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I went shopping in the sales today in the centre of Osaka which you must remember is Japan`s second biggest city. It was hell.

The reason I am not fond of Kyoto is because on a normal day it is so crowded with tourists and shoppers that the incredibly narrow streets combined with the multitudes of people that decide to exhale smoke into your face in such compacted areas make the whole experience unfavourable. Osaka has wider streets (although roughly the same number of people deciding to exhale smoke in your face) but today being sales day, it was as busy as I have ever seen it with seemingly the entire Osakan population deciding to go shopping.

I was with Reiko and her sister - this inevitably meant a lot of women`s clothes shopping - second on my most hated shopping before food shopping. (I know I have to eat but I don`t enjoy discussing the reative pros of cons of buying one carrot over another.)

In one department store (full of women`s clothes) it was so busy that we were only allowed inside via the fire exit. In another I almost fell over the top of the escalator as there was no room for me to step due to the crush in front.

In the New Year sales they have Lucky bags going for between 25 to 50 quid which contain about five or six items which in total are more than you pay but the catch is you can`t see what is inside. It was these that they were all after. What did we buy? I got a magazine for foreign residents in Japan and Reiko wisely decided to purchase nothing. We`re off to an outlet centre early tomorrow to repeat the experience. Wish me luck.

Tags: Japan, Osaka, Asia, Quaisi, Kansai, Expat, English, Shopping, Sales