Tsuruhashi: a century of Osaka's Koreatown

Before Los Angeles, before New York, there was Tsuruhashi. Koreans began settling in this corner of Osaka in the early twentieth century, many arriving from Jeju Island during the colonial era, and the market alleys they built around the station are still standing — and still cooking.

Osaka's Ikuno ward became the heart of Japan's largest Korean community, and the covered market rebuilt itself around yakiniku, kimchi stalls, and Korean groceries after the war. Today third- and fourth-generation Zainichi Korean families run stalls their grandparents opened, alongside a newer wave of K-pop shops drawing young Japanese fans.

Walk Miyuki-dori and the alleys under the JR tracks in the late afternoon, when the grill smoke starts to drift: this is the oldest Koreatown in the world, and it wears its century lightly.