Mitsu Park (Sankaku Triangle Park)

This guide to Mitsu Park, also called Sankaku Triangle Park, in Osaka's Amerikamura district starts with a leftover wedge of postwar road planning too small to develop. In 1969, designer Higiri Mariko opened a small cafe called Loop beside this scrap of pavement, drawing young creatives who began renting the cheap warehouses nearby to sell secondhand records, imported jeans, and vintage American clothes. You'll hear how that gathering spot grew into a whole neighborhood, and how comedians now use this odd triangular stage to test new material on passersby. Grab a bite from the takoyaki stand across the way while you listen.