Many of us are gearing up for this year’s SIBOS – the big SWIFT jamboree that gathers all those involved in payments worldwide … whoops, involved in transaction processing worldwide.
This year it’s in Osaka, Japan, and I’m on my way over there at the weekend. As a result, the next week of blogging will bore some of you numb, as it will all be about Japan, innotribe, payments, regulations, SWIFT’s future etc … the usual stuff!
For those who are going to be there, I thought it might be useful to post a little planner to enjoy the place.
Osaka is Japan's second-biggest city, located in the Kansai region of Honshu island and the capital of the vast Osaka Prefecture.
The city sits next to the Yodo River and alongside Osaka Bay, and is divided into two main areas: the northern Kita region and, to the south, the Minami area separated by the Tosabori-gawa and the Dojimagawa rivers.
Osaka's Minami district is where most tourists go, with plenty of entertainment, shopping and nightclubs in Shinsaibashi and Namba.
South of Minami, around the prominent Tenno-ji Station, are the more historic parts of Osaka. Much of the City was bombed in World War II, and so most of Osaka is a modern and vibrant new place, but the historical remanents fournd here include the Shiten-no-ji Temple, Sumiyoshi Shrine and Osaka-jo Castle being the main sights.
As mentioned, Osaka is mainly known as a modern and vibrant City and, to give you true sense of the City, I enjoyed this video by Holger Mette:
The video has a quote that goes with it from Toru Hashimoto, Mayor of Osaka:
“There is no other city as vulgar and obscene as Osaka. We should celebrate the image and welcome the development of casinos and red-light districts to attract people.”
Sounds like the perfect place for SIBOS!
See you there.
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Nice video Chris - Osaka looks like the ultimate Kraftwerk/Bladerunner city. See you there.
Posted by: Tony Freeman | October 26, 2012 at 03:40 AM