Japan, Day 6: Food galore

Continuing from where I left off, our sixth day in Japan was spent in Osaka but mind you, we weren't visiting temples or parks. Somehow, my family decided that food should be the top order of the day. And that's why after breakfast, a very light breakfast of croissants and raisin-topped buns washed down with instant kopi-o from home (yes, we brought our local kopi-o along with us to Japan), we made our way to the Kuromon market. At first, I couldn't imagine a whole covered market dedicated to Japanese street food but here we were, walking through and sampling various types of food. Later, I learnt that there were about 150 shops in the market but not all were selling food. Some were selling low priced clothes and homeware.

First of all, we alighted the train at the Namba station and took the underground Namba Walk before emerging into the open air. A great temptation to be side-tracked but we were rather determined to ignore the shops there. After which, another short walk brought us to one of the Kuromon market's side entrances. It didn't look impressive from the outside but the brilliance and gaiety of the interior soon made us forget about the drab entrance.

Not impressive at first sight but wait until you go through the entrance!

But wow! The sight and the people packed inside the place.

One of the numerous street food stalls inside the Kuromon market. We were tempted to stop at every stall we saw but soon realised that it was impossible to see everything.

You see, there were other tourists like us.

Alaskan crabs. Expensive but meaty.

Several shops allowed patrons to eat inside. We followed suit after having made our seafood choices 

....like this salmon sushi

It wasn't all street food at the Kuromon market. This grocery, for example, had a wide variety of fruits outside its premises.

And another shop which carried flowers and vegetables. See the orange pumpkin tucked away on the left.

People tend to forget that the Kuromon market probably existed from the time of the Edo period in Japan's history, making these alleyways very old.

The interesting point is that the narrow alleyways open out near to the Kuromon market. Despite the hustle and bustle only metres away, the alleyways are all quiet, clean and private. And in a typical Japanese way, very well maintained.