I am not the best person to recommend typical sightseeing spots. What I should say is that I am not a big fan of going to famous landmarks if the only people I encounter at them are other sightseers. When I visit a new place or country, what I really want to do is see and experience the local culture and people. So, when I went to Osaka for the first time and wanted to see if I could distinguish the differences between the Kansai and Tokyo dialect, I shouldn’t have gone to Osaka Castle. When I went there, all I could hear was Korean, Chinese, English, and a bit of Japanese from people living outside Osaka. Years later I finally got my wish in a part of Osaka I had never expected, at a Starbucks at one of the main stations. It was chock-full of 20-year-old locals meeting up with friends who spoke in the Kansai dialect non-stop.
So, I’d like to recommend places where you can be immersed in the local culture. So far in my few years of living in Japan, I have found that it can be a little more challenging to socialize or interact with strangers. I’ve learned to be content with being more of an observer instead of fully interacting. Then, when the chance arises to make new friends or meet people I am pleasantly surprised.
The first place that comes to mind is a local traditional shopping street. I used to live near one called Sunamachi Ginza, “Sunagin” as locals call it. I haven’t been there in a while but as much as I can remember, I haven’t seen too many tourists in the area. The street hasn’t yet become too polluted by chain shops either and it still has one of everything: a few seafood shops, a tofu shop, a tsukemono shop, some fruit and veg shops, a kimono shop, tempura shop, a croquette shop, and more. On a typical day we can see how a traditional matriarch may mamachari her way to the street for her daily essentials. If we went before New Years, we would especially be able to experience the hustle and bustle of the holidays and then get a view of some special New Year’s dishes only available once a year.
Another spot I’d like to recommend is a local fireworks festival. People can definitely go to one of the big ones like the Sumidagawa Fireworks Festival, but I’d rather steer people towards local ones. That way one is able to see families, friends, and couples enjoying in the excitement of the show and do so without the crowds. In my area, the Koto Fireworks Festival on the Arakawa river is busy enough to have plenty of street vendors to choose from but small enough that you only have to go there 30 minutes before the show starts to still be able to get a decent spot.
Lastly, if one is energetic enough to stay up late, I recommend visiting a local shrine or temple to ring in the new year. The night I left the house for this experience, I didn’t even plan where to go. I just followed the flow of neighbors cycling or walking to their nearby shrine. Arriving there I could try local festival food, drink amazake, watch the new year begin with the lines of people waiting to pray for good fortune, and hear the ring of the bell celebrating the occasion.
Laura
Vocabulary
chock-full (adjective) – completely full
matriarch (noun) – a powerful woman in the family or social group
hustle and bustle (idiom) – a large amount of work or activity usually in a noisy surrounding
steer towards (verb phrase) – to gently lead someone in a particular direction
ring in the new year (verb phrase) – to celebrate the beginning of the New Year
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