Osaka, the Manchester of the East

Forget samurai, forget geisha. A trip to Osaka is not a trip to the Japan of song and story that is so well known in the imaginations of writers and Hollywood movie executives. It is, in fact, a visit to a big, brawling metropolis, where people are outspoken and friendly and have a strong sense of local pride.

Mention a trip to Osaka to Japanese friends from the Tokyo, and you’ll see their eyebrows rise in surprise. Tokyoites, being from the nation’s capital, tend to wrinkle their noses at the mention of Osaka. Osakans, by contrast, see Tokyoites as smug airheads who adopt pretentious behaviour to mask the fact their history is not as deep as Osaka’s. Like ying and yang, Tokyo and Osaka are polar opposites: Tokyo, the refined, sophisticated city where reticence and going along with the group are admirable traits. Osaka, the brash, down-to-earth town where being open and doing your own thing are not only expected, but demanded.

For the foreign visitor, trying to work out what is polite behaviour and what is not, a trip to Osaka is actually easier. No need to worry about bowing at the correct angle, not mangling the language, or using chopsticks properly. Osakans simply don’t worry about it. And not just because you’re a foreigner. Even among themselves, Osakans are more relaxed about rules than their Tokyo counterparts.

In their own way, Osakans are also more open towards foreigners than Tokyoites. With a history of trade with Korea and China that dates back to the 4th century Osakans are far less bothered about differences of foreign culture and behaviour. The governor of Tokyo is a right-wing nationalist who frequently makes xenophobic comments. But in Osaka, which has a large population of Koreans and other Asians and a strong pacifist attitude, it is the people of Tokyo who support this governor who are often seen as uncouth and unsophisticated.

Osakans, being the merchants of Japan, just want to make a buck. Traditionally, Osaka’s merchant class were subordinate to the military class, the samurai. But during Japan’s long period of isolation, it was the Osaka bankers and merchants who funded the Tokyo samurai, who had no practical skills.

As the descendents of these listless samurai are now government officials in many cases, it comes as no surprise that modern Osakans have little tolerance for government bureaucrats.

For much of the 20th century, Osaka was Japan’s manufacturing centre. Shipbuilding, steel, chemical production, and a thousand other businesses called Osaka home. As did organised crime. The Osaka accent became synonymous with organised crime, and most Japanese films that portrayed the mafia made sure that the gangsters all had Osaka accents.

Gangsters, a reputation for disdaining Tokyoites, and a stubborn, independent streak have all contributed to a stereotype that is propagated by the Tokyo-centric media. But underneath the strereotype is something far older, and in many ways far more ‘Japanese’, than anything Tokyo can offer.