foreignerLIVE LIKE A LOCAL spring2020 Explore Osaka

Run Through Dotonbori

TOP 5 IN BLOOM OSAKA VS.

Best Places TOKYO Sights & Bites To See The THROWDOWN Cherry Blossoms Sights and Bites is our monthly feature Top dedicated to finding the most authentic experiences in cities across the globe. osakaBites 2020 edition Five *A scene from Dotonbori below. 1. Takoyaki Takoyaki is the classic Osaka Sights & snack: easy to make, with sim- ple ingredients, and extremely tasty. The standard recipe for Bites these ball shaped dumplings is a batter or eggs and flour filled with sliced octopus, ginger, Dotonbori spring onions, and Presumably, what comes crumbs. to many people’s minds when they hear “Osaka” is “Dotonbori” with its flashy 2. neon signs. Along Dotonbori canal, there are many Okonomiyaki is a savory pan- restaurants offering Osaka cake made from eggs, flour, delicacies and shops for grated yam and shredded cab- groceries and souvenirs. bage. Into these basic ingredi- Just walk along the street ents you can add whatever you and you will get to enjoy restaurant-hopping and like: pork, squid, shrimp, cheese, also shopping. tomato… the list goes on. 3. Kuchu Teien Fugu or blowfish is a special del- icacy, usually eaten raw, which Tenbo-dai is famous for being poisonous (Floating Garden if prepared by unskilled hands. Observatory) Actually, though, you don’t need “Umeda Sky to worry about fugu’s reputation Building” with the for danger. All fugu chefs are “Kuchu tenbo-dai specially trained in its prepara- (Floating Garden tion for three years before they Observatory)” qualify for a license. on the 40th floor, stands in Umeda, the central part of 4. Osaka. From over Kushikatsu are skewered ke- 170m up, you will babs of , seafood, or get a 360 degree view overlooking vegetables which are breaded and deep fried to a crispy golden the Osaka Plains. finish before being served up with a variety of dipping sauces or flavored salt. Kaiyukant Osaka Castle Park Among the many aquariums in Japan, one A vast park located near the center of Osaka. 5. Yakiniku of the largest in size is “Kaiyukan”. The The building referred to as a “Japanese Yakiniku is simply barbecued aquarium is still pretty big compared with other castle” is called either a “tenshu” or “tenshu- . The standard method is to aquariums in the world, so you will need a kaku” (both meaning a castle tower). They grill bite-sized morsels of beef substantial amount of time to see everything were rarely used for inhabitance, but rather over a charcoal and then completely. to show off power. dip them in sauce before eating.