I was recently asked on Quora: "Why do people from Osaka appear rude when compared to Japanese from other cities?" Here is my answer and the answer of a Japanese blogger as well...
Historically, Osaka was a merchant city with a large percentage of its population belonging to the merchant class, the bottom of the four-tiered Confucian class system. In some ways, being at the bottom gives people a lot of freedom to “be who they are” because they don’t have to live up to an artificial social standard.
Osaka developed a lively culture that Kyotoites and Edoites (Tokyoites) considered vulgar and unrefined with popular Kabuki and Bunraku theaters, but not a lot of the sophisticated Noh dramas. During the Edo period it became a vibrant port city and center for rice trade, actually trading futures on rice.
It’s a great city for food and fun. The popular saying, “Osaka wa kuidaore, Kyoto wa kidaore” (Osakans will eat until they collapse, Kyotoites will put on more and more [expensive] kimonos until they collapse) tells you a lot about the images of these neighbor-cities.
Osakans, in fact, expect conversations to end with a joke. While other Japanese may find this somewhat impertinent, Osakans may, in turn, find other Japanese conversation styles bland (“Where’s the joke?”).
Given all of the above, Osakans tend to be straightforward and unpretentious. The Osaka dialect greeting is “mokari makka?” (Have you made money today?). And while Kyoto and Osaka share some of the Kansai dialect, no one from Kyoto (or Tokyo) would be caught dead saying this. Other Japanese may consider this direct behavior rude, but Osakans will laugh, tell you like it is, and “smile all the way to the bank.”
This is a broad generalization, but given the history of the city, you can see why they are not a bit embarrassed by this image. And it is this sort of history that makes different cities in the same country so unique.
(I, by the way, lived in Kyoto, while my two Japanese assistants are from Osaka and Yokohama.)
Youji Hajime who also answers Japan-related questions on Quora had this to say:
My dad is from Osaka and my mom is from Kobe. Then we moved to Kyushu. A colleague of my dad from the countryside once worked/lived in Osaka. Because my dad is a polite person, this colleague confided to my dad that he was bullied intensively by everyone in Osaka. After talking to him about it, my dad figured out that this person was too delicate for Osaka.
Here is a not-so-untypical conversation between Osaka person O and non-Osaka person, say C.
C: Hi, my name is C. How do you do. Nice to meet you.
O: Nice. I’m O. Where you from.
C: I’m from **** (anywhere outside of Osaka).
O: Really. So what do you do here?
C: I teach in **** University.
O: Wow, you must be smart. How much do you get paid?
C: Well, (already getting slightly outside of comfort zone), my salary is **** yen a month.
O: Really. That isn’t that much. I do **** and I get paid **** yen a month. You got family?
C: Yes, I’m married.
O: Got kid?
C: No. (getting more uncomfortable)
O: How old are you?
C: I’m 32.
O: Your wife?
C: She is 30
O: What’s wrong with you two? You got a problem?
C: What do you mean problem?
O: You know some medical thingy. I hope it isn’t you instead. Could happen to anyone, even to guy, you know. Or not enough sexy time nowaday for married young people I read in magazine, yada yada yada.
C: We decided to wait until I get tenured but we would like to have one now.
O: Could be too late now. You two gotta get busy.
At which point Mr. O might introduce a brand of pit viper drink, which works better than Viagra. Mr. C is traumatized at this point, politely thanks Mr O for his advice. Later Mr. C calls his friend back home to say that all the horror stories he heard and all the things he saw on TV about Osaka are actually true.
How the conversation could have gone alternatively between Osaka persons O1 and O2 [Osaka person 1 and Osaka person 2].
O2: Hi, I’m O2. Yoroshiku.
O1: Nice. I’m O1. Yoroshiku. You from here?.
O2: Yep, I’m from **** (somewhere in Osaka).
O1: Really. I’m from nearby ****. So what do you do?
O2: I teach in **** University.
O1: Wow, you must be smart. How much do you get paid?
O2: I get **** yen a month. What am I supposed to do with this little, huh?
O1: Really. That really is hard. I just do **** and even I get paid **** yen a month.
O2: I know but this is a 9 to 5 job. Hourly basis, I get paid pretty well. Hahaha.
O1: True true. Can’t beat government job. Got family?
O2: Yep but no kid yet.
O1: What’s wrong?
O2: Only got the job when I was 28, got married last year. She is 29 so we are really being “busy,” wink, wink.
O1/O2: Hahaha.
