Let me cite something from the “Lonely Planet: Japan”.

For something completely different, take a walk through this retro entertainment district just west of Tennō-ji-kōen. At the heart of it all you’ll find crusty old Tsūtenkaku tower, a 103m-heigh structure […]. When the tower first went up it symbolised everything new and exciting about this once-happening neighbourhood (shin-sekai is Japanese for ‘new world’).

Now, Shin-Sekai is a world that time forgot. You’ll find ancient pachinko parlours, run-down theatres, dirt-cheap restaurants and all manner of raffish and suspicious characters.

Have this text just for flavor. Of course it’s not as bad as it sounds and I think the most suspicious characters were two non-Japanese who were examining strange places as if they were looking for something.

Anyway, after doing laundry and getting some curry for brunch, we decided to just go north, explore the area and grab whatever cache is along the way. We went along till Namba (a modern entertainment and shopping district) grabbed Omurice for dinner and took a short train-ride back.

But the interesting things happened on the way to Namba, of course. Our area is really a place time forgot, but we already mentioned that in another post. Where Hiroshima with it’s streetcars has a nostalgic feeling, it’s really more run-down here. The further we went north, the better it got, though.

During our walk we discovered two time capsules, meant to be opened 2025 and 2098. (Steffen thinks, we will be able to live to see the first opening – of course I aim for the second opening.) Then there was this temple that had a giant lion’s head (giant as in 12m high, 11m wide and 10m deep) with a wide open mouth that seems to be some kind of stage. And to the Sky View of Namba Parks we had to go twice. At the first time we couldn’t search for the cache because of the many people. But after I noticed that I forgot my compass there, we had to return and were lucky enough to find the spot empty. Aside from those highlights we saw a lot of the colorful urban Osaka.