Fascinated by a Japan that tasted like the 1980s, nearly twenty years ago I chose Osaka as my very first city to visit. Quite a lot has changed compared to those years when I was a child, but something still lingers in the air. I would describe Osaka as a highly organic, deeply diverse city, and ultimately, one of Japan's premier metropolises. It is a coastal city, an industrial hub, and above all, a welcoming place through both its culinary scene and its people.

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Osaka reminds me of Ridley Scott's Black Rain, where during those beautiful Japanese 1980s, everything seemed to be a mix of chaos, an economic boom, and beauty—especially at night, amid a thousand neon lights and sounds, almost like an Eastern version of Los Angeles. In a way, that is absolutely true. Osaka never ceases to amaze me. Just like its older sister Tokyo, it is a city of sharp contrasts, locked in a constant battle between the ancient and the modern, akin to a tiger fighting a dragon.

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The people here open up to you; they are remarkably warm and outgoing for Japan. The food is abundant, flavorful, and incredibly diverse. Even among the Japanese, Osaka stands out for the better as a metropolis, and to me, it strongly mirrors our beautiful Naples... anyone who has been there knows exactly what I mean. In short, Osaka will always hold a special place in my heart.