Shitamachi does not equal downtown
I came across this article when I was searching for info on Kujo. Ah! it is now clear why my students used to get confused when they came across the word downtown. (click on the word downtown for the English definition). In Japanese there is a word “shitamachi” (下町)which if literally translated is down-town, but the meaning is more like run down town. The article above is well worth reading, I learnt one or two things about Kujo and other places in Osaka.
If anyone is interested, my friend Jun and I took some photos of the Kujo Matsuri last year, I had to split them into two albums because I took too many.
Kujo Matsuri 2004 Photo Shoot Part 1
Kujo Matsuri 2004 Photo Shoot Part 2
