Okamachi

Okamachi is the name of the suburb I live in Osaka. It is a slice of heaven in the middle of one largest cities in Japan. Okamachi is a friendly place famous for Harada Jinja and the local shotengai (which has seen better days). It isn't quite home but living here almost makes living in Osaka bearable. Harada Jinja is in the centre of it all and gives Okamachi a real sense of community. I love going there on the weekend to read a book and watch the people drift by.

The Boxing Gym

For the last year and a bit I have been going to the Hattori Daiken Boxing gym near where I live. I never understood what it meant to know people who are the salt of the Earth until I met the owners/trainers of the gym - Taga and Hori. These guys definitely bleed blue and have shown nothing but a steady, kind hand (or fist as it usually is) to me.