I Saw the Osaka Obachaaan and My Life Will Never Be the Same

photo: Shimpei Hanawa

Obachaaan are what truly make Osaka unique.

The word obachan in Japanese means aunt and can be used for your literal aunt or a term of affection for a middle aged woman. But, Osaka Obachan are different. They use this meaning and like everything in Osaka - take it ten steps beyond.

The stereotype for the Osaka Obachan is a well loved figure. She is a middle aged auntie or grandmother who is loud, friendly, loves animal print clothing, always has candy to give to strangers and loves to talk to anybody. So basically, me. She also shares my obsession with the very bright grocery store, Super Tamade.

The loud clothing is the first tell tale sign you are in the company of an Osaka obachan (if you don't hear her first) and while many wear it un-ironically, there is a group of obachans looking to overtake the teenage J-pop idols.

Enter Obachaaan, a comedic pop group that consists of about 47 women. Their median age is 60-something, and they all own the stereotypes with grace, humour, and lots of candy.

I was first introduced to the Osaka Obachaaan from hilarious music videos that were initially created as a way to draw tourists to Osaka. They dabble in genres like hip-hop, reggae, electro and funk. Mostly in Japanese, they also have an English video to show how much fun Osaka can be, that was released before the G20 summit here. From the first time I laid eyes on them, I couldn't decide if I wanted to have one as my aunt or if i wanted to BE one.

Their videos are amazing and hilarious.

So you can't even imagine my delight when I was walking around Dontonbori in Osaka and came across a group of them. I was quick to start snapping a video and they were quick to pull me off the road from oncoming traffic. Once I was out of harm's way, they were cheerful and I soon learned that they perform for free on the last Sunday every month in the basement of Tsūtenkaku Tower.

With shows at 12pm, 2pm and 4pm there was no way I could miss seeing them live. I also found out they are around before and after doing meet and greets (as long as they aren't too tired). I was worried they'd be exhausted by the 4pm show but they had energy, and candy to spare.

You couldn't miss where to find the show, there was an obachaaan on every corner in the area guiding and directing people to the basement of the tower. I arrived so close to the show time, I got escorted down personally by the lead "singer" and obachaaan herself. I had no shame and asked for a selfie with her and she was delighted to smile for the camera with me.

Despite my late-ish arrival, I was able to grab a seat front row center. They launched right into "Oba Funk" complete with sharp dance moves. After the song they started talking and joking with the audience and even though I couldn't understand everything they said, they had the audience laughing hysterically. They stopped and pointed to me, asking where I was from. "Canada!" I shouted, and quickly added "But I live in Osaka now!" They cheered and clapped excitedly, offering me "Welcome! Osaka is the best place on earth!"

They performed a 30 minute high energy set often interacting with the crowd, either by coming out and dancing - or pretending to hurt a hip and falling into the audience for comedy sake.

For their last song "Obachaaan Reggae" they eagerly pulled some audience members up to join them in their dance. Of course, I got pulled up. I really realized how energetic these women were when halfway through the song I was winded from the constant dancing. But if my goal is to one day be an Osaka Obachaaan myself, I figured I'd better get my butt into shape so I could keep up.

At the end of their set they yelled "Mata ne!" which means, "See you soon!" to a happy and bewildered audience. Surprisingly, the audience was mostly Japanese and I didn't see many other tourists there. In other words, I think I found a hidden gem here. The group stayed around to pose for pictures and chat with the audience. I really need to get better at Japanese, I would love to have talked with them more.

That being said, I know where I'll be on the last Sunday of every month.

The Osaka Obachaaan have a new, number one fan.

You can see the Osaka Obachaaan on the last Sunday of every month at 12pm, 2pm or 4pm for FREE in the basement of Tsūtenkaku Tower in Osaka, Japan and find out where else they're performing at https://www.obachaaan.com/