Japanese Street Signs

After having a hearty breakfast, I walked around downtown Osaka.
Although it’s close to Korea, the street atmosphere was quite different.

Daiso wasn’t well-known in Korea.
There were many 100 yen shops in Japan, and among them, Daiso stood out.
Later, when it became famous in Korea, I started using it and still do to this day.

I remember around 2008 and 2009 when there was a lot of sign maintenance work happening in Korea.
The signs that protruded from the buildings were transformed into neat neon signs integrated with the architecture.
In Japan, there were many signs that had a distinct Japanese feel.

There are several famous shopping malls in Japan.
There’s Don Quijote, which everyone in Korea loves, where you can find a variety of items.
And Big Camera, where you can see cameras and electronics in one place,
and Sofmap, where you can enjoy shopping with various concepts on different floors.

Osaka has a model kit street where various plastic models are gathered.
I could encounter Sofmap on the model kit street, but since I didn’t have anything specific to buy, I didn’t go inside the building.

Along the main road, there were many shopping districts, and I could see many electronics stores, like a paradise for electronic products.

Next to a small Sony store, there was a Gundam store that couldn’t be missed.
It’s the Gundam that brings back childhood memories.

While crossing the pedestrian bridge, I could see a giant bee sculpture on top of a building.
It felt a little strange, but the street felt like a themed street.

I’ve seen Big Camera a lot, and even though it’s a 14-year-old sight, whenever I see that sign, the jingle from the commercials they used to play loudly in front of the store comes to mind.

“Bee~ Gu(Bic) Bee Gu Bee Gu Bee Gu Camera ~ ♬♩♪”

Personally, I’m interested in electronic products, so even if I didn’t buy anything, I went into Big Camera to browse electronic items.

It’s a Lotteria that feels both familiar and unfamiliar.
It had been a year since I last encountered Lotteria, but I didn’t feel like going in and eating a hamburger for some reason.
The sign was different from Lotteria in Korea.
I was glad to see the familiar name, but it felt like I already knew the taste, so I didn’t eat there.

As I passed by Namba Station, I found a udon restaurant with a distinctive sign.

Namba Udon (難波 うどん).

Since I’m in Japan, shouldn’t I try udon at least once?

Dec. 12. 2009