"Pusan(Busan), the Nearest Foreign City... " a Pusan Travel Page by MINOSUKE

1 hour and 20 minutes' flight took me to Pusan. Pusan will be the nearest foreign city from Osaka, where I live.
But this very short flight took me to a place which had quite different customs and culture. For instance, we Japanese also like eating fish raw (we call it sashimi), but the way of eating sashimi is very different. We eat it with soysauce and wasabi (Japanese horseradish). They eat it with red hot miso. They fold the sashimi and miso with a lettuce leaf and throw the ball of lettuce with sashimi inside into their mouth. Korean pickles, kimuchi are very different from Japanese ones. There are a lot of kinds of kimuchi in Korea and most of them are hot. When we order something in a restaurant, several dishes of various kimuchi are served at first. This is the custom whatever we may eat: rice porriage for breakfast or sashimi or grilled beaf for dinner.
I was also surprised at Pusan people's way of driving. To me it seemed very rough and scary.
But I soon found one characteristic common to Pusan and Osaka: that people are so friendly and kind both in Pusan and Osaka!

In the 1970s, a song sung by a Korean singer Jo Yong-Pil was a huge hit in Japan. Its title was 'Come Back To Pusan Port'. He sang also in Japanese and the song has been covered by many singers since then. Every Japanese knows the song even today. I guess all the Japanese people over 50 has kind of nostalgia for the Korean word 'Pusan Han' (Pusan Port).
This was my second visit to Pusan. This time I took subway many times and walked around Pusan City. I walked along the sea bank and enjoyed the view of the port to my heart's content. It was a beautiful port with blue water, blue sky and white buildings.
Please listen to 'Come Back To Pusan Port' sung by another Korean singer Kim Yonja.

The sea near Pusan is said to be a very good fishery. At Jagalchi Market you will see plenty of seafood. I was moved by the diversity and the quantity of the gift.