大阪 (Shinsaibashi area)

Currently I am in the middle of Golden week and it has not been very productive until yesterday. I told myself that even if people were not going to join me in going to 大阪（Osaka) I would go either way. In the end however, I met up with people to go to 大阪, even though it was kind of last minute. 大阪 is about 45 minutes by train away from 京都市. After the train ride, I could tell there was a huge difference between 京都市 and 大阪. Well at least the area I was visiting while in 大阪 was different from 京都市.

大阪 style and life is the complete opposite of 京都市. The people here dress louder and their fashion seems to just shout at you. Like I’m walking down the street and I see goths, random lolitas, lots and lots of ganguros, hip hop style, and rock. The only “normally” dressed people were tourists and families visiting the area. The people here in 大阪 also love to use kansai-ben a lot. Kansai-ben is another dialect in the Japanese language. Here are some examples of kansai-ben.

おおきにございます　＝　ありがとうございます
何や　＝　何だ
あほ　＝　ばか

That’s all I know haha.

Yesterday I took the Hankyu line from 京都市 to 大阪。　Then we took the train and I don’t know which line we took because it just all happened really fast. I just know that we took a train into Shinsaibashi which cost me 230 円. The train to 大阪 was relatively cheap: 390円 one way. So, round trip it was worth ７８０円. Oh, also it takes the same amount of time to get to 大阪 from 京都市 as it does to get to New York City from New Brunswick. So, making that comparison, I now realize I am getting ripped off by NJ Transit.

I was only able to go to Shinsaibashi to walk around. Shinsaibashi is a shopping arcade and the surrounding Shinsaibashi area is 大阪 premiere shopping center. This area is unique as it combines chain retail stores and trendy boutiques with expensive department stores and top designer fashion labels. I also went into アメリカ村, locally the area is known as アメ村 to see what it’s like. It was weird because I was pulled out of my culture and placed into the Japanese culture and I get to see how the Japanese view our culture. From what I saw, things were loud and hip hoppy. Other than that the stores were designed for teenage fashion and culture in Japan. It had a very lively atmosphere and it was heavily populated with cafes, clothing stores, and thrift shops with a younger feel.

Anyways, I should be studying. I have a test on Thursday, and then an　大きな試験 on Friday. Nancy, maybe this post was a little better than my last post? haha.