Osakans can be orderly – if only to demonstrate that they are non-conformist! Osaka is the second largest city in Japan, and is less crowded than Tokyo. Our Tokyo friend got on the rush hour express train to Namba and said, “This is 70%.  In Tokyo at this time, 200%.” On the other hand, our friends from Shikoku see Osaka as the closest big city.  Lots of tall buildings, can’t see the mountains, a snarl of train lines.  We find it the right mix. Click on any of the following

What is great about the Osaka Expo 2025 is that I can bear witness to all of the amazing ways the world is working together to make life better for everyone. We live in a time of great dissension, and it is no small thing to witness people working together for the greater good. We saw scientists bubbling over with enthusiasm to explain their ground-breaking work to us, making the extra effort to speak in English. We saw videos of Japanese crafters painstakingly creating a b

I ask Paul why he likes being in Osaka so much. He says, so much of his life he has felt out of place. When he worked in Tokyo, he learned

But here's the thing. Paul tells me it's wasn't the fact that I "broke the rules" that upset the saleswomen. It was more that their job is