Roger, I think they were more pissed because today is the anniversary of WWII ending.

I really miss good Goya Champuru.

Osaka is an odd place, it was the only place in Japan Lisa and I felt kinda lost. However, I think the toy shopping is better than Tokyo and it only takes a day to see most everything.

We were staying at the Hilton (I think) and there were a few alleys near our Hotel filled with great restaurants and hostess bars. It is very strange walking down a tiny alley in the Dec cold and seeing all these Japanese girls is what look like prom dresses.

If you see a guy in a huge apple truck downtown pass on the apples, I think he yelled at us while we were buying his fruit which turned out to be horrible.

Not sure about Japan but in Europe, in places like Spain, Italy, etc there's an anti-american sentiment amoungst certain groups so it's easy to get lumped in as a tourist. They only understand America through the lens of the media so it's all politics. Even as a Canadian I got lumped in with the US as a whole with more of the smaller minded conversations i had there. So it's best to shrug it off and find more like minded people.

Fantastic reviews and suggestions guys. I'm taking notes for my Japan trip. Keep er comin'.

just slap a bunch of maple leafs all over your clothes and backpack...that should lessen the aggro or maybe not

i think over here it is the loudness & pitch of most north american voices that get on people's tits...and the different approach to humour...irony & sarcasm tend to fall to the wayside....


on the topic of osaka,,,it is definitely alot grittier than tokyo...the amount of homeless people is really astounding...and they are not so friendly to outsiders..the one time i got quite lost,,,i approached about twenty people until someone was willing to help...and he was an elderly dude who spoke no english but hung with me for a half hour until i found my way...

i actually like osaka alot!!

Better yet, put on the Kyojin jersey AND jump into the Dotonbori looking for the Colonel (Sanders, that is)!

I think if you fish him out you'll be local hero.

"Gaijin saves Hanshin!"

They could use it, this year...

KFC is near the train station... I used the ATM right next to it a lot when I last visited.

Ha ha ha!

Sorry, toitletoof, even though I told the Charactics guys I was going to the store I'm just not going to be able to make it. Just as well, because I'd probably end up buying a squadron of those Mechagodzilla planes.

Paul, I'm not going back to Namba, sorry. I agree with you, though, there is a wee bit of bitterness running through this town. So many people with skull t-shirts. I saw an 80 year old woman wearing a skull t-shirt, and I think there's at least one school here where a skull is incorporated into the uniform.

Andy, too bad we're not going to cross paths again, I head back to Tokyo on Friday.

Missy, there's actually a decent pizza place on the first floor of my hotel. I even worked out "quattro formaggio" successfully in katakana.

Baikin, I totally forgot about that, maybe that was it! And here I felt lucky that my schedule was helping me avoid August 6 and 9.

Pogue, I'm at the Osaka Dai-Ichi, right behind the Hilton. I'll watch for the apple truck.

I did see something weird, a Hanshin Tigers toy that was a big vinyl elephant. Why not a tiger?

It's 6:30 AM, I should get back to sleep.

Sleep is for pussies !!!

More reporting from the homeland !!

I loved Osaka as it was way more 'relaxed' than Tokyo. I hung out with a really cool guy who collects old 'free prize' candy toys and just happens to run a whorehouse in the og red light district.

Whoremaster toy collector is what I aim to be when I retire.

If it's the elephant I'm thinking of, it's Sato-san. He's a pharmaceutical company (Sato) mascot that's risen to the popularity of Peko-chan (Milky). They have all sorts of stuff with Sato-san, including mascot toys for all the baseball teams, not just the Tigers.

Ho ho! we just might. I extended my stay in Tokyo till Saturday. Probably will take the overnight bus to Osaka on Sat around midnight. If you're planning to go to the Mandarake thing on Sat, drop me a PM.

I have a friend coming in that day, a first-timer who I have to help get settled, but if he's up for it we'll go there.

I saw on the poster they have the Super7 Stomp and Ghost Land figures as exclusives. Cool!

Cool hope to catch ya there.

Any pictures of this poster around? I'm dying to see how the Mandarake exclusives look.

Enjoy the rest of your trip Roger!

There will be a debriefing at White Manna when you return.

None that I can find on the web. The Stomp pic was of the gray prototype, and the Ghost Land figures looked like the ones in the Super7 anniversary lucky bags. Who knows what's going to be sold, though. (Brian, that's who.)

So true.

Like anywhere else, you just need to go with the flow.

And HELL YEAH we GOT LOST TOO!

But truly, Osaka rules.

I cried when i left.

The most killer Saki and food I've ever had in my life.

I dunno, I'm not too enamored of it right now. Today I paid $20 at the aquarium for the privilege of being crushed between hundreds of people. I can get that for free at Tokyo Station.

They did have the largest Mata Mata I'd ever seen, though.

My mission now is to figure out how to ship something before I leave.

Osaka is okay but you can stay in Kyoto and travel to Osaka during the day if you want. A week long rail pass isn't that expensive (I think $300 for tourist).