Summer Nights and Neon Lights|Dōtonbori| Osaka

Reading Time: 1 min

I have often wondered what it is like to lose myself amidst the hustle and bustle of a million other people in the busy streets of a metropolitan city. I am just another stranger and my story is just another tale full of sound and fury on the world’s bigger stage. Walking my way through the busy streets of Osaka, I was a solo traveller, scurrying my way past the rest of the city folk – seeking solace in my lost identity and a distant past. It was almost like a fresh start, a few hours of respite from the life to which I am eternally bound. There are times I wish some nights lasted forever. This was one such night.

The brevity of an evening is too less to appreciate the splendour of the traditionally urban city of Osaka with its colourful lights, vibrant roads and narrow alleys. My two weeks of summer getaway in Japan was drawing to a close and it was almost time to bid farewell to the country that has blessed me with so many wonderful memories. At Osaka, it was a race against time but I was determined to make the most of this beloved Japanese city.

I have had a strange fascination with city lights for as long as I can remember. If you share any such oddities, the mere sight of the remarkable outbursts of Neon lights from the Dōtonbori bridge is sure to keep you enthralled and in awe of the Osaka nightlife. The colours are wild and the reflections are many. As evening gives way to night, the Chinese lanterns are lit, the restaurants emanate the aroma of their sensational delicacies and the Dōtonbori street comes to life.  The fiery brilliance of incredible Osaka is magical, other-worldly and truly astonishing.

The Dōtonbori canal that flows though the city reflects the hysterical lights of its radiant surroundings. On its gentle waters, I could see a jubilant celebration of fluorescent shades as the water assumed abstract shapes that blazed with eclectic variations of red, green and blue. It was a journey through the midst of striking colours, dazzling lights and cheerful faces. A City is full of surprises. Osaka is full of surprises.

City of stars
Are you shining just for me?
City of stars
You never shined so brightly.

                                                                        – La La Land