Dotonbori (道頓堀) is the neon heart of Osaka. This strip along a canal is full of restaurants, food stalls, giant moving signs and crowds. It sums up Osaka's reputation as "Japan's kitchen," a loud, food-obsessed and down-to-earth city. If Tokyo is buttoned-up, Osaka is noisy and hungry, and Dotonbori after dark shows it best.
A canal and its signs
The strip runs along the Dōtonbori canal. Workers dug it in the early 1600s, and it takes its name from Yasui Dōton, the merchant who paid for it. The area grew into a district of theatres and pleasure houses and then, above all, of food. Today its huge signboards define it. The most famous is the Glico Man, a neon runner crossing a finish line. He has shone over the canal since 1935 and has become a symbol of the city. Nearby, a giant mechanical crab waves its legs above a crab restaurant, and a clown figure beats a drum. Tourists gather on Ebisu Bridge to photograph the Glico sign and its reflection in the water.
The city that eats itself broke
Osaka has a food motto: kuidaore (食い倒れ), to "eat yourself into ruin," or spend everything you have on good food. Dotonbori is the place to do it. The local favourites are cheap, hot and made for eating on the street. Takoyaki are balls of batter with a piece of octopus inside, molten in the middle. Cooks turn them in iron pans full of round dips. Okonomiyaki is a savoury cabbage pancake, grilled to order. Kushikatsu are small skewers of deep-fried meat and vegetables. All of these belong to konamono (粉物), "flour foods," the batter dishes Osaka is famous for. A kushikatsu counter has one firm rule: never dip your skewer twice in the shared sauce.
Words & idioms to take away
Idioms & proverbs to carry away
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食い倒れ (kuidaore): literally "to fall over from eating," or ruin yourself on food. It is Osaka's fond ideal of loving food a little too much.
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粉物 (konamono): "flour foods," the batter street foods of Osaka, such as takoyaki and okonomiyaki. They are the backbone of cheap, happy eating in the city.