[![fa52fd3c-5047-4c29-bea2-cc3c657ed57d.jpeg](http://steepshot.org/api/v1/image/fa52fd3c-5047-4c29-bea2-cc3c657ed57d.jpeg)](https://alpha.steepshot.io/post/web-2018-3-6-16-18-6)

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One of the many narrow, and paper lantern illuminated streets you could find in big cities in Japan. This one was taken in Osaka, but I cannot pinpoint the exact location... But since we were eating close to Dōtonbori before that picture was taken, it has to be somewhere near there. Dōtonbori is the most famous tourist spot in Osaka, with big illuminated signboards, lots of restaurants and very crowded at night.

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The red lanterns you see on the left are called _Akachōchin_ (赤提灯, "red lantern") and usually indicate that you'll find an _izakaya_ (居酒屋) there, a traditional Japanese pub. What I did not know (until I searched the name of the lanterns) is that both terms are basically synonyms and can be substituted (there, I learned something new today, yeah!)
We've only tried izakaya once, I think it was in Takayama ; a much smaller city I mentioned in one of my previous post. I remember the warm atmosphere, just a few people besides us enjoying their evening, it was very small but cozy, and the food was simple and delicious ; basically Japanese _tapas_, accompanied with your beverage of choice (beer or sake... or both 😵) 
The reason we did it only once is that often everything is written in Japanese. But next time we'll hopefully be ready, and able to order food in Japanese 😅

<center>- 🍶 -</center>

If you want to know how an _izakaya_ looks like and be entertained at the same time, you can check Netflix's [Midnight Diner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midnight_Diner_(Japanese_TV_Series)). It's about a fictional one, only open at night, in Shinjuku. Each episode is about 30 minutes, so it's a quick watch. I won't say more though as I think I'll talk about it in a lengthier post since I **love his show**. I just saw there are supposed to be 4 seasons, but only one is available in Canada, why??

[//]:# (!steemitworldmap 34.669159 lat 135.501300 long Izakaya Street in Osaka, Japan, 🇯🇵 d3scr)

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