Osaka in the Rain: Drumming Through the Drizzle and Dumplings

it's 4°c out there, feels like someone's holding a wet sponge to your face. i just checked and it's 4°c with 71% humidity in osaka right now, hope you like that kind of thing. but hey, when you're a touring session drummer, you don't get to pick the weather-you just roll with it. and osaka? she rolls hard.

i landed here with my sticks in one hand and a suitcase full of mismatched socks in the other. the gig was at this tiny jazz bar in shinsaibashi, the kind of place where the walls are covered in old gig posters and the air smells like whiskey and regret. someone told me that the owner once kicked out a famous drummer for playing too loud. i took that as a challenge.

"you better not hit those cymbals like you're smashing plates, kid," the bartender warned me. "this ain't tokyo."

between soundcheck and the show, i wandered into dōtonbori, because what else do you do in osaka? the neon signs were reflecting off the canal like a drunk rainbow, and the smell of takoyaki was pulling me in like a siren song. i stopped at a street vendor and ordered a box, burning my tongue on the first one because patience is not my strong suit. someone said the best takoyaki in the city is at a place called 宇宙タコヤキ八子豆, but i didn't get the memo until after i'd already stuffed my face.

if you get bored, kyoto and kobe are just a short train ride away. i heard that kyoto's temples are magical at dawn, but i slept through my alarm and ended up in a convenience store eating onigiri instead. classic me.

back at the jazz bar, the gig was tight. the bass player had this old fender that looked like it had been through a war, and the pianist kept giving me side-eye every time i went for a fill. but the crowd? they were into it. someone even bought me a drink afterward and said, "you play like you're chasing something." i didn't know how to answer that, so i just nodded and sipped my whiskey.

osaka's not a city that waits for you to catch up. it's loud, it's messy, and it doesn't care if you're tired or lost or just plain confused. but that's why i liked it. it reminded me of drumming-sometimes you just have to trust the rhythm and hope you don't fall off the beat.

for more on osaka's hidden jazz spots, check out this guide. and if you're into street food, this yelp list is a lifesaver.

next stop? who knows. but i'll be bringing my sticks and my mismatched socks. because that's just how i roll.

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