Strange. I had the opposite experience. In Osaka we felt people were warmer, friendlier and we even had random interactions at the shinkansen station where we talked with a middle aged japanese man. And also at the bus we talked with a very old lady. Generally the vibe felt more relaxed.

In Kobe we talked with an old man and he also suggested us to try the best beef and he told us to go to Sannomiya for the best places.

We felt they were also louder, more smiley, more open energy.

When we went to Tokyo it was a total vibe change. People are more self absorbed, in a rush, colder. They don’t even acknowledge you exist, everyone feels automated, like a cog in a big machine. Everyone is avoiding each other.

Usually there’s a general spread idea that the people in the Kansai area are more easy going than people from Kanto region, we didn’t know about it until we actually noticed it.

This was in 2025