preparation
'It's getting pretty busy. I'm sitting right in the middle of kitashinchi, late on a friday afternoon, and the pace of deliveries to Osaka's entertainment district is at it's weekly peak. Old 'butchers' bicycles, mopeds and mini-vans litter the street before driving off and being replaced, minutes later, by the next delivery. Mainly it's all alcohol around here - I'm sitting outside a sake-ya, the workers busily filling crates with expensive whisky and sake. Fish, meat and vegetables arrive from around the city and face cloths come too. So many trades are involved. It's non-stop and exciting. Satisfying for those involved. A few tourists come and go but middle aged women in kimono far out-number them. The suits they will please later in the evening already out-number the kimono, but for now, the men in aprons out-number all. This is a thriving community with it's traditions and wealth and payment system of trust - the sights and sounds of which warrant an hour or so of study.'