This is a personal blog where I write honestly about what I feel, think, and ponder. All posts reflect my own perspectives, and I alone take responsibility for their content.
In my writing, I’ve tried to avoid shortsightedness and instead aim for multifaceted viewpoints. Still, I recognize that my words may contain bias at times. I hope you can read these entries with that limitation in mind.
I’m an old guy living in Osaka.
I was born in 1959, in the former Higashi-Yodogawa Ward (now Yodogawa Ward), near Shin-Osaka Station. As a child, I could see the fireworks from the Suitso Festival in the distance.
Although I left Osaka for university and work, and briefly returned for job transfers, I ultimately settled in Tokyo and spent nearly half my life in the Kanto region.
After retiring, I returned to Osaka and now live in my family home while caring for my mother. I suspect this will be my final dwelling place.
Osaka Memories — Early Days (1)
In 1970, when I was in fifth grade, Osaka hosted EXPO ’70. Through a regional exchange with British Columbia, Canada, which had a pavilion at the Expo, our entire school was invited to visit the site.
I vividly remember dancing with pavilion staff in a plaza lined with metasequoia stumps. That moment was my first conscious encounter with “the world beyond Japan.”
At that time, our neighborhood was dotted with small ponds and streams, many of which gradually turned into open sewers. Our home had a pit latrine, the roads were unpaved, and the path to the station included a floating bridge—all part of daily life.
Everything changed with the massive infrastructure overhaul ahead of the Expo: the opening of Shin-Midōsuji and the Midōsuji subway line, and the rapid progress of land readjustments. The city modernized quickly.
Osaka Memories — Early Days (2)
In 1989, during the lingering days of the economic bubble, I moved back to Osaka for a new job. I first lived in Nara Prefecture and commuted into the city via the Kansai Line. On weekends, I would travel over 200 km on a small motorbike, exploring the mountains of Nara and Wakayama.
Later, after my office relocated, I moved to Nishinomiya Najio. Just after passing my mortgage screening, the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake struck. The building was intact, but gas and water services were cut off for an extended period. At the time, I was on a flight to Los Angeles, and upon arrival, was stunned by the TV coverage of the devastation.
Osaka Today
It’s said that Osaka is bustling thanks to growing inbound tourism, but in my neighborhood, that energy feels distant. Outside of Shin-Osaka Station, the atmosphere hasn’t changed much from years past.
I do see more East Asian tourists wheeling suitcases down the streets. Watching them unlock apartment doors made me realize, “Ah, this is what they mean by ‘minpaku’ [private lodging].”
Some praise the local administration for beautifying the city and advancing public works. Yet I also feel it has introduced divisions and tensions among residents.
A city is not defined solely by its visible redevelopments—it must also hold the accumulated lives and histories of its people. Without that, I’m not sure we can truly call it an “urban community.”
That belief sits quietly beside me, as I continue my days in this place.
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