How are Christmas Markets in Japan?

For Christmas season, I wanted to take everyone to the Christmas markets in Osaka so we could compare to how they were in Germany and Switzerland last year. This day would be the Christmas market in Tennoji park.

The stream started out very itchy because of my stockings. For some reason I’m always very itchy when I wear them. Some of the viewers suggested it might be a nylon allergy or something. Do you guys know anything about it?

While we were walking, I was trying to cheer up Taihen as he was in the middle of his work shift but it made me wonder. Japanese people usually yell “フレー！フレー！(name!)” or “Fure! Fure!” But why do we yell “フレー”? 🤔

More energy!

Hazu drinking her signature sugar-free red bull.

But before we got there, I had to get some caffeine to energize myself. We had a small vote between coffee, tea or Red Bull but I decided to get red bull as it was more economical and I’d just spent quite a bit on hot pot the night before.

After a good sip, I went back to walking. As we were talking, I remembered that I used to have a Red Bull for every stream when I was in Germany.

At the market

Food!~ Lots of food! But most importantly, I saw raclette for sale again! While in Germany, the raclette on our Basel streams was one of my favorite foods.

There were of course many German sausages and beers along with many other German foods but sadly I didn’t see any Warsteiner. 😟 It’s interesting that they had a huge selection of German beers but I didn’t see most of them at the supermarket when I was in Germany.

For some reason they also had churritos at the market… I love it though so I got it even if it’s not the correct theme.

I was only in Germany for 6 months but looking at the menu was very nostalgic for me.

Hazu enjoying a bottle of Gaffel Kolsch — It wasn’t Warsteiner but it brought me back to Germany

I ended up getting Gaffel Kolsch from the friendly stall ladies and it might be cringey or strange to say but the beer had a very nostalgic German flavor. Nothing like Japanese beer.

I also got some cheesy sausages to have with the beer. Sadly there is never any seat. 😢

The new review book

Now that the original review book is completed and sold, I got a new review book! It’s originally my notebook from the comedy practice but I haven’t used that many pages yet.

I realized from the last review book that I didn’t leave any personal comments or opinions on the food so this time I will make an effort to add some details.

Hazu reviewing the beer and sausages she just had.

So now the new format is that one page has the reviews and one has my commentary.

Beer criteria:

Hoppiness 3/4
Smoothness 4/4
Atertaste 1/4
Price 1/4
Nostalgia 2/4
Repeat 3/4

Sausage criteria:

Texture 4/4
Saltiness 3/4
Meat density 3/4
Juiciness 2/4
Herbs & spice 2/4
Size 1/4
Price 3/4
Repeat 3/4

Afterwards, we started talking about my sleeping habits and how I snore and sleep-talk often. Actually Roommate-chan got motivated to learn English because she wanted to know what I was saying in my sleep… 😅

I’m happy I can be her motivation I guess.

Back to the market

With that it was time to go back and look for more food! One thought came up in my head though… How many Germans do you think are at the Osaka Christmas market?

I was kinda curious to ask their opinion on the Japanese Christmas market if there were any.

While deciding whether or not to get Glühwein, we discussed on whether or not I should buy one of those mugs for the merch store as a souvenir. I like to share those things but most of the times, the cups don’t sell so I wanted to make sure it was something that you guys actually wanted.

A birth of Christ nativity scene at the Osaka Christmas market. — There was a nice Jesus nativity scene at the market

With everyone’s vote, I decided to get the mug. Between the 2 choices, the light blue color was a better looking one so I picked it. Sadly, the glühwein was cold…

To erase my sorrows, I got a churro. It was also not hot! 😡 It was nice and crispy and the frying oil was fresh though…

As I wasn’t satisfied, I discussed making glühwein at home for one of the future streams. Maybe it’ll be perfect if I make it myself?

Last review & ending

Of course I wasn’t gonna try food without doing more reviews right?

Hazu showing her review of the disappointing gluhwein.

Glühwein review:

Warmth 0/4 😡
Sweetness 4/4 😫
Alcohol 2/4
Herbs & spice 1/4
Price 2/4
Repeat 1/4

Before the end, we talked a little bit about music and I had to mention about YUI. She’s my #1 favorite artist because her songs got me out of a very hard time. She left her label to make music independently and I was rather excited to hear her new songs.

But when the songs came out, I was really disappointed at how bad her music was without the support of Sony… It was like a child wrote the song. 😢

It was really sad for me because it made me realize how much the songwriters contributed to her songs and made me wonder if she even wrote her own songs before.

I wanted to stream longer but I had to go meet my mom soon after so we had to take some quick pics and end.

How was the Christmas market for you guys? Was it fun? And if you’re German, how did you feel about the accuracy of Japan’s Christmas market?