I'm a Japanese local living in Osaka and I'm looking for people to play darts with.
I play both steel-tip and soft-tips, and I'm happy to play casually over a few games and drinks.
I'm not looking for super competitive players — beginners and experienced players are both welcome.
If you're in Osaka and enjoy darts, let me know!
Recently, I was talking to an African guy and a Latin American woman, and I found out that neither of them had ever dated a Japanese person.
It was probably just a coincidence, but it got me thinking about something.
In Japan — and maybe in other parts of Asia too — is there an unconscious tendency to associate “foreigner” with “white person,” especially when it comes to dating?
Obviously, foreigners in Osaka come from all kinds of backgrounds: Black, Latino, South Asian, Southeast Asian, Middle Eastern, etc.
But I wonder if the image of a “foreign boyfriend/girlfriend” in Osaka is still disproportionately Western/white.
When I was dating a white woman, a Japanese friend once joked, “Dude, you're driving a Lamborghini.”
At the time, I just laughed it off. But looking back, I wonder what that joke says about how some Japanese people perceive relationships between Japanese men and foreign women.
Maybe I'm completely wrong, but I'm curious whether other people living in Osaka have noticed something similar.
Does this actually affect dating, or am I reading too much into it?
One of my friends from the US is looking for the cake. Do you know where I can find and buy it in Osaka??
I was in Kyoto recently, and a taxi driver told me that the extreme summer heat has noticeably reduced the number of tourists lately.
I actually noticed it myself.
I was showing friends live in Japan but are originally from overseas around Kyoto, and we decided to visit Kamishichiken, one of Kyoto's old geisha districts.
We ended up at a summer-only beer garden where you can have drinks and food while maiko visit the tables and talk with guests.
What surprised me was how few international tourists there were.
There were tourists around, but the place still felt surprisingly local.
Not because I don't want tourists here. Quite the opposite. Some of my favorite memories recently have come from meeting travelers from different countries.
But I also think there's something special about places that haven't become completely shaped around tourism.
There's a strange paradox to tourism:
People travel across the world looking for a local atmosphere, but when too many people come looking for it, that atmosphere can disappear.
I don't have a good answer to this.
Maybe that's just the price of globalization. Or maybe there's a way to welcome visitors from around the world while still keeping local places local.
What do you think? Have you ever visited somewhere that you loved partly because it hadn't become too touristy yet?
I recently remembered playing darts with a traveler from Germany in Osaka, Japan.
We were playing 501, and I was surprised when he explained a local rule I'd never seen before.
Instead of busting when you scored too many points, the extra points became your new remaining score.
For example, if you had 15 left and scored 20, you would have 5 remaining instead of busting.
I'd never seen that before, but it sounded like a fun variation.
It made me wonder...
What local dart rules do people use where you live?
Are there any house rules that visitors always find surprising?
I met a traveler from Mexico in Shinsaibashi, and we ended up having lunch together.I assumed we'd be eating Japanese food...
Instead, we went to a Mexican restaurant. Don't get me wrong—the tacos were fantastic, and I had a great time.
As a Japanese person, I almost never eat Japanese food when I'm traveling abroad, so this was a completely new experience for me.
Although... now that I think about it, if someone invited me out for katsu curry overseas, I'd probably say yes. Whether katsu curry even counts as "traditional Japanese food" is a debate for another day.
Then I wondered if I was the strange one.
When you travel abroad, do you ever intentionally eat food from your own country? Is it about comfort, homesickness, curiosity, or something else?
I ended up at an international karaoke bar in Osaka last night.
Most people were singing upbeat English pop songs, rock classics, K-pop, Chinese songs and songs that everyone seemed to know.
Then it was my turn.
As a Japanese local, I picked one of my favorite slow, emotional Japanese songs like Nada-sousou.
...The whole place suddenly went quiet.
Everyone listened politely, but I quickly realized I had completely changed the mood of the room.
Maybe I should've gone with an anime song instead?
If you had to recommend songs that get an international crowd singing along, what would it be?
I stopped by one of my favorite bars in Osaka.
At first glance, it looks like a normal little bar—until you look up.
The entire ceiling is covered with bras that customers have left behind over the years. It's one of those places where everyone instinctively looks up, laughs, and pulls out their phone.
A Thai couple sitting nearby couldn't stop smiling as they pointed at the ceiling and tried to guess the stories behind some of them. Watching complete strangers share the same moment was honestly just as memorable as the bar itself.
As a local, it's easy to forget how unusual some places in Japan can be until you see them through someone else's eyes.
What's the most unforgettable bar you've discovered while traveling?
Last night, I met an American tourist at a bar in Osaka.
At one point, he asked me why local Japanese people rarely start conversations with strangers.
Then he told me that I was the first local Japanese person he had spoken with during his entire week in Japan.
As a Japanese person, I had never really thought about that before.
Do people in your country usually start conversations with strangers in bars, cafés, or other social settings?