As a city, Osaka is a little rougher around the edges
than Tokyo (as in, I saw ‘‘gasp!‘‘- a piece of litter on
the street), but I thought it was beautiful and
friendly. They have an abundance of City Security
people who assist with road crossings at busy times
and are generally there to help. Some of them have
‘English OK!‘armbands and, as you may suspect,
these guys speak good English. When I got lost trying
T
r
o
p
h
i
e
s
to find the Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium, a City
G
1
Security man pointed me in the right direction with P
W
excellent English.
N
J
Like Tokyo, the text and announcements on the As with Korakuen, the guy in the ticket booth spoke
Osaka train system are in English as well as great English (we only stumbled over the word
Japanese. All the stations are numbered, so if you ‘‘cheap‘‘, which thankfully I knew the Japanese for)
can’t remember Nishinakajima-Minamigata Station and I ended up on the balcony for Y4000 (approx.
then fret not because it’s also station M13 on the red £25) (the cheapest ticket I could get), even though
line. Plus English-language city, train and subway front row was still available for Y100,000 (£62.50). I
maps are available from an Information office at just couldn’t justify spending more than the
Shin-Osaka Shinkansen terminal. The JR Pass isn’t minimum on a show I may not get to see all of due
valid on the Osaka subway, but Y850 (£5.30) will get to the time of train back to Tokyo.
you a day-pass valid for unlimited use until midnight
on the day of purchase.
New-Japan’s production setup is very impressive
with a large stage set, steam blasters, colourful
The Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium is far bigger than ring aprons and a pair of video screens. One
its name may suggest. I was expecting something showing the feed from the Samurai TV cameras
akin to a leisure centre when it’s actually more like and pre-match videos, the other showing graphics
the wrestling setup for the Coventry Skydome. The and entrance videos. With a near-hour long
ring and floor seats are located on the second floor ‘History of the G1‘video playing before the
with a very large horseshoe-shaped balcony with opening bell, the show felt big time before it even
additional seating on the third. started.
50 The online magazine for pro wrestling fans worldwide
thewrestlingpress.com
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