Express Your SELF.

September 15, 2014 - "Self" Festival - Shinsekai, Osaka

So to continue the long weekend, I had plans to check out another matsuri in Shinsekai City near Osaka with Norie and Issei. I often hang out with them two any time I go to Osaka or surrounding areas. They were kind enough to invite me on their holiday adventure to a new festival even they hadn't gone to yet. The area that it was located in, Shinsekai, was new to me so I was just excited to see a new place. But Norie had told me a few times before that this masturi was a bit "weird." I wasn't sure what she meant by it but was up for something new so was happy to join.

I met Norie and Issei up a little after noon for lunch before heading out to the festival. We went to a yummy Japanese place in Namba in which you choose your main and then they serve it along with many other small dishes. Thankfully, I haven't had any bad Japanese food yet and this day was no different. I ordered a chicken and eggplant main course and waited to see what the rest would be. This restaurant also had endless salad which was amazing cause the salad was super yum! When the food arrived, the side dishes were a mix of many different things to a shot-glass sized okra soup to simply cooked black beans to a mix of different peppers. The food was super delicious and the conversations always fun.

When we were done with lunch, we paid out (great meal for only 880 yen) and headed toward Shinsekai. As we were walking that way, we passed through Nipponbashi, or "Den-Den Town." I had never been to this area but it was really fun looking! Norie had told me this area is kind of like Tokyo's Akihabara, specializing in electronics, maid cafes, and manga. She was right, there were girls dressed in maid costumes advertising meals, "otaku" everywhere, and many shops selling manga as well as an array of different toys.

It was exciting arriving to Shinsekai because it is an area I had never been. I really enjoy discovering new parts of Osaka I had never seen before. The name "Shinsekai" is actually really interesting because it means "new world" but when going there you actually see there are many old things about it. There seemed to be this one main street in which everyone goes to. Right off the bat, we already saw some weird things. Norie had told me the festival was called "Self" Festival...after walking through it, I understood what it meant.

So basically the festival seemed to accept anyone who wanted to join. With the title like "Self" Festival, it was obvious that anyone could come do any thing they wanted to contribute. There were painted faces, paper bags over faces, an old man in a bath tub, trash turned into art hanging from the ceiling, ghosts viewings in tiny compartments, and much more random things. Walking through, I think the three of us were amused, confused and a bit scared at times. It was definitely interesting to see the free minds of Osaka get together. After walking through the covered street, which seemed to be the only place the festival was, we walked around Shinsekai to see what else there was to see.

The area of Shinsekai actually has a pretty bad reputation. It is said that the area contains the "Red Light" district of Osaka, with prostitutes, drugs, and many homeless people. Also if Osaka were to have any "dangerous" place, it would probably be Shinsekai. Luckily for us we went in the day time, and stayed on the half of the city that is pretty ok to be in. The most popular food here, though, is "kushi-katsu." They even had this super cute kushi-katsu mascot (of course). Kushi-katsu is a variation of different things on skewers that is breaded then fried and enjoyed after dipping (only once!) into a sauce. I had actually had kushi-katsu once before in Kyoto and really had enjoyed it. We didn't have any here since we just had lunch, but it was interesting to see the souvenir shops filled with kushi-katsu themed items.

The afternoon was relaxed and interesting. I really enjoyed the weird and kooky festival as well as being able to check out a new place in Osaka. With work the next day, we all went to get dinner in Namba and headed back to our places. Sucks the long weekend was coming to an end but it only meant that this work week would be shorter! Whoo-hoo!!

xx
t