a castle. I guess my first views of castles were in Europe and Germany, fairytale Disneyland type of structures. The ones in Japan are short, squat and lack the romance of the word ‘castle’ – at least to me.

Taking a break

On the way to the castle to save the princess

American Village

America Mura (American Village) is the one exception – the one place I enjoyed in Osaka – it’s Osaka’s answer to Harajuku – with a few blocks of teenage clothing shops, cafes, and lots of vintage clothes. There’s a little square you can sit in and eat your deep-fried crispy hot-dog (yum) or whatever street food you probs shouldn’t be eating, however, note there are no trash cans anywhere – so you end up just leaving all your other waste behind like the other 1,000 people did that day. It’s a weird one-off as most of Japan is so tidy.

It’s also home to a fantastic speakeasy (Bar Nayuta) – I looked in vain following the location pin on my google maps. All I found was a shop selling military camouflage, a stairwell to an apartment building, and a few shops that surely weren’t a bar. I was scoping it out – to hit later that night. Then I saw a working delivering loads of alcohol and beer bottles! Promptly went up and asked him if it’s there’s a bar and he smiled and said 5th floor.. This one was a really hard find, as I’d already been up there and you’d never know. I’m a sucker for a good speakeasy and this one was dark and comfy and again – no menu and no drink price. Bring a fistful of yen as you can easily drop 15,000 yen (USD 150) here for two people – but the experience is worth it.

Osaka felt a little like the ‘Frankfurt of Japan’ though it’s surely worth the visit- my humble advice is to give Kyoto more time than Osaka. They’re only 30 min apart, you can see most of what you’ll want to see in Osaka in a couple of days. The Japan rail pass is a great deal and can take you anywhere… Nagasaki, the beaches, forest or northern onsens.