Bar Nayuta doesn’t want to be found.
Even if you know what you’re looking for, it’s still not easy to find. The starting point is simple enough: Triangle Park in the Amerika-mura neighborhood. Here’s another trick: There’s no greenery, just a paved-over, pint-sized plaza bordered on all sides by kitschy fashion boutiques, fluorescent convenience stores and very often a small fleet of idling taxis. On weekends when the weather behaves, Triangle Park serves as a meeting spot-cum-postprandial haunt for Osaka’s late teens and 20-somethings, a fair number of whom prefer Amerika-mura’s trendier vibe to the nearby Shinsaibashi neighborhood’s more mainstream appeal.
But you’ve got to stay focused — off the southeastern point of Triangle Park, there’s an intersection; diagonally across, there’s an unremarkable building, its facade painted jet black; just outside the entrance, there’s a stack of signs: one for a concert venue, a cafe and an eyelash salon.