Of course, not all of this area is all shiny and modern.

There are some quiet alleyways if you look.



And some small temples that are parked on the corners of streets



And we found this manhole cover which depicts Osaka Castle and cherry blossoms on it.



Remember that theater I mentioned earlier that you could see from our hotel room window? This is a close up of it from street level - Shinkabuki-za.



And among more curious things that we saw, this is a parking garage - no space to put ramps to let cars drive up and down so they put them on a vertical elevator/conveyor belt system to load them in and out.



For lunch, we planned on visiting a restaurant I had come across in one of my guidebooks that specialized in unagi or broiled eel. In Japan, unagi is considered a delicacy and Osaka is one of the places known for it. It's a white meat with a lot of fat content - it's broiled over charcoal and dipped in a special sauce usually passed down for generations. Kuromon Kawahiro is a very small restaurant - only 8 seats - and the outside is nothing to look at. You could easily walk past it and never notice that it was there.



Inside, they only serve one thing - the mamushi which is their unagi set. It comes with the unagi sliced and layered on top and inside the rice in a bowl, a clear soup made with the liver of the unagi, and a side of cucumber pickles with freshly shaved bonito shavings on top. As usual, I've already partially eaten this before taking the picture but you can imagine how stuffed this bowl was if this is what it looks like after I've already been eating it. The unagi was crispy on the outside, fluffy and juicy inside, and in short, was unbelievable. Beats any unagi that I've eaten anywhere before in my life. I almost cried. :D



Now, some of you may wonder, "Masaki, didn't you say it was hot? That looks hot. Why would you eat something that was hot on a day when it's hot?" The Japanese believe in opposites. They actually recommend eating hot things when it's hot to help stimulate sweating to help cool you down (they also recommend eating spicy foods for the same reason). Plus, because of the fat content of the unagi, unagi is considered a classic food in Japan for summer to beat the summer heat ("natsu-bate") because it gives you energy. Plus, I really like it.

Tonight - sushi! Plus I go back to Dotonbori at night time to see the difference and to experience its craziness in full form. The follow up pictures should be interesting ...

Masaki