Recommended gourmet food in Osaka

When the sun shines brightly, colorful beach umbrellas are set up on the rooftops of department stores and in hotel garden spaces. Beneath them, people can enjoy the breeze and gulp down a cold beer from a large mug. Summer-only rooftop beer gardens are a symbol of summer in Japan.

The first beer garden in Japan is said to have opened in Yokohama in 1875 for foreign residents and sailors of foreign ships. However, the first rooftop beer garden, enjoyed on the roof of a building, is said to have originated in Osaka. It was 1953, at the Osaka Daiichi Life Building, located in the heart of downtown Kita. The original basement beer hall, New Tokyo, received a request to rent out the entire building for a motorcycle exhibition. Since the interior space couldn't accommodate all the attendees, the building's rooftop was used as the venue, serving beer and food. It proved extremely popular, even making it into the newspapers. The following year, official rooftop beer gardens were opened. Driven by the rise of skyscrapers in urban areas, many rooftop beer gardens opened, sparking a nationwide boom.

It reached its peak during the period of rapid economic growth, with live Hawaiian bands, baseball games broadcast on large TVs, and people of all ages and genders chatting and raising mugs. Even today, beer gardens are held on the rooftops of buildings all over the city in the summer. Colorful lanterns provided by the beer companies sway in the wind, and buffet-style food and self-service draft beer are the norm. Combined with the open feeling of the outdoors, the free-spirited and lively atmosphere makes the beer taste even better.