Walking through the streets of Osaka for the first time, I felt I had to constantly remind myself I was in Japan. I felt oddly at ease in my foreign surroundings. It was as if I were simply visiting an unfamiliar neighborhood in a familiar city; yet I was in a different country altogether. Perhaps it was because I had just spent 3 days reorienting myself to Taipei. I was accustomed to feeling like I simultaneously did and did not know a place. A bizarre sensation, especially because I was mentally prepared to feel uncomfortable given that this was my first experience traveling somewhere I couldn’t even read or say one sentence (more on that later). 

On second thought, maybe it wasn’t so weird after all. After all, Osaka and Taipei are very much alike, almost like alternate realities. It doesn’t help that Taipei is filled with Japanese tourists (so hearing Japanese is an every day reality) and that Osaka takes in shipments of Chinese tourists (so hearing sharp Beijing accents was unsettlingly common). As I later explained to a relative, in Taipei you hear Chinese 70% of the time, Japanese 20% and English 10% while in Osaka you hear Japanese 70%, Chinese 20% and English 10%. 

The entire time I was in Osaka, whether riding in the subway or perusing department stores, I simply felt like I was in a cleaner, colder and drier Taiwan. I even did the same things I would do in Taipei. It felt routine, interrupted only by the frustrating communication hiccups that slowed me down. In just five days, the sense of routine made me feel like I lived in the city for so much longer. While at first I was hesitant about how I would like Japan, I left Kansai knowing I would return sooner rather than later. 

Let’s break down the comparisons.