Osaka's Tenjin Matsuri

Last night I hopped on a train to Osaka to catch the famous Tenjin Matsuri. There were raucous festival barges on the O-kawa River and teams heaving gaudy mikoshi (portable shrines) around the streets. I was struck once again by the contrast between Osaka and Kyoto. The Osakans I saw seemed almost like a different species from the Kyotoites I'm used to - they were rough, ready and speaking an incredibly thick Osaka-ben dialect. I recommend this festival to anyone in Kansai in late July.