So, about yesterday… Yeah, sorry for the minimal effort update! See, being in a metropolis such as Osaka fills your day with countless amounts of opportunities and activities. Basically, what happened was me being out and about all day, resulting in feeling absolutely shattered as soon as I arrived back at our stay around 12 o’clock in the evening. This was my first day spending a good chunk of it exploring on my own, without the rest of my crew (we’re travelling with a group of 6 people) so I was naturally super excited to see where my wandering would take me. It turned out it took me to some major hotspots in Osaka city centre, where I did the fair bit of obligatory shopping (our city stops are the go-to moments to find some cool and nifty souvenirs and gadgets) picking up this epic long-sleeved away jersey of Japan’s national football team (sadly couldn’t find me any goodies of any of Osaka’s local football teams) before heading to Namba and spending almost an hour at Mandarake‘s manga section, eventually finding all the books I was after. Of course, all are written in Japanese, a language I certainly don’t master yet (I’m going to start learning it when I’m back from this trip) but absolute must-haves for me personally, either way. After a quick meet-up with my friends, I had one more challenge to embark on. A very, very important one.

As you might know: I’m a Pokémon fan. Have been for most of my life. Played lots of games, even got a bunch of tattoos, but being in Japan means you can take this hobby to another level. In comes the so called ‘Pokéfuta‘ or: Poké Lids, manhole covers with a Pokémon design on it. Japan is filled to the brim with these covers and you’ll be able to find them anywhere in the country: from the most northern point of Hokkaido to the far and remote island of Chichi-Jima. All hold a unique and original design and thus, I’m on a hunt to collect ’em! Not all, though, since some are just not on our route this journey but if slightly possible, I’d like to be able to locate as many as I can. So far, we’ve stumbled upon 11: 1 in Fukuoka prefecture (Kitakyushu), 4 on the island of Shikoku (1 in Naruto, 1 in Matsuyama, 2 in Kochi prefecture), 1 in Wakayama prefecture (today! In Koya town!), and a whopping 5 in Osaka. Though, to find those 5 in Osaka, I had to travel far beyond the tourist attractions the city of millions had to offer and at some point, I found myself closer to the neighbouring city of Nara than to Osaka’s city centre. Walking through Higashiosaka, a city basically serving as Osaka’s outskirts, meant I saw some bits of the city where most likely no tourist will ever set foot. Admittedly, after walking there for approximately 4 hours, I can pretty much understand why since there wasn’t much to enjoy other than the thrill of the manhole-hunt. Ha! Well, it was pretty rewarding in itself since the final lid on the route gave me a beautiful view over Osaka’s skyline which was, honestly, a fantastic sight.

This all might sound a bit silly: me, walking for hours through some of the city’s least attractive streets looking for 5 manhole covers with a quirky cartoon character on it, but in a way it encompasses what travelling is all about for me: going that extra mile to see some things you would never, ever think to see. And, additionally, explore Japan’s ‘normal’ life in those areas. Since no tourist ever thinks of going to a place like Higashiosaka, you easily end up in a conversation with a random stranger being flabbergasted to see this tall European guy walking through his street, or so the old Japanese man told me as he – fully out of the blue – started chatting his life away near Higashi Ishikiri Park. If you’re interested in all the available Pokémon manhole covers, you can check out this website dedicated to this fun little hunt. Here’s the ones I found yesterday! I still have many days left in this country and will most certainly go on a hunt for more Pokéfuta so I can’t wait to see what surprising situations I might end up in next time. I’ll keep you posted!