Chaos reigns in Amerika-mura, or 'Amay-mura', at weekends, when more than 200,000 cashed-up and clothes-hungry young Japanese invade its 3,000-plus funky shops searching for everything from Balinese sandals to Boston bowling-club jackets. The action begins west of Shinsaibashi subway station (on the Midosuji line) and stretches from Nagahori Street to the Dotombori River.
Tattoo parlours such as Chopstick Tattoo (1-6-17, Nishi-Shinsaibashi, Chuo-ku), a hip salon with friendly, smooth-talking staff, can deliver some of the headiest wearable art in the world. And with prices hovering at about a million yen (HK$70,500) for a full-back tattoo of a scowling ronin (masterless samurai) or sultry geisha, some of the most expensive too.
The multi-level OPA department store, Tower Records, and an outlet of the Step shoe-store chain make this once down-at-heel industrial precinct a respectably cool outpost for Japanese fashionistas.
Nearby is Break-Water (1-9-16, Nishi-Shinsaibashi, Chuo-ku), a stylish purveyor of hand-designed and dyed shirts bearing judo, Japanese cicada, carp and crane patterns, from 4,900 to 19,000 yen. Behind OPA is the recently opened Surf and Sports Bagus, offering a mish-mash of vintage American clothes. A second-hand Hawaiian-motif T-shirt can be yours for 1,500 yen.
If Amerika-mura chases the youth market, then Donde Esta Mu (1-8-5, Nishi-Shinsaibashi, Chuo-ku) attracts its fair share. Styled on a Mexican mud-brick house, this two-storey shop imports new and second-hand skirts, tops and pants from Latin America, Spain and France (from 2,900 to 3,900 yen), while groovy Osaka-designed T-shirts go for 1,800 yen.
Ethnic paraphernalia abounds: Nepalese incense burners, Native American bracelets, Muslim skull caps and more turn up in tiny hole-in-the-wall stores such as El Rodeo (2-10-22, Nishi-Shinsaibashi, Chuo-ku) and vast, cluttered emporia. The best of these is Rastro (1-5-13, Nishi-Shinsaibashi), a good place to fossick for hand-made jewellery in oriental, Latin and Native American designs,