(英会話リスニングスクリプト)
Recently, a group of foreign residents who
lived in Kobe was taken on a walking tour of Osaka.
The aim of the tour was to show them that
there is much more in Osaka than they originally thought.
The tour began at Umeda Station, Osaka's
terminal for various railways.
It is also where Midosuji Avenue, the 4-km-long
main street of Osaka, begins.
Midosuji is known for its ginkgo trees,
whose leaves turn yellow in autumn, and for its banks, whose
impressive buildings line the street.
The group seemed relieved to find all the
greenery near the Osaka High and District courts and the
visitors commented that Osaka was much nicer than they had
expected.
The group then headed to Senba in the Minami
district.
For a long time, this area has been the
centre of Osaka's textile industry and merchants here have
a reputation for having a sense of humour and the ability
to drive a hard bargain.
Then, they moved further south to Shinsaibashi
and Namba, which has the country's first underground shopping
centre and is still Osaka's main fashion centre.
Here there are plenty of "capsule hotels"
where you can stay for as little as \3,500 a night.
The tour ended in the Nipponbashi electrical
appliances district, where people expressed surprise at
the low prices of CDs and computer software.
All of the people on the tour agreed that
there was much more in Osaka than they had expected and
that they wanted to find out more about it in the future.
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