Japan, Osaka: Kitchen of Japan

The history of the city began already in the 7th century BC in the time when the Naniwa Nagara-Toyosaki palace was built, today the Naniwa Naga,ra Toyosaki park is located there. In the course of centuries Osaka emerged as an important economic center in Japan because traders concentrated there to take their part in cotton industry or medicine. Despite that in the Middle-Ages the culture flourished. However, the city burned down during the war of 1614-1615. At the beginning of the Edo era (1601-1867) the nickname “the kitchen of Japan” appeared and before the Meiji period (1868-1912) the city was opened to foreign trade. In the second half of the 19th century Osaka continued in its tradition of a strong and vital industrial center, the city was also modernized. In the course of the Second World War, Allied bomb runs that nearly wiped out its industry and caused many people to emigrate heavily damaged the city. In the 20th century, the subway was built and public spaces were cultivated.

In the present, Osaka is a huge city with 2,7 million inhabitants. Its profile is created by high skyscrapers where many famous international companies have their hedquarters, such as Panasonic or Sharp the manufacture electronics or Capcom, which is known in the videogaming industry.

There are many shopping centers in the city, such as the Yodobashi Kamera shopping mall, a nine-storey building where shops sell mostly electronics. The main shopping street is, however, Tenjiinbashi,, which is more than 2,5 kilometers long. Another famous shopping area is Nipponbashi (known as the Den Den Town) – there are mostly furniture selling stores, you can also buy there electronics, tools, anime, comics or collectibles.

Osaka is famous in the context of Japan as a culinary paradise. People live there in the spirit of „kuidaore“ – that means eat what you can. They say, it is a great food that makes people so kind and open. In the are you can find all sorts of restaurants, from super luxurious, through family restaurants, to restaurants similar to British pubs. The largest density of restauration is in the areas of Umeda and Dotonbori - they are considered to be the heart of the city, a popular tourist destination. Dotonbori, in particular, is only one street leading along the Dontonbori Canal. The street is overflowing with neon sings that constantly try to attract visitors to restaurants such as Kani Doraku (a well-known crab restaurant).

There are also few amusement park, the most famous is, perhaps the Universal Studios Japan. You can find there attractions representing famous movies such as Shrek, the Jurassic Park , OZ, Back to the future, E.T. etc..

From the historical perspective, one of the most important places in Osaka is Osaka Castle built in the second half of the 16th century, today it is a museum. The castle spreads on the area of 6 hectares, to compare the Prague Castle has 7 ha. There is a well-maintained park around the castle

Text: Maxim Kucer

Photo: Wikipedia.org - 663Highland, JoopDorresteijn, Type specimen, Momopy, Bandit