Japan; Osaka

Osaka is Tokyo's rival city and while a lot smaller, feels like a functioning city. While people are still very polite and rule abiding it's more relaxed than anywhere else we've been. It's famous for comedy, eating & drinking. So much so that the chairs are being changed on the subway platforms to sit in a line along the wall so that drunk people don't suddenly wake from their pissed stupor and walk onto the tracks! We tried to find out how regular an occurrence this is but couldn't get a definite answer. Suspect it hasn't happened much but it seemed typically Japanese to negate the risk through design rather than openly policing people. 

We had a nose around Shin-Sekai area, Osaka's original theme park consisting these days of 3 lanes full of big fibre glass models of stuff (noodles, beef  skewers, babies, crabs, angry chefs...) With a massive faux Eiffel tower in the background. No rides anymore but plenty of old-school shooting ranges and grabby-claw machines.  

Then across to Dotombori - a riverside neon drag of bars, shops & restaurants. Very Blade Runner. 

We enjoyed Osaka a lot, and having laughed, eaten & drank as instructed by the city guidelines. It felt easier to navigate than Tokyo and more livable than Kyoto. Everything is so well designed – even the train stations are works of art with water clocks (not only showing the time through sequences of water falling but also forming patterns of cherry blossom between the minutes), peace gardens, rain-water collection systems, roof gardens with hippos and basket-ball courts and robot-loo’s throughout.  

Next stop, the Alps for a change of pace.