America-mura and more

I visited Osaka which is the second largest city in Japan, Tokyo being the first. And after walking around downtown and various other shopping areas, I stumbled upon a very fascinating place. Just near the popular shopping district called Shinsaibashi, there is section called “America-mura” or America town. I found it quite interesting that much like the common “China towns” that can be seen all over the U.S., Osaka has an America town. The entrance to America-mura, or Ame-mura as the locals call it for short, is over hanged by a large plastic clown head wearing an Uncle Sam type hat. America-mura consists of many shops selling American brands that are hard to come by in Japan such as Abercrombie or Hollister. Since they are quite rare the prices can get pretty ridiculous, I found a Red Sox hooded sweatshirt selling for ¥9,800 equivalent to about $83 U.S. dollars. But aside from the merchandise there’s nothing really American about the place.

After America-mura, we strolled through Shinsaibashi which was lined with many shops and food vendors selling very cheap yet delicious things. I am in Japan so of course I had to visit a hello kitty store which a 3 story maze with nothing but hello kitty items, I felt a little out of place being surrounded by all the pink and the laughing schoolgirls.