Charlotte captured this during last night’s delicious dinner here in Umeda, Osaka, Japan. We ate at the same place I’d frequented several times during my visit in January. Osaka was chilly then, but now it’s perfect weather, around 18–23 °C. Like a nice Swedish summer.

After a month of photography in Bangkok’s relentless heat and humidity, it’s bliss to work in cool air for a while – like going from sauna to sea, so to speak.

While here in Osaka, we’ll focus on Umeda, Dōtonbori, the cozy, artsy alleys of Nakazakichō I checked out earlier this year, and Nakatsu, which Time Out just crowned one of the world’s coolest neighborhoods.

Lucky us: the yen has slipped another ~10% since the start of the year. The Swedish krona is practically grinning like the U.S. dollar over here – weird and wonderful in equal measure.

Our first visit to the “Land of the Rising Sun” was 15 years ago, when we were on assignment for two Swedish travel magazines (Aftonbladet Resa and Allt om Resor). We ended up with five or six features covering everything from food and love hotels to Roppongi’s nightlife and the trendy streets of Harajuku.

Elle was with us back then and was just as enthusiastic as we were, and everything the Japanese cuisine offered – delicious and varied – was devoured with a smile.

On the Thai Airways flight over, we shared a row with a friendly Japanese man our age who spoke fluent English after many years working in L.A. He looked a bit like Mr. Miyagi – wax on, wax off – and he even had a black belt in karate.

Fifth visit to Japan, and I’m still pleasantly surprised every time I rediscover the heated toilet seat – a true milestone of civilization if ever there was one.

Here in Umeda, our hotel room’s floor area is about a third of what we had during a month in Bangkok. On the other hand, it’s fitted with super-smart, high-quality solutions – perfect for compact living – so we don’t really miss anything except a bit of floor space and maybe a couple of extra hooks.

This trip will take us to four new cities (for us), which should result in several inspiring stories and at least one book filled with highlights from our Japanese adventures.

Stay tuned…