First night in the Big O
Face it — it’s not a hard gig covering Hawaiian Airlines’ inaugural flight to Osaka, when the upshot is I get unleashed in a city known as the kitchen of Japan. My 96 hours begins here: in the throbbing, pulsing belly of the Big O.
First night in the Big O
Tuesday morning in Honolulu. From riding on Hawaiian Air’s first flight to Korea in January, I know emotions run deep on inaugural days. Today I realize they may run even deeper on the other side, where Osaka officials asked the airline not to put off plans to launch the route after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami sent tourism numbers plummeting. They wanted a sign of faith in their eventual recovery. Today is the day Hawaiian kept that promise.
Next: Best unagi yet, complete with liver, and Osaka-style izakaya, complete with liver, and — are you listening, @sakeshop ? — a taste of Akishika junmai sake!
Here’s Dallas Nagata’s amazing photo blog of our first day:
And Burt Lum’s video of the ceremonies:
Disclaimer: Air transportation provided by Hawaiian Airlines
Read and watch the complete Japan eats series:
Konnichiwa Osaka!
First night in the Big O
Osaka eats: First unagi, first sake
Sensory overload in Kyoto
Ichiban oishii: My roundup of fave foods
Sayonara Osaka
