Osaka Black and White

I'm a little preoccupied at the moment; the winds of change are sweeping through the economic and political landscape, and buffeting my little corner of it as well. Also, the JLPT Japanese test is held again in less than three weeks or so, and while I don't plan to pass it this year either I still want to prepare a bit. I don't really have the time or the inclination to write any long, substantial posts right now, in other words. But I don't want to go silent either, so in place of anything substantial I'll do some shorter fluff pieces instead.

First, let's do a classic - let's do a picture post!

It's autumn, and the farmers are busy preparing for winter. This woman was digging up part of her rice field - it turns out that soil tends to pile up around the field water drains, so she was moving the excess over to the vegetable garden.

In the Umeda underground, near the Hanshin railways side, you find this counter-only kushikatsu diner. I love the atmosphere, and I keep wanting to eat here but since we're always on the way to eat somewhere else we never get the chance.

Nakanoshima island between Umeda and Namba, from one of the bridges over Okawa. I like the film noir-like atmosphere.

Why is it so grainy? It's 35mm film, and I accidentally underexposed it two or three stops. Push the brightness back up and you get lots of grain.

The lobby of Crystal Tower, one of the highrises north of Osaka castle. There's a café on the bottom floor, but the building is really still and quiet on a Sunday afternoon.

A juggler is entertaining people on the roof of Namba Parks shopping center. This was a few weeks ago; the weather wouldn't really permit this today.

A café around Nishiohashi. This area is kind of hip: there's plenty of cafés and italian-style restaurants; clothing and second-hand stores; art, music and design schools; bicycle makers (if you're a hipster and need a fixie, this is the place), guitar shops and so on. Everything you need to be an offbeat and spontaneous 20-something with an artistic, deep, sensitive side you can pick up right in the neighbourhood.

It's also where our closest large supermarket is, so we get to go wander around this area quite a lot. The atmosphere is relaxed and the shops are fun to watch.