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Joe Steinbring

Osaka

Giant billboards over a canal, among them a running man on a blue track, with lanterns above.
Dotonbori, the canal at the heart of Osaka’s nightlife, by day.2026 · Photograph by Joe Steinbring
Static offline map showing Osaka in Japan with a location pin.

Osaka was my base in the middle of both of my trips to Japan. In September 2024, I came down from Tokyo on the Shinkansen on the twelfth and spent that evening eating my way along Dotonbori, then took day trips to Hiroshima, Nara, and Kyoto before catching the overnight ferry to Busan on the sixteenth. I came back with my nephew in July 2026. The first thing we went to see, on the night of July 15, was the Glico running man over the canal on Dotonbori. Between day trips, we spent the evening of July 18 in Shinsekai, the old neighborhood around Tsutenkaku tower, among its kushikatsu restaurants and giant signs, and the next day was Dotonbori again, Amerikamura, and a capybara.

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  • A crowded street of oversized signs and a golden statue, with a tall tower at the far end.

    Shinsekai, the “New World” neighborhood, known for its kushikatsu.

    2026 · Photograph by Joe Steinbring

  • A capybara stands at the edge of a pool, chewing a toy on a rope, as a keeper looks on.

    A capybara, a parrot, and a duck, all indoors in Osaka.

    2026 · Photograph by Joe Steinbring

  • People sit on the steps of a small plaza on a busy street corner lined with shops and signs.

    Triangle Park, the meeting place of Amerikamura, Osaka’s youth-fashion district.

    2026 · Photograph by Joe Steinbring

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