It's a December afternoon but an unseasonal humidity has descended over Shinsekai, an iconic commercial district in Osaka that's been around for over a century. "Shinsekai," meaning "new world," seems an ironically fitting title to the area's graying, retro streets. They proffer a nice contrast to the glittering monuments to high-tech standing just beyond the district.

A woman, elaborately clad in a vintage kimono, takes advantage of the unusually warm weather and sashays down the Shinsekai main market street, while the team of women working the counter at a meat shop cast eyes at her retreating figure before exchanging knowing smiles. Despite becoming an old-school area, Shinsekai still has something dramatic about it, and the locals seem too interesting to be ordinary citizens.

In a narrow alley across from the meat shop stands Sawano Kobo, a store whose history goes back as far as Shinsekai itself. There's something staged about the shopfront, not to mention a little confusing. The shop's banner sign informs you that this is a place of "handmade jazz," yet the wares on display are shoes and sandals, but mostly geta (Japanese traditional sandals).