Shinsekai’s iconic blowfish.
Is this goodbye forever?

Hello everyone! This is Clara from Osaka Bob family.

I have an important topic I’d like to talk about—the Zuboraya blowfish hanging in Shinsekai!!!

The first time I visited Shinsekai I fell in love with Osaka. All the giant signs, colorful billboards, and the larger than life figures. It feels a little bit like an amusement park… And in fact, it used to be an amusement park many years ago, but that’s another story.

Shinsekai has plenty of peculiarity. For one, there is a giant fish floating in mid air—in front of the blowfish specialty restaurant, Zuboraya. There are also the “God of things as they ought to be” Billiken statues on every corner, which although elvish in appearance are considered good luck.

And of course, Tsutenkaku—arguably the most famous symbol of the Shinsekai neighborhood. Supposedly it was designed to look like the Eiffel Tower. There is a resemblance, but this tower is 100% Osaka.

The thing is, when you take a photo of Tsutenkaku from afar, you’re likely to be standing on the street pictured here. And when you take a photo here, you get that adorable blowfish lantern in the foreground. And it’s perfect!

Unfortunately, the Zuboraya restaurants announced their closure during the COVID-19 outbreak in April. In September, the restaurants will officially close permanently. So the question remains, what will become of these iconic lanterns? Will visitors to Osaka take home completely different-looking photos of Shinsekai? I hope, somehow, the lanterns will be left up. I’m not ready to say goodbye.