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Published: August 15th 2009
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Glico's giant display in Dotonbori
The snack/candy manufacturer of Pocky! ^^ After the day I arrived in my designated city, one of my JTEs M-sensei was kind enough to spend his two O-bon festival holidays to show me around Osaka, the central city of West Japan and more importantly my new home for the upcoming two years.
Located at the intersection of Yodo river and the Seto Inland sea, Osaka has developed as the principle center of trade and cultural exchange with not only other parts of Japan, as well as S. Korea and China. The canals and bridges that were built to promote the movement of goods had been the foundation of Osakan culture that continues to shape its people's daily life until today. As I casually strolled around the city with M-sensei, listened to his tales as a child growing up in this city, I tried to relate the present objects and places that are displayed in front of me to those described by his words. Everything I witness seems have some sort of hidden clues for us to trace them back to a few decades, even a few centuries ago. And things just suddenly make a lot more sense to its very own existence.
Dotonbori must be
Kuidaore Taro Clown
Eat until you drop clown! Stands proudly to greet visitors the first stop for anyone who wishes to sample the city life in Osaka. In my own opinion, it is also the cradle of Osaka culture as it continues to foster the unique characteristics of its people.
Dotonbori runs parallel to Dotonbori canal, connecting Dotonboribashi and Nihonbashi. The history of Dotonbori has to trace back to 400 years ago, when Doton Yasui, who hoped to facilitate trades by connecting two branches Yohori river with a canal. Until 1621, Tokugawa Shogunate designated Dotonbori as the entertainment district of Osaka city. At that time, entertainment theaters flourished, including Kabuki and Bunkaku (Japanese Puppet) theaters. Nowadays, these traditional theaters are all long gone, replaced by glittering neon lights alongside with the flashy shops and mouth-watering restaurants.
The city being graced by the title "The nation's kitchen", people here are proud to show their fondness for
food. I came across a saying on a book that goes like this, "
京の着倒れ,大阪食い倒れ." Literally translated it means "
Dress (Kimono) until you drop in Kyoto, eat until you drop in Osaka." Or a more common translation is "To ruin oneself by extravagance in food." With so many restaurants along the street, you name it, takoyaki-stands, blowfish,
Kani Doraku Crab restaurants, I find it a challenge to suppress the calling from my palate.
Speaking of food, one of the famous icons of eateries is the
Kuidaore Taro clown. It is a mechanical doll that was once a mascot for a restaurant in Dotonbori from 1950 to 2008. The owner closed down its business last year. Kuidaore Taro was beloved by the people of Osaka and hence many individuals and companies around the country had offered to purchase the doll. The owner at last decided to launch a management agency called Taro company for the doll, so that it could be leased for events, TV commercials and TV programs. The rest of the days it returns to Dotonbori and stands proud as a local landmark.
Another famous food-related icon is the giant
Glico's electronic display of a runner across the finish line. At night its flashy appearance misleads visitors as if it is some kind of sports icon. But in fact, it is the logo for a Japanese confectionery company headquartered in Osaka, the Ezaki Glico Co. LTD. Riichi Ezaki founded the company in 1919, manufactured traditional Glico caramel candy. The name Glico was the abbreviation
for "glycogen". And GET THIS, the candy was 15.4 kcal, providing enough energy for an average adult to run 300 meters! That was how the logo came about. Today, the company has its own philosophy and corporate goal, "A wholesome life in the best of taste, enhancing public health through food." One of the very popular snacks,
Pocky, the handy and tasty chocolate-coated stick was launched in 1966 and is manufactured until today.
We visited
Osaka castle after Dotonbori. It is the symbol of Osaka. Similar to other historical structures, it is majestic and has its own solitude. Toyotomi Hideyoshi started the construction in 1583, it is a five-story tower with three extra stories underground. The castle was built by using a technique called Burdock Piling, which large rocks are fitted together with pebbles filling the remaining cracks.
The castle is surrounded by two moats, this design increases the difficulty level of attacks by enemies. During the Hidetada Tokugawa period, he ordered to make the stone walls twice as solid and the moats twice as deep. Like other historical sites, Osaka castle has many times wounded by civil wars and lightening. (Lightening...~.~) It was restored in 1931, and
again large-scale renovated from 1995-1997. The original appearance of the castle has again restored and it's now showing off its historical importance to the public in the city center of Osaka.
M-sensei and I also spent half a day in
Kaiyukan, aquarium, it was cool and pleasant. Due to my lack of knowledge about marine animals, I won't say anything about it besides that I saw penguins for the first time in my life and the giant spider crabs in Japan deeps look like UFO invading the underseas.
Next blog will be Nara!
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jane
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omg i was planning to go to the yoshimoto hq!! now you can tell me how to get there XD