Business contacts

Mobile phones Japan is a mobile phone heaven. In Osaka, there are hundreds of mobile phone shops and you can rent phones by the hour, day or week. Phones can also be rented at Kansai and Itami airports. Costs vary, depending on type of phone and time of usage. Electronic stores Yodoyabashi Camera and Softmap in Osaka’s Umeda district, and the Bic Camera and Softmap stores in the southern district of Nipponbashi all have English-speaking staff. Prepaid cards for the phones can be purchased at the shops or at local convenience stores. Translation and interpretation services These are available from Language Network (Tel: 6949 4042, email: KFB00123@nifty.ne.jp). Interpreters are available for English, French, Chinese, Spanish, German, Italian and Russian from SIMUL International (Tel: 6231 2441, email: s-hara@simul.co.jp).

Secretarial services While major hotels often provide some, there are no general English-speaking secretarial services available in Osaka.

Local press

Japan is served by three daily English-language newspapers which contain a broad spectrum of national and international news. These include The Japan Times, The Daily Yomiuri and the International Herald-Tribune/Asahi.

All three are available at train and tube stations, as well as major hotels.

The venerable Kansai Time Out contains information on cultural events, meetings and other happenings of interest to the area’s large international community. Japanzine contains information on Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka area international bars and restaurants popular with non-Japanese and Japanese alike, while Kansai Scene features a selection of Japanese and international restaurants. Kansai Time Out costs [00a3]1.50; the others are free. Kansai Time Out and Japanzine are available in the English section of major bookstores like Kinokuniya and area hotels and restaurants as well as on the internet.

Internet

Many coffee shops in and around the Umeda and Shinsaibashi districts have internet services available. Cost ranges between free and 50p per hour. These are worth trying: Kinko’s, JR Osaka Station, North Exit, Tel: 6442 3700. Open 24 hours every day. Also at half a dozen other locations.

Complex Café X-TIME, near Hankyu Umeda station, Tel: 6341 8222. Open 24 hours every day.

Some bars also now offer free internet services. If you want a really unique internet café experience, though, try one of the manga (comic book) ones. Often located near major train stations or in shopping arcades, these grungy places are sometimes open 24 hours a day, have the most advanced computer technology you can find and contain hundreds, sometimes thousands, of manga comic books to browse while you’re waiting for your printouts. Prices are cheap, usually under [00a3]5 to use the internet for as long as you want.

Money

The Japanese yen is currently pegged to the US dollar at a rate of Y120 = $1. We strongly advise that you take care of all currency exchanges at the airport as changing money can be next to impossible anywhere other than major banks. However, if you need emergency cash, Citibank has 24-hour ATMs. Luckily all major international credit cards are accepted at most hotels, restaurants, shops, bars and nightclubs. Cheques are rarely used and cashing travellers’ cheques can take a lot of time and effort and involve paying a huge commission. Banking hours are Monday-Friday 9am-3pm. Bargaining can sometimes be done, usually only at flea markets. Occasionally you can talk the electronics goods stores in Nipponbashi district down a bit but, in general, the price is as marked.

Tipping etiquette

Unlike practically everywhere else in the world, there is (officially) no tipping at restaurants, bars or hotels in Japan, or with taxis or hotel porter services. However, check your bill carefully. Over the past few years many restaurants, bars and luxury hotels have been automatically tagging on a 15% service charge. Strictly speaking this isn’t legal, and if you don’t feel the service was worth it, you can refuse to pay it.

Visa/vaccination

You will not need any vaccinations when coming to Osaka. Tourists may enter on a 90-day tourist visa, which is granted at the airport and is free. See the entry for Tokyo for working visa details.

Public holidays

The main public holidays take place at New Year’s, in mid-August and in late April/early May. During these periods, many businesses are closed. But the luxury hotels and good restaurants that remain open are usually extremely busy.
31st December-5th January — New Year’s Holiday
11th February — Founding of the Country
20th March — Spring Equinox
29th April-5th May — Golden Week
18th July — Ocean Day Third week in August (dates vary) — Obon summer holiday
19th September — Respect the Aged Day
23rd September — Fall Equinox
10th October — Physical Education Day
23rd November — Labour Day
23rd December — Emperor’s Birthday

Weather and climate

Osaka lies on about the same latitude as Sicily. The rainy season begins anywhere from mid-May to mid-June and lasts between six weeks and two months. Summers are brutally hot and humid, with temperatures often in the mid 30sC from June until the end of September and a humidity of between 70% and 90%. The typhoon season begins in July and can run through to October, but Osaka rarely gets hit with more than two major typhoons in a year. From mid-October to mid-December, temperatures will fluctuate. Daytime highs of 25C in mid-November are not unheard of, but it can plunge to 6C at night. Autumn also tends to be humid, but less so than in summer, with clear skies until the end of November, when it becomes much drier. Winters, which run from mid-December to mid-February, alternate between slightly humid days with temperatures ranging between 5C and 15C, and very cold days with brisk winds when the temperature plunges below freezing. From late February to mid-March the weather varies wildly— snow flurries and bitter cold winds one day followed by a warm spell where the temperature can rise to 20C. Finally, the weather turns very nice from Mid-March to the beginning of the rainy season, which is just perfect for cherry blossom viewing.

Suggested reading

Dogs and Demons: The Fall of Modern Japan, by Alex Kerr, is a hard-hitting critique of what happened to Japan in the 1990s and what it meant for Osaka and Kyoto, among other cities.

The Roads to Sata by Alan Booth. A travelogue by the late English writer who walked the entire length of Japan.

The Western World and Japan, by Sir George Samson, was written over a half century ago, but it remains the most detailed and thoroughly absorbing account of not only Japan but also Asia’s encounters with Europe.

Japan Unbound, by John Nathan, a good account of modern Japanese society, especially the business and political worlds.