Osaka's Entertainment Districts in a Day

Last night was a bit rough. Remember that plum wine? Delicious. Absolutely delicious. Also really, really messed with me several hours after I drank it, although I only had two glasses all night. When I got up to use the bathroom at about 4AM I kinda stumbled my way down the hall. It was weird; I just had no balance. So I’ll be more careful with the plum wine next time if I have any at all.

This morning I met a bunch of the Seminar House 2 people for an excursion to Den Den Town. This is Osaka’s big electronics, porn, and anime district, and I was very excited to see it even though I have little appreciation for such things.

There were nine of us, and we all rode our bikes down to Hirakatashi-eki rather than take the bus. This was not my decision. The bike ride was terrible. I couldn’t keep up with the rest of the group, and before long I had lost sight of them completely. I was worried that they’d forget me and leave without me. I was really going as fast as I could, though. Luckily, Martyn, Jacob, and Tammy had sent the others ahead and were waiting for me to catch up, which was nice. We finally arrived at the station and met up with the others. My face was beet red and I was dripping with sweat and quite embarrassed for having slowed everyone down.

You know, I think there’s something wrong with me energy- and strength-wise, really. I have been having more and more trouble just making it up the little hill to campus on my bike. I’ve been eating more fruits and veggies in hopes that it was just a vitamin deficiency, but it hasn’t helped. I get sleepy and bodily tired so, so easily. It’s a bit worrisome. I hadn’t thought much of it until today, but the fact that I was red-faced, sweating, and breathless, getting left in the dust, by eight other people, two of whom are very overweight, seems to be a sign that there may be a problem.

Anyway, we finally got to Den Den Town. Honestly, I was disappointed. I had expected a sprawling, glittering expanse of electronics stores. Instead, it was a kinda standard Osaka city street, except that all the shops, instead of being clothing stores or restaurants, were selling electronics or used video games. It probably would have been more impressive if I knew a good digital camera from a bad one, but since I don’t it was a big, “So what?” moment. Still, it’s one of those things that you’d like if you’re the kind of person who likes that kind of thing, and some of the people I had come with split off from the group and ended up staying until about 9PM! Anyway, we spent some time hunting around used video game stores, and I saw so many old game and game systems that I had forgotten about. Diddy Kong Racing for N64, for instance. Blast from the past, right?

Also saw a bunch of maid cafés, arcades, konbinis, takoyaki stands, and “used book stores” (which generally have obnoxious orange signs and are obviously highly questionable porno shops). I actually really want to go into a maid café, but they’re expensive and I’d be terribly embarrassed.

After having a delicious and filling lunch at a place specializing in gyōza, my group was ready to leave, being the less electronically-minded people of the original traveling group. We decided to go shopping in another Osaka district, and the most convenient subway stop was Nanba. So we went there and quickly found ourselves in Shinsaibashi, the place I had gone shopping with Saho. After wandering around there for a while we found ourselves in Amerika-Mura.

I really enjoyed Ame-Mura. I had heard that it was not at all like America, but I don’t think that’s the case. True, it’s definitely at Japanese shopping district; the sidewalks, street signs and lack thereof, storefronts, etc. are all Japanese. But the shops were playing American music, and I saw more SpongeBob there than I ever needed to. It was cool. There was also a small Statue of Liberty on top of a building, and lots of American flags. Apparently the district originally had a bunch of American shops that are now gone, but they kept the theme going.

At that point I was tired and ready to go home, so our group split up further and I headed back to Hirakata with Jamie and Daniel. The bike ride home was not fun, although not a complete fiasco like the earlier one. I still couldn’t make it up even the smallest hill, so I felt really bad for slowing the boys down. But we eventually made it home safely, and after a shower I was feeling much better. Still, I’m exhausted and plan to go to bed early.

We watched The Princess Bride this evening in the dorm lounge, which was a lot of fun. Joanne, who is from France, had never seen it before (inconceivable, I know), and she really got a kick out of it. It was fun watching with a first-timer.

Tomorrow will be a lazy homework day, I think. We also get to change our bed linens, which always makes me happy.

Oh, and Corinne, today I got you Rurouni Kenshin volume 1 in Japanese. It’s really nice, with the proper coloring and all. I've been attempting to read it, and it's so cool to get Kenshin's speech style in the original Japanese de gozaru! I think you’ll like it; can it be your souvenir/Christmas present/birthday present/welcome home present?