So, prepare to be confused. We were.
Addresses in Japan, are not written like anywhere else in the world. The address of this unit is 1 Chome-7-30 Sagisu.
So the first part is easy. Sagisu is the suburb. Got that. Then it gets complicated. The next thing you need to find is Chome. But Chome is not a suburb, it’s a sub area. If you live in Melbourne, this probably doesn’t make too much sense. However, if you’re in Queensland, it’s really your subdivision or estate. So in Queensland, we live in the Brightwater estate which is only one small part of our suburb. So that’s what Chome is. However, an estate or subdivision is still too big to find where you’re going, so it’s divided into groups such as 1 Chome, 2 Chome and 3 Chome. Often each one refers to a cluster of buildings or maybe a complex of properties. Once you find the correct cluster in your subdivision in your suburb, then you have to find the right set of buildings and this is where the 7 comes in. You may have different housing lots one of which will be 7, but 7 isn’t necessarily next to 6. And of course, to identify your particular door, you need a number and that’s where 30 comes in.
So when we got to the suburb we looked for the Chome subdivision, looked for the cluster of buildings called 1 Chome, identify the building number 7, and then look for door number 30. Of course, as properties have been developed, re-developed, and added to over the years number 30 is often nowhere near number 29 or 31, it’s just a random number assigned when the building is constructed. That means that nobody else in your neighbourhood has a clue where any of this is. Even the McDonald’s delivery guy who I thought would know his way around had no idea where we were meant to be. And do you notice that there is no street name anywhere in the address?
And neither does Google Maps. So when you put in our correct address into Apple maps, it actually shows you a 7-Eleven a block and a half away because it doesn’t have a clue where you are either. Google Maps puts you across the road and up a bit. I found Chome and started asking the locals, but I was in 2 Chome and nobody knew where 1 Chome was. They directed me to 3 Chome but that’s not much help. Eventually, I found 1 Chome across the road and up a bit. From there it’s just guess work of looking at hundreds of doors (and of course they don’t have numbers on them), to find your particular one that matches the photograph of the front door that the accommodation has helpfully provided.
Took us over an hour in the dark last night to find our accommodation. Am I allowed to say I was frustrated? Am I allowed to say that Mandy thinks that frustrated is an understatement?
Well, we are back to sitting cross-legged on tatami mats, and sleeping on futons. The real worry was the fire escape. Nice that they have one, but a bit off-putting when you realise that it’s a rope to tie around your waist as you climb out the bedroom window 4 stories above the ground. “Only use in emergencies” it reads. Not much chance of using it any other time.
Then, just to be helpful, Google blithely tells us that they speak a different dialect here in Osaka. ‘Coarser’ they say – must have been written by somebody in Tokyo. So the three most common words you use (thank you, pardon me, how much) are all different here. Sigh! I hadn’t mastered the last lot.
Some random observations. Electric push bikes are very common, especially by women who have a large child seat over the back wheel, a small child seat on one side of the handlebars and a large shopping basket on the other side of the handlebars. Every bike is therefore step-through. Kicking your kid as you get on is not greatly encouraged. And lots of bikes are fitted with umbrella holders.
It’s also the very done thing to have your luggage picked up and transported by special luggage taxis. You can organise it at your hotel or the airport or the train station, which leaves you free to take a regular taxi, or a train, or a bus without having to lug your suitcases up and down the stairs. When you arrive at your hotel your luggage will be waiting for you.
A tatami mat is a standard size, and traditionally rooms were built to fit the mats, and not the other way around. Seems that room (and house) sizes are expressed as a number of mats, so the lounge room we are staying at is a 6 mat room.
You don’t eat beef very often here. A decent 100g steak costs around $100 at a restaurant.
Had a quiet morning (ok we went for coffee) then after lunch headed off to do a walking afternoon around several of Osaka’s shopping districts. Started at Shinsekai Market which was (very loosely) modelled on Coney Island, under Tsutenkaku Tower with its very distinctive shape, then on to Sennichimae Doguyasuji Shopping St where chefs go to buy all their equipment, and restaurants go to buy everything from chopsticks and bowls to shop signage, rice cookers and ovens.
The heavens opened up whilst we were in the covered shopping street, so we bought ourselves an umbrella and marched on.
Past Namba Station to view the famous Glico Man modelled on a Filipino sprinter many years ago (just when did you last hear of a successful Japanese sprinter?), along the Dotonbori Canal and on to the upmarket area of Shinsaibashi to meet our friend Akiko for dinner.
Had a lovely dinner, joined by her two sons, one of which had been summoned all the way from Tokyo in a panic by his mother to help with the translation. Had a private dining room all to ourselves so that we could easily talk, and had to press the button anytime we wanted the waiter. After a delicious dinner it ended up being a fairly late night, so the trains were pretty empty as we returned.
Tsutenkaku Tower
Dotonburi Canal
The Glico Running Man
Dessert
Airbnb Osaka