Osaka 2017: Dotonbori and Takoyaki

On my first night in Osaka I walked down to the Dotonbori region of the city. Dotonbori is a very popular part of Osaka that’s on the south side of the Dotonbori Canal and is full of restaurants and shops. At night the area is lit up by thousands of colorful lights and signs, including the famous Glico Running Man sign that has been around since 1935 (what you see today is the sixth version of the sign) and the mechanical Kani Doraku crab sign. The main street of Dotonbori was packed with visitors and a few restaurants had lines that extended out of their front doors. Along the canal I remember there was some sort of musical and performance talent show being held and it looked like the various contestants were trying to become the next J-Pop sensation.

I didn’t buy anything from the stores that night, but I did make sure to get some takoyaki while I walking around Dotonbori. Takoyaki is grilled bits of octopus meat that are cooked in dough balls and then covered in various toppings. For my takoyaki I asked to have everything put on it, even though I suspected that I wouldn’t like all the toppings, because I figured it would be good to try out fully loaded takoyaki. In the end, I think I prefer my takoyaki with mayonnaise and the other sauce that was put on it, and if I could I’d also remove the onions, but that’s just me.