PHOTOS / NAMBA August 29

It is with great pleasure that I bring you photos from a wee trip to Namba! 6 years ago, people would talk about Namba with a slight raising of the eyebrow(s) and a little nudging of elbows into ribs. I never ended up going those 6 years ago.

But THIS time, armed with an extra 6 years of apparent maturity, a Namba native at my disposal and lots of daylight, I ventured forth into the seedy den that is Namba!

... and seedy it was! Even during the day, walking through the shopping arcades still brought forth well-attired young men (with haircuts better than mine - argh!) waving pamphlets advertising comely young women. I saw signs that said "No Catch Sales", which I discovered meant "Don't try to get young women to be in your Hostess Bar."

For those of you who aren't aware, hostess bars are where men go to have a drink and to chat to lovely ladies. There are equivalents for women but those on the 'men-u' (wokka wokka) look much too pretty and would probably intimidate the average woman. Tho, I've read somewhere that masculinity is thought of in different ways in Asia.

Anywho, as always, mousing over the photos will bring up some sort of description/comment.