The guests from the gala Group of 20 conference may be gone, but Osaka continues to garner attention in the media.
Nishinari Ward, an arguably sordid section of the city perhaps best known for its large population of day laborers, is on the verge of becoming cosmopolitan. Shukan Gendai (June 22-29) reports that plans are in the works to create a Chinatown.
The gradual influx of restaurants or other businesses owned or operated by ethnic Chinese — whose numbers have overtaken Koreans in recent years as Japan's largest foreign minority — convinced investors to develop the district into a snazzy enclave that would boast not only restaurants but bakeries, souvenir shops, fortune-telling stands and so on. If the plan goes through, Osaka would join the domestic cities of Yokohama, Kobe and Nagasaki in hosting a Chinatown.
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