i decided to take a stroll in the less visited part of town with a friend of mine.  he didn’t want to go alone for safety reasons, but i figured it shouldn’t be a problem in japan.  ;)

i hope their fortune is a good one.

there’s an entire section of town, nipponbashi (日本橋), that is full of hobby shops lining both sides of the street.  most of them cater to anime fans.  twice a year they have a huge parade.  hundreds of guys and girls dress up like their favorite anime characters.  people also bring out their ita-sha (痛車), which are cars with anime wrap decals.  the local maid cafes also bring out their hostesses to try to lure you into their establishments.  what stands out most to me are the colorfully boisterous store fronts.  so what are you looking at?

i wish i could play video games at this scale.

we then proceeded to the less well off part of osaka, called nishinari (西成).  if this neighborhood was in the US, there’s no way i would venture in.  not even during the day.  but it’s japan, so i felt relatively safe.  there are many homeless people living in the area.  several of them live at a park in small thatches they put together out of random things.

a glimmer of hope.

entrance prohibited.

reduce, reuse, recycle.  what does it say about the rest of us?

a successful treasure hunt.

working it.  he was very happy to pose for this photo.  guns are illegal in japan, so it was probably a toy.

japanese chess.

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