They're funny, finicky and feisty, not to mention being full of wicked mischief, with their own way of talking, too. Outside of Japan, think of Liverpool, not London; or Munich, not Berlin; or Mumbai, not Delhi. I'm talking about the people of Osaka.

Before World War II, Osaka, the port city in the heart of the Kansai region, was a commercial powerhouse and media center. But they say that during the war soldiers from Osaka were consistently at the back as a regiment raced up a hill. That's pragmatism!

After the war, Tokyo looked one-eyed straight to the United States. It still does. Osaka set its sights on Asia and Europe ... anywhere a profitable deal could be done — and damn the ideology.