Osaka isn’t old or pretty like

Kyoto. Osaka isn’t flashy

or hyper-trendy like Tokyo.

Osaka doesn’t have the horrific

history of Hiroshima or

Nagasaki. Osaka is a working

town, a blue-collar town.

Justly proud of its history

as the commercial center of

Japan, Osaka reminds one

of Chicago or Melbourne

— a nation’s Second City.

Second, but certainly not

inferior!

Osaka reveals itself in small,

everyday images: a street repair

crew on a sunny Sunday

morning; a perfectly formed

plum blossom in January; a

pair of shoes carefully left

at the entrance; a vintage

advertisement hanging in

a restaurant; a fan turning

incongruously in the middle

of the street…

I present to you this meditation

on the ordinary touches

that help to reveal the soul

of a city.

For Osaka, you see, is in the

details…