Fair enough. I have one question though. I understand the people being important, but how does the food come into this? is the food that different between Osaka and Tokyo? In what way are they different?

I live in Osaka
 

I have lived in the Tokyo area for 2 years, and Osaka for 3 years now. I like Osaka more!

BUT. If I was only going to be in Japan for 1 year, and it was my only opportunity to go to Japan, I might chose Tokyo.


Living here though. Osaka is much better. Nara, Kyoto, Kobe are all close, and Osaka itself is a ton of fun. Good people. Good food. Not so crowded.

Osaka number 1!

what kind of entertainment are there in osaka?
plz name me coz I`l be studying abroad near osaka next year and I still don't know cool places to go besides learning places.. heheh:D

I recomend eeeveryone to stay in Tokyo lol.

In Tokyo, people will brag how expensive thier clothes are. In Osaka they brag about the bargains they find. With that in mind, I find that buying food, and eating out is a better value in Kansai, in general. Okonomiyaki and takoyaki are delicious. You got Kobe beef real close, too (and less expensive than in Tokyo...though still very expensive). Naturally both areas have many ethnic restaurants. I found there is a large Indian population in Kobe, and there are some of the best Indian food restuarants I have ever eaten at there, though my favorite is probably Pina Kanna in Umeda, Osaka. Going to an izakaya in Osaka, I felt like the patrons are more picky, and more likely to complain, so the chefs are more careful about what they serve. I never really saw Tokyoites complain about stuff in restarurants there, but they will in Osaka. Could be totally random observations with no connection...

I see...that's a little surprising for me... in England and France... what you described for Osaka usually happens more in London and Paris rather than the other cities.
Another question. I'm the type of guy that hates to spend lots of money on food and things like that... so is Osaka better or worse for supermarkets and fresh fruit and veg than Tokyo? I ask this cos generally in big cities, fresh fruit and veg is extreemly expensive and sometimes not THAT fresh.
I like to cook:D

lol. ok..any reason why?

I saw a TV show where they were comparing the two cities (and a couple more). They had a lady standing holding a big box that said "Free Pantyhose". She had like 100 pairs of panty-hose, and the challenge was to see how long it would take to give away 100 free panty-hose in each city.

In Tokyo it took over an hour.

In Osaka it took less than a minute.

I didn't cook at home much, so I can't speak to how fresh the fruit was, but what I did have was very good.

haha. that TV show sounds rather interesting... :mtongue: i guess if i want free things i should go to tokyo as people aren't in a hurry to take them. hehe. just joking....

As for food...hmmm, if someone's only there for one year, i guess they can take advantage of the situation and go out for dinner more often instead of cooking..

(again, comparing to UK), food in Tokyo is dirt cheap - can't see Osaka being more expensive