Above Osaka (and second-hand camera stores)

At the top of the Umeda Sky Building. I'm not sure if the security guard realised that I was taking photographs of him, but he very obligingly stayed still.

Since one of the most frequently-visited posts on this blog is the one I wrote about a second-hand camera store in Kobe, I figure that there may be some use to somebody in reporting on the second-hand camera stores I went to in Osaka. If you're a photographer and you find yourself in Kobe wanting to buy some equipment, you should really head to Osaka since there's a much wider selection.

Yodobashi Camera across the street from JR Umeda station needs no introduction from me, but they don't sell second-hand equipment (even so, you should pay a visit if you haven't been to a really big Japanese camera store before). Fortunately there are at least three used camera stores in the vicinity. Across the street from Yodobashi Camera there are branches of the two main Osaka camera store chains, Camera no Kitamura and Camera no Naniwa. They're practically next to each other and both of them are on the second floor of the buildings they're located in (look for their names in Japanese, キタムラ and ナニワ). Right next to JR Umeda station itself is Yaotomi Camera, which is the biggest of the three and has a very large selection of second-hand equipment on display. Unfortunately a map isn't much help finding it since it's in the basement of a building next to the station, but you can get to it if you go the station's South Building and then follow signs for the subway Midosuji Line. Take the stairs down to the basement, Yaotomi Camera will be on your left.

I also went down to Nanba, and ended up finding a Nikon FE2 at what seemed like a reasonable price at the Camera no Kitamura in the basement of the Nanba City building. Once again the map is a bit misleading, assuming you took the Midosuji Line down from Umeda, when you get off you'll find yourself in front of the north entrance to JR Namba station. Walk around to the east side of the station and then walk south until you find the Nanba City building on your right (なんばCITY). It's split in two by a road, go into the South Building and go down to the basement and you'll find the store. It isn't really that different from the one in Umeda, but since I found the camera I was looking for there cheaper than elsewhere (12,000 yen) I may as well mention it.

Bankrupt!

I caught sight of this guy wearing a very unusual jacket on a rainy day in Shibuya. On closer inspection it's a protest jacket, he seems to have thought up a creative way of  complaining about a bank bankruptcy (bankrupt in 1998, no dividend payment to any shareholders, no shareholders' general meeting, etc). Not a typical Tokyo photo!

Umeda Sky Building

The Umeda Sky Building is about 10 minutes on foot from JR Umeda Station (when you know where you're going; I asked at the information desk at the station but then got lost along the way). From the roof you can get a panoramic view of Osaka, but the building it self is quite interesting too. I took this photo from inside some public artwork underneath the arch of the building, and framed it to try and exploit the circles and triangles.

The lizard

The first place I wanted to check out in Osaka was Dotonbori. On the Ebisubashi bridge I found a guy hanging out with a dog and some kind of a lizard. I asked him, "Is that a crocodile?" and he said, "It's a monitor lizard from Indonesia", and confirmed that he was "taking it for a walk". Inevitably I asked if he minded me taking a picture and he consented, here's what I got. About a week later I saw him again at Ebisubashi, without the dog and lizard, so I guess he may be a local.

Osaka Castle

We're back from our trip to Japan, so here is a very Japanese-looking photo, a little later than promised. I took this at Osaka Castle; not shown is the crowd of other photographers who were also taking photos around this spot. At that time of day this was the best place to take a photo to get back-lighting on the cherry blossoms, but that left the castle itself partly in the shade. If I was really dedicated I would have come earlier and stayed longer to get a better shot, but there was plenty of interesting stuff to do!

While I was taking photographs near this spot a fellow cameraman came up to me and asked to see the photo I had just taken. He said, not bad, but if you frame less tightly you get more of a 3-D feeling in the photo, and showed me his. I felt a sense of accomplishment that my knowledge of Japanese photography jargon is just good enough to understand the phrase "3-D feeling".