OSAKA -- Osaka's Kuromon Market has never ceased to fire the Japanese public imagination in its 180 years of existence. Back in the 1940s, it was described in Sakunosuke Oda's novels, including his well-known "Meotozenzai." And these days, Kuromon is on television, in a popular NHK morning serial "Honmamon" about a young girl who comes to Osaka to become a chef and works at the market.
The unique appeal of this fresh-food retail market is perfectly understandable in Osaka -- the city that was dubbed "the kitchen of Japan" during the Edo Period (1603-1867), and where eating out remains a favorite pastime today. It follows that Kuromon -- located in the heart of the city, walking distance from the bustling Nanba district in Chuo Ward and accessible from the posh Shinsaibashi area -- is widely considered to be the kitchen of Osaka.
Ironically, however, a market that offers an ideal setting in fiction is fast losing business in real life.