Lukas and Martina in Japan//japan.lukas-prokop.at/blog/2017-06-08T20:30:00+09:00Visiting the Kobe University Medical Center2017-06-08T20:30:00+09:002017-06-08T20:30:00+09:00Lukastag:japan.lukas-prokop.at,2017-06-08:blog/kobe-university-medical-center.html<div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph"><p>※ This article discusses an event from Thursday, the 8th of June 2017.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>Unlike Austria, universities in Japan have a medical center on their own. If you are a student of the university and feel sick in any way, you have to go to the medical center. Also as a resident of the dormitory administered by the university, if you feel sick, you have to contact the universities' medical center.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>Since the training camp in May 2017, my knee hurts. However, I decided against going there and preferred to rest my leg as good as possible. Right now, it hurts only little and on Saturday, I will try doing Aikidō again. After my first exam this week (Japanese composition on Tuesday), my throat began to hurt. Today the rainy season began and people are turning on and off the air conditioner often, because the high humidity makes you feel sweaty and at the same time, the air is actually cold. So people have a different opinion on the perceived temperature. Anyhow, during the exam the air conditioner blew extraordinarily hot air and I was the last student finishing. So my throat got dry and ever since that, my throat hurts a little. I think this is actually just a consequence of a recent lack of sleep. In average, I sleep about 5-6 hours per day, which is below my Austrian average of little less than 8 hours.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>I decided to go to the doctor. On the one hand, I was a little concerned, because the throat only hurts on the left side (to my knowledge, this is uncommon) and on the other hand, to get an idea how the Medical Center works. You have to enter at the north entrance, unlike the west entrance we used for the <a href="last-oct-week.html">yearly Medical Checkup</a>. After entering, you push the button to get a ticket just like in an Austrian or Japanese governmental building. A staff member immediately responded and asked me for the matter. I replied with "My throat hurts". She gave me a surgical mask and a clinical thermometer. She asked me for my student card, which she returned very soon. After one minute, 37.1 degrees have been measured. It seemed very professional.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>I was asked into a small room. The doctor was sitting in front of the computer and asked me to sit down. After conveying that I prefer English over Japanese, he continued in English. I told him the symptoms and he took a close-up look at my throat. He pointed out that it was red inside and I have a "common cold". "I will give you some drugs. Please wait outside". So apparently that was it and I went back into the waiting area. I got some pills and they informed me about the pill’s schedule. Goodbye.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>Overall it took less than 20 minutes and I was wondering about the performance. The beginning was really fine, but the doctor potentially came to premature conclusions. I was not even asked about allergies or other medicines I take. I think these are compulsory questions before prescribing some pills.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>The Japanese health care system is considered stable, but a little bit out-dated according to <a href="http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2017/02/19/national/japans-buckling-health-care-system-crossroads/">japantimes</a>. It’s main advantage is that the vast majority of people in Japan are covered by health just like in Austria. One well-known difference between Japan and Western countries (Europe and especially the US) is that foreign prescribed medicine is typically much stronger than Japan’s. So painkillers, for example, are weak and the American continued to suffer from toothache after taking the drug. On the other hand, one foreigner with mental health issues was put on extremely heavy drugs to control his anxieties at night. He said he felt like he was drunk all the time and recognizably, he moved much slower. Every movements of his was exhausting to perform for him. I will leave it to the reader to judge on this, but I think the treatment of mental health issues is very different in Japan and other countries.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>Coming to a conclusion: The infrastructure is professional, but the medical attention comes very short. From just one encounter, I cannot draw any further conclusions. For students, it is of course convenient to go to universities' Medical Center. Regarding Austrian students, you need to go to the hospital by public transport or if it is not possible, you can call the ambulance.</p></div>
</div>
</div>
Sightseeing in Kobe2017-05-31T23:25:00+09:002017-05-31T23:25:00+09:00Lukastag:japan.lukas-prokop.at,2017-05-31:blog/sightseeing-in-kobe.html<div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph"><p>※ This article sums up my favorite sightseeing spots of Kobe after living there for 7 months now..</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>As <a href="a-long-time-passed-by.html">pointed out</a>, my dad and brother came to Kobe and I showed them around. So which places did we visit?</p></div>
<div class="dlist"><dl>
<dt class="hdlist1">
3日30月
</dt>
<dd>
<p>
Between <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sannomiya">Kobe-Sannomiya</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ikuta_Shrine">Ikuta Shrine</a>, the downtown is located. We checked out the downtown and also Ikuta Shrine. We visited <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokyu_Hands">Tokyu Hands</a> (a department store) to buy a handkerchief. In Japanese toilets, you often won’t find any devices to dry your hands. Japanese people carry a small towel to dry their hands and sweat with them.
</p>
</dd>
<dt class="hdlist1">
3月31日
</dt>
<dd>
<p>
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akashi,_Hy%C5%8Dgo">Akashi</a> is to the west of Kobe and outside the city. The castle is a nice site, but you should probably only visit it for <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanami">Hanami</a>. At this particular date, we have been too early by about 4-7 days. Back in Kobe, my relatives and Martina ate <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kobe_beef">Kobe beef</a>, the beef Kobe is famous for. Afterwards, we went southwards to Higashiyuennti, the East park next to Kobe City Hall. We went along the Port to reach the Port of Kobe Earthquake Memorial Park. The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meriken_Park">Meriken Park</a> is a nice place to visit and relax. For 700 Yen, we took the elevator to the seventh (IIRC) floor to get a nice overview at the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kobe_Port_Tower">Kobe Port Town</a>. The money is worth it, if the weather is not too bad (which was not in our case). The nearby MOSAIC mall is a night-life amusement zone, but we didn’t visit it. We continued to the North. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kobe_Chinatown">Chinatown, also Nankinmachi,</a> is located south of Motomachi station. This place is definitely worth a visit. You will see a lot of Chinese motives and designs. However, Kobe beef is advertised at every corner. Afterwards, we went back towards Kobe-Sannomiya and finished our day.
</p>
</dd>
<dt class="hdlist1">
4月1日
</dt>
<dd>
<p>
In the morning, we went from Kobe-Sannomiya to Shin-Kobe (you can also take the subway). We took the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shin-Kobe_Ropeway">Shin-Kobe Ropeway</a> to reach the top station and we went down the mountain to the middle station crossing the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nunobiki_Herb_Garden">Nunobiki Herb Gardens</a>. By the way, the ropeway was built by the Austrian-Swiss <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doppelmayr_Garaventa_Group">Doppelmayr company</a>. It was the perfect time to visit the place, because all flowers were blooming and it was a delight to take pictures in this sunny setting. At the top station, you can do some herb shopping (I bought Rokko beer and wine) and smell different scents from small bottles. It is also the starting point for a hike to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Maya">Mount Maya</a>. In the Herb Gardens, a herb cafe is located. To stopped there, got an all-you-can-drink ticket for herb tea and my brother and dad ate a snack. Using the ropeway, we got back from the Middle station to Shin-Kobe and went by foot to the west. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitano-ch%C5%8D">Kitano-Cho</a> is in my opinion not really interesting for us Europeans, but admittedly the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitano-ch%C5%8D#/media/File:Kobe_kitano_thomas_house07_2816.jpg">Weather Cockhouse</a> is nice to look at. Further to the west, we climed up to the Suwayama Park and reached Venus bridge. This is a wonderful sightseeing spot to see across Kobe. Afterwards, we briefly visited the Kobe Masjid Mosque and returned to Kobe-Sannomiya.
</p>
</dd>
<dt class="hdlist1">
4月2日
</dt>
<dd>
<p>
This day was actually about Osaka. My dad visited Osaka in his youth (back in 1974) and was interested in some spots. To keep it short: We visited <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osaka_Castle">Osaka Castle</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinsaibashi">Shinsaibashi</a> district, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%C5%8Dtonbori">Dotonbori</a> district, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Namba">Namba</a> district and the <a href="https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Namba_Yasaka-Schrein">Namba Jasaka shrine</a> (I link to the German Wikipedia, because there is no English article in Wikipedia about it). The day was finalized by a visit to the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umeda_Sky_Building">Umeda Sky Building</a>.
</p>
</dd>
</dl></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>So this was my trip with my dad and brother. How about my Austrian friend also visiting in April?</p></div>
<div class="dlist"><dl>
<dt class="hdlist1">
4月19日
</dt>
<dd>
<p>
We met in Osaka to visit the area around the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ts%C5%ABtenkaku">Tsūtenkaku tower</a>. We went to the park around Osaka City Museum of Fine Arts and spent some time there looking around. To be honest, the area around the tower was not very lively in the afternoon and the park was nice to look at once. But it was not really interesting to me. I left by train at Tennoji station back to Kobe.
</p>
</dd>
<dt class="hdlist1">
4月22日
</dt>
<dd>
<p>
We began very late and visited Ikuta Shrine at about 15:00. We visited the Kobe Downtown and used the observatory at the Kobe City Hall. Just like with my brother and dad, we went southwards to the Port. We reached Kobe Port Tower, but we did not go up to the upper floors. We continued in direction of Chinatown and my final goal was the Venusbridge after sunset. We ate dinner in some tiny booth close to Kobe-Sannomiya and went northwest-bound to Venusbridge. This was a great decision. It was actually my first <a href="https://encrypted.google.com/search?q=kobe+10+million+dollar+view">10-million-dollar-view experience</a>. By the way, at GPS coordinates "34.692766,135.190512" south of Ikuta Shrine, there is a public foot bath. It is definitly worth a visit, but it was under construction in April.
</p>
</dd>
<dt class="hdlist1">
4月23日
</dt>
<dd>
<p>
Entering from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashiyagawa_Station">Ashiyagawa</a>, we climbed <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Rokko">Mount Rokko</a>. We brought lunch and ate it before reaching the summit. The summit has a height of 931 meters and in general, the path is neither easy nor difficult. You should wear proper shoes and be prepared for weather changes. The first half of the trail is quite exposed to sun whereas in the latter half we often enter the woods. After the summit, we left Mount Roko towards the north and reached <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arima_Onsen">Arima Onsen</a>. After spending some time in Gin No Yu (the golden hot spring water), we left and got tired on our way back to Kobe.
</p>
</dd>
</dl></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>So? Time for a conclusion. What are the place, you should visit?</p></div>
<div class="ulist"><ul>
<li>
<p>
Downtown northwest of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sannomiya">Kobe-Sannomiya</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ikuta_Shrine">Ikuta Shrine</a>
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meriken_Park">Meriken Park</a> including the Port of Kobe Earthquake Memorial Park and Kobe Port Tower
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
Kobe <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kobe_Chinatown">Nankinmachi</a> (Chinatown)
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
Take a footpath in the Kobe downtown at "34.692766,135.190512"
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
Venusbridge is the best at night, but it is also dangerous if you don’t have light and don’t know the location. You don’t have to climb there, but be sure you don’t get lost or trip in the dark.
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
For sports-loving people, I definitely recommend the Mount Rokko hike. On public holidays, Japanese people are traverse this way and it will be easy to ask someone for the way. Otherwise you have to read Kanji at the guideposts.. You can finish at Arima Onsen, but in my opinion Arima Onsen is not the best onsen. You can find better ones in Japan.
</p>
</li>
</ul></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>Yeah, this is my personal recommendation list skipping some sightseeing spots, I don’t think are interesting enough.</p></div>
</div>
</div>
Distances between my residence and other places in Japan2017-04-12T20:45:00+09:002017-04-12T20:45:00+09:00Lukastag:japan.lukas-prokop.at,2017-04-12:blog/distances.html<div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph"><p>Data mainly based on Google Maps. Of course, they are only estimates.
Train refers to non-Shinkansen train operators (JR, private railways).
Sannomiya is the central traffic station in Kobe.
Shin-Kobe is the Shinkansen train station north of Sannomiya (equivalently for Osaka).</p></div>
<table class="tableblock frame-all grid-all" style="
width:100%;
">
<caption class="title">Table 1. Distances between two points in Japan</caption>
<col style="width:33%;">
<col style="width:33%;">
<col style="width:33%;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock"><strong>Between</strong></p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock"><strong>Type</strong></p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock"><strong>Distance</strong></p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Graz ⇔ Kobe</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">geodesic distance</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">9120km</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Tokyo ⇔ Kobe</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">geodesic distance</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">430km</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock"></p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Car</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">6h</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock"></p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">train</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">9.5h</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Tokyo ⇔ Shin-Kobe</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Shinkansen</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">2h 45min</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Tokyo Haneda Airport ⇔ KIX Kansai Airport</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">train</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">75min</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Tokyo Narita Airport ⇔ KIX Kansai Airport</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">airplane</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">80min</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Kyoto ⇔ Kobe</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">geodesic distance</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">60km</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock"></p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">car</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">1h 15min</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock"></p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">train</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">50-65min</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Kyoto ⇔ Shin-Kobe</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Shinkansen</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">30min</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Osaka ⇔ Kobe</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">geodesic distance</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">30km</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock"></p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Auto</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">35min</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock"></p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Zug</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">20-30min (local train 50min)</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Shin-Osaka ⇔ Shin-Kobe</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Shinkansen</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">12min</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Hiroshima ⇔ Kobe</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">geodesic distance</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">250km</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock"></p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Car</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">3h 40min</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock"></p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">train</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">5-6h</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Shin-Kobe ⇔ Hiroshima</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Shinkansen</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">70min</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Shin-Kobe ⇔ Residence</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">geodesic distance</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">4.2km</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock"></p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">by foot</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">1h</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock"></p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">train</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">30min (Subway + Train)</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">Sannomiya ⇔ Residence</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">geodesic distance</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">3.2km</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock"></p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">car</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">11min</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock"></p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">train and by foot</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">21min (intuitive), 16min (fast)</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock"></p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">by foot</p></td>
<td class="tableblock halign-left valign-top"><p class="tableblock">50min</p></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</col></col></col></table>
</div>
</div>
Arima Onsen2017-02-27T20:20:00+09:002017-02-27T20:20:00+09:00Lukastag:japan.lukas-prokop.at,2017-02-27:blog/arima-onsen.html<div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph"><p>※ This article discusses our Arima Onsen visit on 27th of February 2017.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>I planned to meet with my Karate friend since christmas time. He left university after 3 years and stopped attending Karate lessons (like me). Yesterday he texted me and we brainstormed ideas. He neither has been to <a href="himeji.html">Himeji Castle</a> nor <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arima_Onsen">Arima Onsen</a>. Going to an <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onsen">onsen</a> with a Japanese is a very good opportunity. Depending on the onsen, language translation in English might not be available and the onsen customs are different to other cultures. The first one does not hold for the very famous Arima Onsen for 90% of the texts. Once, you have been in some onsen, feel free to go to any other. You will be familiar with the customs. Many videos on onsen customs exist (like the one by <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgM-OpImRec">Notes of Nomads</a>).</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>All videos on onsen start with "You will be naked. Don’t go there, if you feel uncomfortable in front of other people naked". I agree. Though I cannot relate to this being raised often bathing naked publicly in Austria.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p><strong>Requisites:</strong> Most onsen don’t provide towels for you. So take one for your hair and one for the body with you. A bottle of water is also recommended, if you don’t like Japan’s tap water, like me. To carry your wet towels home, take an appropriate bag with you. I took a bag made of fabrics with me.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>We met at 11:00 in Kobe to go to Arima by train together. I lost track of time and my surrounding because we chatted all the time. First, we talked a lot about his current life situation. Because of his debt due to tuition fee credit (compare with <a href="http://www.kobe-u.ac.jp/en/study_in_kobe/tuition/index.html">Kobe university tuition data</a>), he has to find a job until April 2018. He is currently targetting one specific company and he just returned from the company visit for 3 days (I am not sure why he called it <em>internship</em>; to me it’s something different). While chatting, we switched trains 2 times to reach Arima Onsen. We reached Kita-ku (the corresponding district) approximately at noon (costs: 930 Yen).</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p><span class="image">
<img alt="Arima Onsen location in Japan" src="images/arima-onsen-location.png" width="400">
</img></span></p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>In this map, Arima Onsen is colored red (top-left), my place of living is colored blue (bottom-left, part of Kobe) and Osaka is colored purple (middle-right).</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>In Kita-ku, I showed him the link:/gallery/2017.01.02 - Arima Onsen Irizomeshiki/#/17[foot bath] and next to the foot bath, kinsen ( 金泉 , きんせん, gold spring) is located. Also called "kin no yu" ( 金 の 湯 , きんのゆ). At Arima Onsen, you can choose between a bath in "golden" water (more like brown, like in the foot bath photo) or "silver" water (more like transparent). We went to the golden spring first.</p></div>
<div class="olist arabic"><ol class="arabic">
<li>
<p>
Take off your shoes as usual. Put your shoes into a shoe locker. Depending on the onsen, you might need a 100 Yen coin. At kinsen you don’t need a coin.
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
Buy a ticket at the machine (costs at kinsen: 650 Yen).
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
Go into the dressing room. Blue indicates the room for men, red indicates the room for women. From now on, men and women are separated.
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
Put your belongings into the locker. Get naked. In general, you don’t need to take a towel with you. If you take it with you into the bath, you have to balance it on top of your head all the time.
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
Read the many, funny warnings in front of the bath door. For example, you are not allowed to poop or pee in the bath.
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
Enter the bath. It will be very steamy.
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
Go to the shower area. You need to sit down (reason: you don’t splash so much sitting). Wash your whole body. Shampoo and body lotion are provided. Often Japanese fill the bowl with water and pour it over their body. A separate area features two standing showers as I am used to in Austria.
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
At kinsen, you can choose between 3 areas. To the right of the entrance, the bath has a temperature of 44°C. The bath in the back has a temperature of 40°C, if I remember correctly. And the bath to the left is the coldest with about 37°C. Children have spent their time there.
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
Be sure not to overdo it. High temperatures are exhausting for your blood circulation.
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
Leave the bathing area as you like. Try to dry yourself as good as possible.
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
Dry yourself with the towels from the locker. Hairdryers are provided.
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
Dress yourself. Leave the dressing room.
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
My Japanese friend told me Japanese usually drink milk afterwards. You can buy raw milk, coffee-flavored milk and fruit-flavored milk at the vending machine (costs: 150 Yen).
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
Take your shoes from the shoe locker and leave.
</p>
</li>
</ol></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>In the dressing room, I read some Kanji and my friend confirmed my readings. An elderly man pointed me to the English translation, which I saw of course before. I need to point out, that a Japanese people typically looks for Kanji right away, because in their mindset it is the "simple" script. However, as an Austrian, I immediately look for Latin characters as they are "easy" to me. So the characters, attracing our attention, are different ones. Anyhow, the elderly man used the Kanji reading to start a discussion. He asked me for my origin. After correcting Australia to Austria, he introduced himself as someone who visited Innsbruck and he switched to German. He got few inflections of verbs wrong, but his German was very good. He gave me his business card and he is actually a Professor Emeritus from a university in Osaka. What a funny experience.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>We left and went to get a cake right in front of kinsen. カフェドボウ (Café De Beau) offered a small Arima cake for 250 Yen. Actually my friend wanted to get some <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramen">ramen</a> first, but he mixed up the restaurants. The second restaurant was 青龍居 . I don’t know how to pronounce the restaurant’s name, but probably something like aotatsui (あおたつい). We ate some ramen (costs: 750 Yen) and my friend ate the meat of my ramen (being a vegetarian in Japan). Our chats ranged from places, where we have been, to our thoughts on Kobe university and our future.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>We went for a walk in Kita-ku and not unintentionally, we soon reached ginsen ( 銀泉 , ぎんせん, silver spring). This is also called "gin no yu" ( 銀 の 湯 , ぎんのゆ). The same procedure like above has to be performed with costs of 550 Yen entrance fee and 150 Yen for another milk, I bought. There is only one area and the water has a temperature of about 38°C. This was very comfortable. I prefer fruit-flavored milk over coffee-flavored milk. My friend looked up the next bus to go home. At the station, they told us that the last bus left already (at about 16:30). So we took the train instead (costs: 930 Yen again). I told him about Austrian hot springs, what sports we like and showed him some photos of my past. I waved him goodbye at Kobe-Sannomiya.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>So, what was the experience like?</p></div>
<div class="olist arabic"><ol class="arabic">
<li>
<p>
The temperature is higher than in Austria. Austrian hot spring typically feature 35°C to 38°C as far as I remember. This is also because of a missing outside zone. The entire bath is in one big room (separating men and women by a huge wall). So the heat stays inside and maybe also the water is naturally just hotter than in Austria.
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
One room also means the onsen is actually tiny compared to Austrian hot springs. In Austria, I am thinking of <a href="https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rogner_Bad_Blumau">Bad Blumau</a> which features areas which are <a href="https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rogner_Bad_Blumau#/media/File:Hotel_Therme_Rogner_Bad_Blumau_Nacht.jpg">very huge</a> and many people can be in the bath at the same time. In kinsen, the hot 44°C bath can take up to 8 people. Then it gets crowded.
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
The most extraordinary experience, in my opinion, was taking the shower seated. But it is nothing difficult.
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
I like the fact that my body got very warm compared to my ever cold room in the residence.
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
Unlike in Austria, chatting in an onsen bath is generally uncommon. I am not a fan of this. But we chatted with a low voice anyways.
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
Arima Onsen has many nice snacks available. I knew them from my previous visits and my friend was not interested. So did not consume anything from the booths near the street.
</p>
</li>
</ol></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>I liked it. Unlike my Japanese friend, I think 550 Yen is not too much, if you can stay inside (technically) the whole day. But public transport of 1860 Yen in both directions from Kobe is expensive. If you consider it as a short trip after work, bathing in a Japanese onsen is a pleasant experience. If you want to spend a night at an onsen (or ryokan) and relax for a few days, I definitely prefer the Austrian style.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>Thanks for being there with me, friend!</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p><span class="image">
<img alt="Arima Onsen river" src="images/arima-onsen-river.jpg" width="500">
</img></span></p></div>
</div>
</div>
Kobe Harbor2017-01-15T16:50:00+09:002017-01-15T16:50:00+09:00Lukastag:japan.lukas-prokop.at,2017-01-15:blog/kobe-harbor.html<div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph"><p>※ This article discusses Sunday, 15th of January 2017.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>Yes, we had snow yesterday. That does not occur that often. Well, there is a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MT8IACNOg9c">kids-playing-in-Kobe-snow video of 2013</a>. However, at sea level and with increasing climate temperatures it is just becoming more and more unlikely. Some international students have been on Onsen trips during the winter and visited Onsen at higher sealevel. There, they saw monkeys joining them in Onsen. There are plenty of videos about them online (e.g. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txDR1y1drl0">"Snow monkeys soak in hot springs of Japan" by Guardian</a>.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>I had to take care in the city. Staircases were slippery.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p><span class="image">
<img alt="Snow-covered staircases in Kobe" src="images/snowy-kobe.jpg" width="300">
</img></span></p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>I started off in the morning after warming myself up in bed. Yesterday in the afternoon we briefly noticed snowflakes for about 10 minutes. In the evening (after sunset), it snowed for quite some while. The reported snow height was about 2-3cm. This sunday, I went to Sannomyia by Portliner and went south. I guess I could have left the train one station before, but I preferred the long walk. The general outline of this event day was a casual walk along the coast with the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kobe_Port_Tower">Kobe Port Tower</a> as last destination.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>First, I saw Higashiyuenchi Park ( 東遊園地 ), which I already <a href="visiting-sannomiya.html">visited once</a>. I saw some pots with frozen water, but water fountains with moving water were kept ice-free. I continued south passing the Kobe Customs Museum. At the Harbor, I observed working people. Trucks were bringing goods to the ship. I still have to point out that few people were there and it seemed like a quiet day. I followed the paths underneath the highway to reach the next port.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>A huge metal fish is on display when entering the next port from north. We know this fish. My Kanji teacher and Martina’s Japanese teacher on Friday is part of a dance group. They meet regularly to dance to traditional music and invite (international) students to join. This fish was pictured on the map illustrating the meeting point for the dance session. Next to the fish, a house is designated for a dance studio. I assume our teacher is affiliated with this dance studio.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>Close to the fish, a memorial site can be found. Remember that the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Hanshin_earthquake">Great Hanshin Earthquake in 1995</a> hit Awaji Island and therefore the Harbor of Kobe was closest to the epicenter. The harbor got majorily destroyed and the <a href="http://japandailypress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/BeJ0b8jCAAACvEC.jpg">toppled Harbor highway</a> is the image associated with this event in my mind. The "Port of Kobe Earthquake Memorial Park" shows pictures of the event and the reconstruction afterwards (e.g. temporary harbor sites during reconstruction). It also referenced <a href="luminarie.html">Luminarie</a> which I attended in December. Also recognize that <a href="http://japan.lukas-prokop.at/gallery/2017.01.15%20-%20Kobe%20Harbor/#/31">picture #31</a> shows the same site like <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Hanshin_earthquake#Damage">Wikipedia</a>, but towards south, not north.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>I continued westwards to reach Kobe Port Tower. I need to point out that it was really cold and taking the hands out of my pockets to take photos hurt. At this port many families were outside and going along the harbor. It was funny to recognize that I associate huge scarfs (size of blankets for your upper half of the body) worn by Japanese women with Japanese fashion. But it really is a just a mean to protect yourself from the cold in- and outside houses. The Kobe Port Tower has 3 floors at the ground. They are freely accessible and provide an air conditioned view outside. For 700 Yen, you can also go the top. The view is certainly more beautiful up there, but first I didn’t bring my glasses with me and second at night the view might be more interesting. In the east of the tower, the Kobe Maritime Museum can be found. For 1000 Yen, you can enter it. I wasn’t interested enough into this either, but I took lots of pictures of its white grid-like roof construction. In the west at the next port, I saw the Ferris Wheel. This Ferris Wheel is illuminated at night and can be seen from Portliner when we go back from university.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>South of the Port Tower is the Meriken Park Oriental Hotel. I expected to go the Meriken Park first, but it is currently locked up. They seem to be renovating and the grasses condition also does not seem great. The Hotel is very distinctive. The roof resembles (in my imagination) a wave. At the ground floors, cars can be parked whereas the top floors provide hotel rooms. In front of the Hotel a "Marine Hall" can be found. Based on its shape I thought it is a small church, but the name indicates otherwise.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>I finished my walk by taking a picture of the huge poles of the Harbor highway and the entrance of Chinatown. Ah right, I haven’t been to Chinatown yet. Anyways, it took me ~25 minutes to go from the Hotel to Sannomiya and I went back home. Martina waited with a warm lunch for me. Great!</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p><span class="image">
<img alt="Kobe Port Tower and Kobe Maritime Museum" src="images/kobe-port-tower.jpg" width="70%">
</img></span></p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>Conclusion: A pleasant walk in fresh air!</p></div>
</div>
</div>
Oji Zoo2017-01-13T16:50:00+09:002017-01-13T16:50:00+09:00Lukastag:japan.lukas-prokop.at,2017-01-13:blog/oji-zoo.html<div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph"><p>※ This article discusses Sunday, 8th of January 2017.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>Oji Zoo is located in Kobe City and a common weekend activity for fathers with their children. As fathers are mostly working during the week and come home when children are already in bed, I literally mean. We saw several fathers with their children.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>This sunday it was open between 09:00 and 16:30. The tickets cost 600 Yen, which is not much in my opinion. We already knew the path to the Zoo, because close to the Zoo, the Sports Center is located. I sometimes have Aikido there and Martina sometimes has Volleyball at this place. It is easy to find, because Oji Zoo has an amusement park inside with a Ferris Wheel. This Ferris Wheel sticks out from all the surrounding houses in this area. Oji Zoo is split into six sections:</p></div>
<div class="ulist"><ul>
<li>
<p>
Panda House
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
Zoological Science Center
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
Wild Animals Circle
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
Polar Bear House
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
Children’s World Animal Land
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
Foreign Settlement, Former Hunter’s Residence (only open in April, May and October)
</p>
</li>
</ul></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>I want to provide a complete list of animals at Oji Zoo:</p></div>
<div class="quoteblock">
<div class="content">
<div class="paragraph"><p>Flamingoes, ducks, peafowls, cranes, pheasants, sheep, geese, rabbits, goats, otters, squirrels, red pandas, koalas, snow owls, giant panda, eagles, elephants, leopard, snow leopard, jaguar, tiger, parrots, pelicans, storks, penguins, hippopotamuses, ostriches, kangaroos, sitatungas, zebras, giraffes, giant anteater, chimpanzees, capybara, orangutans, slamangs, ring-tailed lemurs, sea lions, crocodiles, turtles, fruit bats, bears, bobcat, porcupines, polar bears</p></div>
</div>
<div class="attribution">
</div></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>We have been there early (9:20). This was good and bad. On the one hand, weather was turning worse in the afternoon. On the other hand, it was bad already. This day, it was quite cold, a few raindrops were recognizable and clouds covered the sky. Anyways, we started visiting the flamingoes' cage. Their feather is very beautiful, but the large crowd of flamingoes made quite some noise. We continued to see some peafowls, snow owls and cranes. All animals were rather passive this day, because of the cold and rain. We decided not to visit the Children’s World (pandas, squirrels, otters including a petting zoo) and saved it for later. The Giant Panda was currently not visible and we visited the elephants. The elephant in the outside area was throwing soil onto her back. Elephants do that to protect themselves from the sun. Because it was cloudy, we suspected she was actually drying her back from the raindrops. The elephant outside seemed fine, but I got relent, when I saw the elephant in the smaller cage. The elephant was going forth and back under the roof, which was a thin strip. I felt pity for him.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>I found it very interesting that the toilet nearby featured a baby desk inside the <em>men’s</em> toilet. I haven’t seen this before in Japan. We visited the parrots next to the wild animals cages. One of the parrots was even able to say "Ohio" (Good morning), "Bye Bye" and his own name. It was funny that little birds living in freedom slipped through the thin grid and joined the parrots in their cage. I guess they enjoyed the available water and remaining food. In the following, we saw the Wild Animals Circle. Because of the circular shape, we visited the parrots twice. The tiger was walking around, but also within a limited space. I guess he was also not very happy with the weather. Lions, jaguars and cheetah were only sitting in silence (I got one photo of the cheetah walking, but he was just about to sit down when we came).</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>For children they have an Amusement Park with the aforementioned Ferris Wheel. It features a few Japanese statues made of stone, which I used for photographic opportunities. In the Zoological Science Center, a map of the world greeted us where areas indicated a certain type of animals. Japan, for example, was made of monkeys, boars and cats. Mosaics of drawn chicken where also presented. Remember that 2017 is the year of the chicken according to the Chinese calendar. The penguins in the pool close-by were active and enjoyed swimming. The Science Center itself was one of the nicer places within the zoo. It explained the behavior of animals in the African wild, how animals with a beak grab their food, displayed stuffed birds, explained defecation in videos, displayed eggs of various birds and exhibited the skeleton of selected animals.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>Inside the Science Center it was acceptable warm, but outside it began to rain heavily. We decided not to finish the zoo today.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>However, we also completed the Herbivores site. We saw a Hippopotamuses. First we weren’t sure it is still alive, but apparently it stayed underwater, except for the back and the face (in order to breathe, I guess). I assume the water felt warmer than the windy and cold outside. The ostriches were already very wet and two of them cuddled inside a small house. Most of the kangaroos also spent their time and we observed a mother nurturing her child. I am always impressed how muscular kangaroos are. Zebra also got wet and spent their time under the roof. Giraffes were not visible at all. They spent their time inside the house. We decided to briefly visit the sea lions. Just like the penguins, they were very active underwater. We also wanted to check whether the Giant Panda is visible now and we actually saw him. He was taking a nap on a wooden construction.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>We headed home and covered approximately 70% of the zoo. I guess we picked a bad day and planned to come back in summer again. Consider that we skipped especially animals who are currently hibernating.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>We decided to go to a restaurant in Sannoymiya, we have been before. When we looked for presents for <a href="kokui-christmas-party.html">the christmas party</a>, we visited this restaurant already. It seems like an average family restaurant. I like the free refills for drinks. For the record: the menu has 35 main dishes out of 81 meals. 4 out of 29 are vegetarian. In the gallery, I posted the complete menu.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p><span class="image">
<img alt="Flamingoes in Ojizoo" src="images/ojizoo.jpg" width="300">
</img></span></p></div>
</div>
</div>
Arima Onsen Irizome-Shiki2017-01-05T00:54:00+09:002017-01-05T00:54:00+09:00Lukastag:japan.lukas-prokop.at,2017-01-05:blog/arima-onsen-irizome-shiki.html<div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph"><p>※ This article discusses the 2nd of January 2017.</p></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_why_how">Why? How?</h3>
<div class="paragraph"><p>Martina was notified about a request by Arima Onsen in her Japanese class at the beginning of December 2016:</p></div>
<div class="quoteblock">
<div class="content">
<div class="paragraph"><p>Welcome to the most historic hot-spring resort in Japan. Arima-onsen has been famous since 6th century since "Tenoh" had visited here. In Arima-onsen, every year on 2nd January, residents of Arima-onsen cerebrate the beginning of the year with the celemony "Irizome-shiki", where they appreciate a shogun and a noble monk who help Arima-onsen develop.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>For this special occasion, we recruit 6 male students, who wear traditional white robe and carry a portable shrine, and 3 female students who wear kimonos. After the ceremony, you can attend the traditional "Naorai" after-party with local residents, and then enjoy the first hot-spring in 2017.</p></div>
</div>
<div class="attribution">
— private email
</div></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>We have not been to an onsen yet and we thought it would be a good opportunity to come into contact with locals in order to follow <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdjZoLHipQ0">Onsen rules</a> properly. Be aware that unlike most of the times where we are getting along together, an onsen is (in almost exclusively nowadays) separated in terms of sex. So it would be very nice to have very good male and female friends to go with them there. We saw this event as an opportunity and certainly we can help in return. Hopefully, we get a discount (or alike) for entering the onsen this day.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>The event is called "Arima Onsen Irizome-Shiki" ( 有馬温泉入初式 or 有馬温泉 の 入初式 ).</p></div>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_good_morning">Good morning</h3>
<div class="paragraph"><p>We arrived <a href="awkward-hankyu-ticket.html">on time</a> and waited in front of Onsenji for administrative staff to pick us up. Martina asked for necessary equipment to bring beforehand and they only mentioned, it might be very cold. So we should bring disposable hand warmers (or alike). We could not find some (without putting a lot of effort into it) in the usual supermarket, we visit. So we skipped it and I dressed up warm though the weather forecast was promising. Indeed the morning was cold, but not freaking cold. During the day 11°C are expected whereas on the other days of the week, the temperature will be between 6°C and 10°C. What a luck.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>We were not the only ones. A Taiwanese woman from Martina’s class also showed up. Another woman speaking Chinese joined in afterwards as well. 3 female students, but I remained the only male student. I guess the problem was that you have to register until 18th of December 2016 which is 2 weeks before. Many students don’t plan that far ahead during the holidays. Anyways, male students were not so motivated and I remained the only one.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>A woman showed up and asked us, whether we are "ryuugakusei". We agreed and I had to follow her to the men dressing room. Martina told me, they were taken to a different place and they screwed up the dresses, because my designated dress was in the women dressing room. This explains why it took them so long to search for my clothing. After receiving all clothing parts, another guy helped me to dress. It was a strange, white robe with a black hat. I felt like some sort of servant of the Shrine, I was at. In general the ceremony - I was dressing up for - is meant to bring good water to visitors for the coming year. It is organized by the Shrine located next and associated to Arima Onsen. A <a href="https://www.facebook.com/VisitArimaOnsen/posts/1401686026531260">facebook post</a> announced the event and the local press was well aware of this annual event.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>The dress consisted of a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hakama">Hakama</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tabi">Tabi</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Z%C5%8Dri">Zouri</a>. Sadly I cannot give the names of the other parts of the clothing.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p><span class="image">
<img alt="Arima Onsen Irizomeshiki dress" height="300" src="images/arima-onsen-irizomeshiki-dress.jpg">
</img></span></p></div>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_the_festival_procession">The Festival Procession</h3>
<div class="paragraph"><p>In front of the shrine, two <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palanquin">palanquins</a> were waiting for us (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikoshi">Mikoshi</a> in Japanese). They had to be carried to the Arima-Chou Elementary school. After "Churning the Hot Water", "Throwing Water", the "Dance" and the "Purification Ceremony", we had to carry them back to the Shrine again. I carried the same palanquin both times. To the best of knowledge, it is the palanquin holding the wooden sculptures of the high priests Gyoki and Ninsai. Martina and the two other women had to follow some <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geisha">geisha</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maiko">maiko</a>. They were dressed up in uniform <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kimono">Kimono</a>. After an initial speech the ladies lined up with the priest at the stairs in order to take some photos. Martina is visible on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BOvlugrjLKS/">one instagram photo</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/k_izeki/status/815922148975865856">one tweet</a> this point. We had to carry it down the stairs, followed by a lot of streets. The general problem for me was of course the height. My colleagues carried the beam on their shoulder. This is much lower for me and I had to use my hands. On the first path heading to the elementary school, the guy in front of me was not very helpful. He neither cared to carry nor was he walking in line. I stepped on his Zouri several times accidently.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>Many people watched us on the street, obviously. One side of the street was blocked for us.</p></div>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_churning_the_hot_water_throwing_water_dance_and_purification_ceremony">Churning the Hot Water, Throwing Water, Dance and Purification Ceremony</h3>
<div class="paragraph"><p>The ceremony inside the school was Japanese culture in its purest form. For example:</p></div>
<div class="ulist"><ul>
<li>
<p>
Since the procession we were accompanied by melodies played on flute-like instruments. The tunes were harmfully dissonant.
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
Few representatives gave a speech.
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
Somebody mentioned "ryuugakusei" several times. So I recognized that they might be talking about the 4 of us. However, I had no clue what to do until my seating neighbor tabbed me and told me to "Stand up!". I stood up and bowed. Martina told me, I saved them because they also had no clue and stood up and didn’t know what to do. Bowing, while people were clapping, saved the situation. It was very awkward. Well, this is the language barrier.
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
They called every single administrative person. The person bowed in front of all other people, went to the water basin, bowed, clapped her hands (as common in Shintoism), bowed and put some water over the shoulders of a statue.
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
The priest and his apprentices sang very strange song.
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
They poured the "first" hot water into a wooden bowl.
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
The "Dance" was also of low quality, but I guess this is acceptable for a small village. Not sure how often geisha/maiko perform such ceremonies. It always hurts to see how women can almost not move in Kimono. The lower end is very tighht. So you cannot make normal steps with a Kimono.
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
The Purification Ceremony was just ridiculous. The priest spread some rice on mats and the geisha/maiko had to collect it with young pine. In their clothing it was ridiculously difficult and young pie is completely inappropriate for it.
</p>
</li>
</ul></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>Obviously I am very biased here and many people will have a different opinion. This is mine. But you can now watch the ceremony inside the Elementary School yourself on youtube (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVEqdMpWka0">part 1</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVFbUXyFplU">part 2</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OXQh_liTas">part 3</a>).</p></div>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_returning">Returning</h3>
<div class="paragraph"><p>On our way back, the student in front of me introduced himself and told me, he is studying Spanish language at Kobe University (it made me recognize that most other people could also be students). He translated when we were told to run. So at the street in the center of Arima-Chou, we had to run up and down three times. This just part of the tradition. As far as I am concerned I started to sweat a lot, because the palanquins felt heavier during the run. This part was fun though. Apparently I also attracted the attention of a photographer. He took a lot of pictures of me. I was the only male foreigner. I was the only young one with a beard. I was much taller than everyone else. On this way, the only picture available online of me was taken. Look at the most-left person on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BOv0pncBzTi/">this instagram photo</a>.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>Arriving at the Shrine, we changed back into our usual clothes. The Spanish student waved goodbye with a "Otsukare samadeshita" (Take care!).</p></div>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_lunch">Lunch</h3>
<div class="paragraph"><p>All helping people leaving received a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bento">Bento box</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_tea#Japan">Ocha</a> as present. However, I was asked to follow some other guy. He was kind and wanted to find out basic facts about Austria. Another helper was with us. We entered a hidden room. All representatives and administratives were eating there and I bowed in front of them. Apparently they welcomed me to join their meal. I was also offered a Bento box and Ocha or beer (I picked the former). The Bento box contained a lot of fish. I didn’t want to tell them to be a vegetarian in order to avoid them troubles. So I ate what looked vegetarian and certainly the rice side dish always is. I described a lot of things about Austria and the German language. They tried their best and it was fun. Martina called me as they were lost. After some time they were also guided to our table to join the lunch. With more international people available, communicating became easier. A much larger knowledge base for Japanese vocabulary was available. I learned that a specific type of sea weed is called <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelp">kelp</a>. We were also offered some Hatsukuru, a popular Japanese sake.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>Finally, we were given an Buddhist amulette. We waved goodbye and were back in front of the Shrine.</p></div>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_aftermath">Aftermath</h3>
<div class="paragraph"><p>We wanted to finish some sightseeing. First the other internationals joined us, but suddenly they left. So we took some pictures of the places we wanted to see (admittedly, it was me). We finalized our trip with a foot bath. <a href="mount-rokko.html">Unlike Martina</a>, I did not take the public foot bath at Kin-no-yu ( 金 のゆ) yet. We had fun interacting with an elderly person. She had a thermostat with her. The outside temperature was 14°C there and the water temperature was 40°C. It is reported to be 42.3°C according to a board. Anyways, we had small chats and she made a picture of us:</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p><span class="image">
<img alt="Arima Onsen Irizomeshiki foot bath" height="300" src="images/arima-onsen-irizomeshiki-foot-bath.jpg">
</img></span></p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>So, we still have not been inside the onsen. However, we got a free lunch and it was a pleasant experience. I guess you cannot get closer to Japanese culture than this.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>Some more resources:</p></div>
<div class="ulist"><ul>
<li>
<p>
Main news article referenced by Japanese people: <a href="http://www.kobe-np.co.jp/news/kobe/201701/0009798426.shtml">http://www.kobe-np.co.jp/news/kobe/201701/0009798426.shtml</a>
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
Another article with more photos: <a href="http://milky.geocities.jp/kyotonosato/hyogo/01/irizome12.html">http://milky.geocities.jp/kyotonosato/hyogo/01/irizome12.html</a>
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
Another one: <a href="https://kobecafe.jimdo.com/2016/01/02/%E6%9C%89%E9%A6%AC%E6%B8%A9%E6%B3%89-%E5%85%A5%E5%88%9D%E5%BC%8F-%E3%81%84%E3%82%8A%E3%81%9E%E3%82%81%E3%81%97%E3%81%8D/">https://kobecafe.jimdo.com/2016/01/02/%E6%9C%89%E9%A6%AC%E6%B8%A9%E6%B3%89-%E5%85%A5%E5%88%9D%E5%BC%8F-%E3%81%84%E3%82%8A%E3%81%9E%E3%82%81%E3%81%97%E3%81%8D/</a>
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
And another one: <a href="http://kisspress.jp/events/11358/">http://kisspress.jp/events/11358/</a>
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
Photos: <a href="http://www.syouten.jp/goda.php?itemid=997">http://www.syouten.jp/goda.php?itemid=997</a>
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
More photos: <a href="http://www.nihon-kankou.or.jp/hyogo/detail/28100ba2212059532">http://www.nihon-kankou.or.jp/hyogo/detail/28100ba2212059532</a>
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
facebook post by Arima Onsen ryokan Gekkoen: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Arima.onsen.ryokan.Gekkoen/posts/1372355499450902">https://www.facebook.com/Arima.onsen.ryokan.Gekkoen/posts/1372355499450902</a>
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
Japanese Wikipedia article about 有馬温泉 の 入初式 : <a href="https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%85%A5%E5%88%9D%E5%BC%8F">https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%85%A5%E5%88%9D%E5%BC%8F</a>
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
Tweet #1: <a href="https://twitter.com/k_izeki/status/815922148975865856">https://twitter.com/k_izeki/status/815922148975865856</a>
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
Tweet #2: <a href="https://twitter.com/blueex27/status/816215629950685184">https://twitter.com/blueex27/status/816215629950685184</a>
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
Instagram pictures:
</p>
<div class="ulist"><ul>
<li>
<p>
<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BOv1crZB9lg/?tagged=%E6%9C%89%E9%A6%AC%E6%B8%A9%E6%B3%89">https://www.instagram.com/p/BOv1crZB9lg/?tagged=%E6%9C%89%E9%A6%AC%E6%B8%A9%E6%B3%89</a>
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BOv0pncBzTi/?tagged=%E6%9C%89%E9%A6%AC%E6%B8%A9%E6%B3%89">https://www.instagram.com/p/BOv0pncBzTi/?tagged=%E6%9C%89%E9%A6%AC%E6%B8%A9%E6%B3%89</a>
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BOvlugrjLKS/?tagged=%E6%9C%89%E9%A6%AC%E6%B8%A9%E6%B3%89">https://www.instagram.com/p/BOvlugrjLKS/?tagged=%E6%9C%89%E9%A6%AC%E6%B8%A9%E6%B3%89</a>
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BOvi-22B9cU/?tagged=%E6%9C%89%E9%A6%AC%E6%B8%A9%E6%B3%89">https://www.instagram.com/p/BOvi-22B9cU/?tagged=%E6%9C%89%E9%A6%AC%E6%B8%A9%E6%B3%89</a>
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BOvo7zxBtjA/?tagged=%E5%85%A5%E5%88%9D%E5%BC%8F">https://www.instagram.com/p/BOvo7zxBtjA/?tagged=%E5%85%A5%E5%88%9D%E5%BC%8F</a>
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BOvwd5fBtIV/?tagged=%E6%9C%89%E9%A6%AC%E6%B8%A9%E6%B3%89%E5%85%A5%E5%88%9D%E5%BC%8F">https://www.instagram.com/p/BOvwd5fBtIV/?tagged=%E6%9C%89%E9%A6%AC%E6%B8%A9%E6%B3%89%E5%85%A5%E5%88%9D%E5%BC%8F</a>
</p>
</li>
</ul></div>
</li>
</ul></div>
</div>
Awkward Hankyu ticket behavior2017-01-05T00:54:00+09:002017-01-05T00:54:00+09:00Lukastag:japan.lukas-prokop.at,2017-01-05:blog/awkward-hankyu-ticket.html<div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph"><p>※ This issue happened on 2nd of January 2017.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>On the second of January, we had to go to Arima Onsen. In order to get there, I looked up the best routes on <a href="http://www.hyperdia.com/">HyperDia</a>. It returned the following result:</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p><span class="image">
<img alt="Arima Onsen connection" src="images/arima-onsen-transportation.png" width="444">
</img></span></p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>From Minatojima to Sannomiya, we had no problems (Portliner). Then we went to the ticket machine for Hankyu Line. To the best of my knowledge all the individual paths given at this schedule are operated by a Hankyu subcontractor. That’s also why Hankyu list one overall price and not individual prices for every subpath. I bought one ticket for 710 Yen. Martina got one for 500 Yen on the Blue Line.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>Martina’s rationale: She is not sure whether she can pay all subpaths now and therefore takes a ticket of lower price. Before exiting, you can do a fare adjustment and pay the remaining 210 Yen. The Blue Line should be the one we take.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>We both went from Kobe-Sannomiya to Shinkaichi. On the platform we had 2 exits - East and West, where both of them are distant in the same way. I decided to go for the East Exit, simply because more people left this way than by picking the West exit. We had to find the "Shintetsu Arima/Sanda line for SANDA" train. So we reached the East Exit and we wanted to leave passing the ticket checking machine. Martina plugged in her ticket. Accepted. Of 500 Yen, she only used ~210 Yen. As far as the remaining ticket is not returned, she lost some money this way. I plugged in my ticket. Denied. What the heck? I returned to the Fare Adjustment machine and plugged in my ticket. It spit the ticket out immediately; so no adjustment necessary. I tried again. Denied. I tried again. Denied. I did not care anymore. 3 minutes (in order to catch our next train) have passed and we didn’t even find the gate for the next train. I illegally hopped over ticket checking machine and we continued. The surveilllance camera has footage of me, but no staff member was there. The checking machine said "call intercom", but no phone (except an old commercial coin phone) was there and no staff member. After a short walk, we saw another ticket machine for entrance. "Arimaguchi" was one of its destinations, so we decided to take it. As far as I didn’t correctly leave the train platform, my ticket is expected to reject me using it for entrance. Indeed. Denied. So I bought another ticket for 640 Yen to go to Arimaguchi. Martina as well. As it turns out, we hopped on the train which went straight to Arimaguchi. So if we would have caught our train, we would first take a different train from Shinkaichi to Suzurandai, but in the following would have taken the same train. So overall we were in time. At Arimaguchi we changed train. At Arimaonsen, I left the platform using my 710 Yen ticket, which rejected my exit previously and Martina made a fare adjustment.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>Okay… what is the conclusion?</p></div>
<div class="olist arabic"><ol class="arabic">
<li>
<p>
Tickets basically store a binary flag whether you are inside or outside the train platform. You cannot change/manipulate that.
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
If you buy an expensive ticket, but leave earlier (hence at a lower destination price), you lose your ticket. This means you cannot take a short break at an intermediate station.
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
This also holds true even though Fare Adjustment machines exist, which should adjust the ticket to your needs.
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
I think my ticket knew that I was going to a different destination. Therefore it did not allow me to exit here. I guess we should have picked the West Exit. Then we could have changed trains without leaving the platform. However, no signs (whatsoever) indicated which is the "correct" exit for us. If so, the ticket decides on its own, whether you are allowed to leave here.
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
I should take the same ticket like my girlfriend in order to run into the same problems.
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
I would recommend to pay every subpath individually or adjust your fare before leaving the platform, but it takes its time to buy new tickets. This can be a problem if you have 3 minutes to change trains and you don’t know where the other gates are.
</p>
</li>
</ol></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>When I got here, the railway ticket system seemed… foreign. I didn’t know it before. Then it turned out to be pretty straightforward and convenient. But considering the behavior above, I reject to call it easy… a claim made by some people on reddit. I guess it makes sense if I am aware of the possible attack vectors in terms of fraud. But so far, I cannot tell you whether you will surely be able to exit a platform legally even if no staff member is around.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>Strange. For this day, I (we) paid 640 (1280) Yen more to Hankyu then necessary.</p></div>
</div>
</div>
New Year’s Eve2017-01-04T18:11:00+09:002017-01-04T18:11:00+09:00Lukastag:japan.lukas-prokop.at,2017-01-04:blog/ikuta-shrine-new-years-eve.html<div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph"><p>※ This article discusses the 31st of December 2016.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>New Year’s Eve is a big deal in Japan. Our current holidays at university (formally 2 weeks) are given due to the coming of the new year.</p></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_in_austria">In Austria</h3>
<div class="paragraph"><p>In Austria, people celebrate New Year’s Eve in various kinds. Some people go for a drink with friends into the city. Some people gather at public places in the center of the city to celebrate collectively. Some people stay at home, do some <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molybdomancy">molybdomancy</a>, watch <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinner_for_One">Dinner for One</a> at TV and dance to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Blue_Danube">the blue Danube</a>. Sparkling wine (in some countries called more generically <em>champaign</em>) is a common drink after midnight. Some people enjoy the fireworks from distance and hike on a hill/moutain close to the city. Stargazing can following romantically this approach. These activities are <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Year%27s_Eve#Japan">different in Japan</a>.</p></div>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_in_japan">In Japan</h3>
<div class="paragraph"><p>Before this day, you can buy chicken-themed New Year’s cards in many places. 2017 is the year of the chicken according to the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_calendar">Chinese calendar</a>. Fireworks are not popular, though fireworks are organized in Tokyo (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVHeC8IZuf0">video on youtube</a>). At Shibuya, the large intersection in Tokyo, New Year is celebrated by <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jk703WCfmT8">collectively counting down</a>. At Zōjō-ji, a Buddhist temple near Tokyo Tower, they <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOqcqTRgMyA">release balloons</a> when the countdown has finished. But most of the families stay, of course, at home and just like in Austria there are popular TV shows like <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C5%8Dhaku_Uta_Gassen">Kouhaku Uta Gassen</a>. Celebrating the end of the previous year and welcoming the next year is reflected on the next day in funny events like <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fukubukuro">Fukubukuro</a>. NHK reports,</p></div>
<div class="quoteblock">
<div class="content">
<div class="paragraph"><p>People have flocked to department stores in Japan to buy New Year bargain packages known as lucky bags.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>A store in Osaka opened earlier than normal on Monday morning. 7,000 people were waiting outside before it opened its doors. Staffers had prepared 50,000 lucky bags.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>Beside only selling goods in the bargain events, department stores have been working hard to sell bags that let buyers have various special experiences.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>A bag that sold for almost 700 dollars includes tableware for a baby’s first meal, clothing for its first shrine visit and a photography session. Another with a price tag of more than 5,000 dollars features an imported camera and the photo session with a traditional female entertainer in the ancient capital of Kyoto.</p></div>
</div>
<div class="attribution">
— https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20170102_13/
</div></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>As far as our time in Kobe is concerned, we wanted originally wanted to be in Tokyo during the holidays. 3 days in Tokyo, followed by 1 day in Kyoto during New Year’s Eve. It was told that near the Imperial Palace, many local people are going to celebrate at midnight. Going to Tokyo by Shinkansen is expensive (10000 Yen) and therefore we considered the night bus (around 3200 Yen). Other international students did so. But planning the hotels and sightseeing points takes its time and I am also currently out of funds for such events. So we didn’t put enough effort into organizing this trip and stayed in Kobe. Because of that, I wanted to finish some Kobe sightseeing points from my bucket list. I blogged about these points in my last posts. Staying in Kobe, we didn’t leave the residence during the day. In the evening we headed towards Ikuta Shrine at 21:00. There were only 3 people in the train going towards Sannomiya from Minatojima.</p></div>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_videochat">Videochat</h3>
<div class="paragraph"><p>We were told the most interesting spot for New Year’s Eve is <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ikuta_Shrine">Ikuta Shrine</a>. This large shrine in the center of Kobe represents the door in Kobe’s name. Remember that 神戸 consists of two Kanji, where 神 (こう, kou) stands for "god" and 戸 (べ, be) stands for "door", hence "God’s door". And Ikuta Shrine basically defined the location of Kobe.</p></div>
<div class="quoteblock">
<div class="content">
<div class="paragraph"><p>Kobe did not exist in its current form until its founding in 1889. Its name comes from "kanbe" ( 神戸 ), an archaic title for supporters of the city’s Ikuta Shrine. Kobe became one of Japan’s 17 designated cities in 1956.</p></div>
</div>
<div class="attribution">
— https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kobe
</div></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>We went there and found many food festival booths. As it is New Year’s Eve, we wanted to do something special. Just like every other week, my parents wanted to have a video chat session with me. This week they were at my brother’s. So I was able to see my brother, his wife and children after a longer time. Unlike the previous times where I was at the dormitory, I was in front of the Shrine chatting with them. It was kind of fun though we had no clue how it would affect our 2GB mobile data limit. In the end chatting with them for about 75 minutes resulted in to ~700 MB traffic via <a href="http://appear.in/">appear.in/WebRTC</a> which is unexpectedly little in my opinion. Also my other brothers joined in and it was a nice conversation. The video chat took roughly an hour.</p></div>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_new_year_8217_s_eve_at_ikuta_shrine">New Year’s Eve at Ikuta Shrine</h3>
<div class="paragraph"><p>At ~23:20 we investigated the ongoing activities at the Shrine. During our video chat, people organized themselves in front of the Shrine. Before midnight, the Shrine is locked up. People gather in front in a queue and wait for entry at 00:00. When they enter they can go to booths, buy <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omamori">Omamori</a> (amulettes and charms) and make their first prayer of the year. I was told the queue was extraordinary long ranging several blocks inside the city. The police took care to control the traffic. The booths in front of the Shrine (accessible before midnight) include all kinds of food like <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candy_apple">Candy apple</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mochi">Mochi</a> (I love these!) and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cotton_candy">cotton candy</a>. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goldfish_scooping">Gold fish scooping</a> ( 金魚 すくい, きんぎょすくい) and <a href="https://duckduckgo.com/?q=shooting+gallery+carnival&ia=images">shooting galleries</a> are also popular, available games (watch this <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpmL2szf6s0">video by Ronin for a goldfish scooping introduction</a>).</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>I was never allowed to eat cotton candy in my childhood, so I bought some for 500 Yen. They had a Pokemon design. This coincides with me playing Pokemon Yellow edition in the last few days (Hey, I am already in Vermilion City!). I think this was the second time in my life I ate cotton candy (the first one was at <a href="https://events.ccc.de/congress/2012/wiki/Main_Page">29C3</a>). Martina bought some <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chestnut">chestnuts</a>. In the city, we thought we had to bake them first, but at home we found out that you only have to make a hole and squeeze them to get them out. In Austria, they are always partially cut.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>Martina got cold and we decided to go back home even before midnight. So we experienced the year switch in the train and obviously there were very few people in the train again. I guess we could have done more, but it’s something.</p></div>
</div>
Venus Bridge2017-01-04T13:56:00+09:002017-01-04T13:56:00+09:00Lukastag:japan.lukas-prokop.at,2017-01-04:blog/venus-bridge.html<div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph"><p>※ This article discusses the 30th of December 2016.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>Without Martina I was more flexible, but on the other hand Venus Bridge is a sightseeing point for couples. Venus Bridge is located 151 meters above the sealevel in the mountains. It’s in the north of <a href="kobe-jinjas.html">Sorakuen</a>. And where the heck is the entrance in order to climb up the hill to Venus Bridge? <a href="http://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=15/34.6850/135.1951">Openstreetmap</a> shows the location of venus bridge:</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p><span class="image">
<img alt="Map reaching from my residence at Minatojima to Venus Bridge" src="images/venus-bridge.png" width="441">
</img></span></p></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_getting_there">Getting there</h3>
<div class="paragraph"><p>After reading some blog posts (for example by <a href="http://janneinosaka.blogspot.jp/2010/06/venus-bridge.html">Janne in Osaka (and Okinawa)</a> or <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKwqLqRM018">@stercraze06 on youtube</a>), I could not figure out how to directly reach Venus Bridge from Kitano-Chou. The answer is the closest way is starting from the グリーンハイツ 諏訪山 building. Behind the Kobe Migration Museum, Oku-Saido Drive Way can be found leading to Venus Bridge, but this is unpleasant as a pedestrian.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>First I reached Suwayama Park. I saw a Japanese children’s playground (though the scenery is a little bit scary if no people are there) and visited Suwa Shrine ( 諏訪神社 ) and Suwayamainari Shrine ( 諏訪山稲荷神社 ). I liked the stone statue (illustrating a dog) in front of it. Then I headed towards Venus Bridge. Beginning here it was not difficult to find the path as signs indicated the path in Katakana.</p></div>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_venus_bridge">Venus bridge</h3>
<div class="paragraph"><p>Venus Bridge is a spiral bridge leading to a platform. The bridge and the platform give a beautiful view over Kobe. Furthermore there is a metal construction in order to allow young couples to tie a lock onto it to mark their relationship. Equivalent locks can be <a href="https://www.tripadvisor.com/LocationPhotoDirectLink-g190432-i211169150-Graz_Styria.html">found in Graz</a> as well. Being there allowed me to take some nice pictures of Kobe. It was a quiet day and only few people were there. I enjoyed the sun (though it was a bit cloudy) and fresh air.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p><span class="image">
<img alt="Metal construction for locks at Venus Bridge" src="images/venus-bridge-locks.jpg" width="400">
</img></span></p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p><span class="image">
<img alt="View on Kobe with Venus Bridge in front" src="images/venus-bridge.jpg" width="400">
</img></span></p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>Yes, totally worth it and I enjoyed the small hike. It sent Martina a picture and told her I will return now. I dropped by at the supermarket and got home. I was a little bit tired but continued studies and work at the residence.</p></div>
</div>
Kitano-Chou, Part 22017-01-03T23:59:00+09:002017-01-03T23:59:00+09:00Lukastag:japan.lukas-prokop.at,2017-01-03:blog/kitano-chou-2.html<div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph"><p>※ This article discusses the 30th of December 2016.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>The <a href="kitano-chou-1.html">previous trip to Kitano-Chou</a> was nice, but I didn’t get an overview of the houses and certainly there is more to discover. So I had to return. Martina was not motivated, so 2 days later, I was on my own. I started with Kitano-Chou, where I left of last time.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>Starting from Sannomiya, I headed to Ikuta Shrine. It was quite a time ago since <a href="kobe-jinjas.html">my last visit</a> and I wanted to see preparations for tomorrow. On New Year’s Eve, a lot of people are expected at Ikuta Shrine. In conclusion, they were busy building up some structures and booths. Plenty of boards got attached to the shrine though I don’t know what they kanji say (I assume they are prayers). A tree was in front of the shrine and ropes connect the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torii">Torii</a> with the tree. On these papers, handwritten wishes can be found.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p><span class="image">
<img alt="Ikuta Shrine Torii with tree in front" src="images/ikuta-shrine-torii.jpg" width="300">
</img></span></p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>In front of the Kobe Baptist Church (on the border of Yamamotodori and Kitano-Chou), a cat was sitting on the sidewalk in the sun. I could enjoy petting her for a while. Then I reached the houses.</p></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_irish_house">Irish House</h3>
<div class="paragraph"><p>A little bit unexpected, but the main theme of the Irish House was hunting. Stuffed bears, elks and deers were shown together with hunting equipment. They also collected donations for <a href="luminarie.html">Luminarie</a>.</p></div>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_french_house">French House</h3>
<div class="paragraph"><p>The main theme of the French House is dining. The layout of the table, wine and cheese was presented with <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqLqlJ114lk">Amélie as background music</a>.</p></div>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_denmark_house">Denmark House</h3>
<div class="paragraph"><p>The Denmark House did not have a main theme in my opinion. It rather shows a simple style of living. A piano, a chess board and simple cooking equipment were on display. Of course some clothing is always part of the exhibition.</p></div>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_netherlands_house">Netherlands House</h3>
<div class="paragraph"><p>The Netherlands House issued the Vikings. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clog">Clogs</a> were shown in front of the House, but inside it was all about the life of Vikings (clothing, household items, food, house architecture, etc.).</p></div>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_former_chinese_consulate">Former Chinese Consulate</h3>
<div class="paragraph"><p>Next, I visited the Former Chinese Consulate. I displayed decorated stone turtles next to the entrance, a Chinese dining table and a bathroom. The bathroom featured a bath tub not connected to a drain, a basin and a wooden construction to cover your body when undressing. It was interesting to recognize that many items were either made of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marble">marble</a> or <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porcelain">Porcelain</a>. Vases and images of emperors are also recurring items. A larger vase with a dragon on it can be found in the garden. I like Chinese painting patterns (e.g. tradition style of painting the animals of the Chinese calendar).</p></div>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_kitanotenman_shrine">Kitanotenman Shrine</h3>
<div class="paragraph"><p>Kitanotenman Shrine has quite a few of steep steps in front. If you finish them, you reach a platform with a nice view on Kobe (though some trees block the view) and on the next level, the Shrine is placed. I wondered how much space Japanese Shinto Shrines take up in the country. In Austria, it is famously known that the Christian church owns the largest portion of area compared to other single organizations or companies. But I failed to find data for Japanese Shinto Shrines.</p></div>
<div class="quoteblock">
<div class="content">
<div class="paragraph"><p>The number of Shinto shrines in Japan is estimated to be around 100,000. This figure may, or may not, include private shrines in homes and owned by small groups, abandoned or derelict shrines, roadside Hokora. etc.</p></div>
</div>
<div class="attribution">
— https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinto_shrine
</div></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>I came to conclusion, that Shinto Shrines require less space than churches, but there are more Shrines in one Japanese city than churches in a European city. I still think that the Shrines' area does not outnumber the area of their European equivalent.</p></div>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_weathercock_house">Weathercock House</h3>
<div class="paragraph"><p>The next destination was the Weathercock House. The brick layout on the facade is very distinguishing. Does it belong to a country? No, the Weathercock House is just some distinct architecture some English trader living in Kobe came up with. Inside the main theme is the weathercock and some English items were on display. Nothing particularly interesting, but the souvenirs in the shop inside were more fancy than on other locations (cookies, chopsticks, etc. with the weathercock drawn onto it). It was the only house where the room design and staircases provided as much space as I am used to from European houses. The ceiling was higher and two people could go upstairs/downstairs simultaneously without touching each other.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p><span class="image">
<img alt="The Kitano-Chou Weathercock House with a trumpet player sculpture in front" src="kitano-weathercock-house.jpg" width="400">
</img></span></p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>Finally I went to the Moegi House. Outside it looked very nice, but taking a peek inside through the window, it seemed boring inside. I did not care to go in.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>In conclusion, I traversed Kitano-Chou from east to west (just to clarify: but the houses are not in a line). The houses are not very interesting for Europeans, but I guess I got a clearer picture how Japanese people image European style. 500 Yen per house would be way too much to me, but for free it was a decent experience. By the way, some streets are very steep. Take care, if you go there with elderly people. In the following, I wanted to find an entrance to a path leading to the Venus bridge.</p></div>
</div>
Kitano-Chou, Part 12017-01-03T23:59:00+09:002017-01-03T23:59:00+09:00Lukastag:japan.lukas-prokop.at,2017-01-03:blog/kitano-chou-1.html<div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph"><p>※ This article discusses the 28th of December 2016.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>Kitano Chou is a district of Kobe City featuring many houses of foreigners. So individual houses represent the housing traditions of a certain culture. European cultures are represented the most, because the Dutch were the first foreigners arriving at Kobe.</p></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_kitano_street">Kitano Street</h3>
<div class="paragraph"><p>First, we made our way to Kitano Street. This street is often pictured, because several houses at this street can be found in one line and their country’s associated flag hangs outside. It also helped us for orientation, because overview maps are given at several intersections. Martina lost interest. She is not interested in sightseeing that much, was hungry and European houses are especially boring. I tried to convince her to check out the British House and the Austrian house. Then I would be willing to go home.</p></div>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_british_house">British House</h3>
<div class="paragraph"><p>The British House features a pub design with many comfortable chairs. Whiskey is represented by a wide range of bottles and the other major theme was Sherlock Holmes. As an adolescent, I was a big fan of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and I recognized the references in the exhibited items. In the garden, they even built a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Underground">tube</a> station, because Great Britain had the first underground railway system in history. An old car was also shown and visitors could dress up in Sherlock Holmes clothing (a brown, checked clothing and cap).</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>Visiting every individual house at Kitano-Chou seems to cost 500 Yen. This is ridiculously expensive in my opinion. Every house is simply an exhibition of some items. They also don’t feel necessarily authentic. The houses are tiny as in Japanese tiny. So I had to take care of my head and the staircases (or alike) are very narrow. I guess I need to consider that most visitors are Japanese, but 500 Yen seems awful lot to me. I think a price like 1500 Yen for all houses would be more fair, but I didn’t check the options in detail. Kobe University gave us a Kobe pass, which allowed us to enter these houses without paying anything. In the following I didn’t care to consider it further.</p></div>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_austrian_house">Austrian House</h3>
<div class="paragraph"><p>The Austrian House is uphill. Briefly we saw the Weathercock House, which in my opinion is the most interesting house at Kitano-Chou. In front of this building, a juggler and a magician were performing. Martina took photos of me with the saxophone player statue.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>The major theme of the Austrian House is <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfgang_Amadeus_Mozart">Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart</a>. Whenever someone asks me for famous people from Austria, I think of Mozart first:</p></div>
<div class="quoteblock">
<div class="content">
<div class="paragraph"><p>Me: Osutoria<br>
Jap: Osutoraria?!<br>
Me: Osutoria… Europe<br>
Jap: ?!<br>
Me: No kangaroos<br>
Jap: Ah, no kangaroos<br>
Me: But Mozart<br>
#AustrianInJapan</br></br></br></br></br></br></br></p></div>
</div>
<div class="attribution">
— https://twitter.com/meisterluk/status/797448839313506305
</div></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>Often I continue to make references to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arnold_Schwarzenegger">Arnold Schwarzenegger</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dietrich_Mateschitz">Dietrich Mateschitz (Red Bull)</a>. All three (for the last one: the brand) are well-known in Japan.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>Back to the house: The nine federal states are represented with nine flags. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empress_Elisabeth_of_Austria">Sissi</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Joseph_I_of_Austria">Franz</a> are shown. Traditional garment is visible in a glass case and upstairs (accessible through a different building), Mozart has a dedicated room. I should mention images show the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vienna_Boys%27_Choir">Vienna Boys' Choir</a> and bedding traditions are also explained. "Servus" is mentioned as "unique Austrian welcome".</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>Afterwards we headed back home to make some food. Overall experience? Kitano-Chou is boring, especially for Martina, and the hike was nice. We need to extend it next time.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>You want to know one funny thing about my Kitano experience?
In my last Kanji class I was sitting for 3 minutes just thinking about which Kanji is associated to houses. The answer is <a href="http://jisho.org/search/%E5%AE%B6%20%23kanji"> 家 </a>, but I could not come up with it. Being in Kitano-Chou, famous for its foreign houses, guess which Kanji I could find all over the place 😉</p></div>
</div>
Nunobiki Waterfalls2017-01-03T23:29:00+09:002017-01-03T23:29:00+09:00Lukastag:japan.lukas-prokop.at,2017-01-03:blog/nunobiki-waterfalls.html<div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph"><p>※ This article discusses the 28th of December 2016.</p></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_plan">Plan</h3>
<div class="paragraph"><p>On 28th of December 2016, we decided to go out and visit some points of interest. Our original goal was <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitano-ch%C5%8D">Kitano-chou</a>. Most international students covered that POI already in October and it is particularly boring for European students. However, I didn’t want to back off and made it our main goal. Afterwards, I had several options available.</p></div>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_shin_kobe">Shin-Kobe</h3>
<div class="paragraph"><p>Well, we began in the later morning and went to Sannomiya. We crossed some main streets of Kobe to reach Shin-Kobe. Shin-Kobe is the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinkansen">Shinkansen</a> train station in Kobe. It is closer to the mountains than Sannomiya. Inside the train station, you cannot see the trains. We just saw that almost all passengers of Shinkansen have a large suitcase meaning they are travelling for a longer time (than one day). Furthermore the train station has many shops offering local foods (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bento">Bentos</a> and waffles). We left the train station afterwards.</p></div>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_takenaka_carpentry_tools_museum">Takenaka Carpentry Tools Museum</h3>
<div class="paragraph"><p>We briefly took a peek on the Takenaka Carpentry Tools Museum. I was not interested on the exhibition, but wanted to see the entrance. It has a nice Japanese style and wanted to show it to Martina. Underneath the bridge nearby, Shinkansen were waiting for passengers and we made some photos. So I had my experience to see a Shinkansen for the first time in real life. I asked Martina whether she wanted to see a waterfall. She said yes.</p></div>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_nunobiki_waterfalls">Nunobiki Waterfalls</h3>
<div class="paragraph"><p>We followed the streets behind the Museum. Students crossed our way as they seem to leave their dormitory during the holidays. We eventually reached the observatory platform ( 展望台 ) to have a nice view over Kobe. We were very motivated for hiking, so I guess Martina would have agreed to turn this into a hiking trip. However, I was not prepared at all for any paths we had to take, my lunch was a single sandwich and I forgot to charge my phone. Bad conditions and I recommended to shift the next hiking trip to another time. By the way, our plan to hike onto Mount Maya was rejected by her the night before.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p><span class="image">
<img alt="Nunobiki Waterfall" src="images/nunobiki-waterfalls.jpg" width="400">
</img></span></p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>We continued in opposite direction of the water stream and saw larger and larger dams. We even found a hydroelectric power station in front of the largest dam and I had the chance to take a photo of the Nunobiki waterfall everybody is associating with it. At the dormitory I found out that many students don’t even know of its existence. In general I think hiking is not so popular. Martina wanted to continue, but I declined because I wanted to also see Kitano Chou. We hiked back. We tried to pet a black cat crossing our way, but most Japanese cats are shier than European ones. Furthermore we saw some more students leaving the dorm.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>It was a really pleasant, brief hiking trip to nature. It has to be continued at some other point in time. Martina got more and more hungry.</p></div>
</div>
Christmas Eve2017-01-03T22:50:00+09:002017-01-03T22:50:00+09:00Lukastag:japan.lukas-prokop.at,2017-01-03:blog/christmas.html<div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph"><p>※ This article discusses the 24th of December 2016.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>In Austria, Christmas Eve (the 24th of December 2016) is the day, when family gathers together, they join in some activity together and finally exchange and open gifts. Our family met during the day, ate in the afternoon/evening and discussed issues. At night, we went upstairs to the christmas tree and opened the gifts found under the tree. Singing or playing instrument might be part of the ceremony in front of the christmas tree. In the morning or the days afterwards, grandparents are visited and cookies are an integral part in order to have some snacks while chatting. Though most of our family members are without religious denomination, we celebrate the same tradition most Austrian families do.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>The first thing, I learned in Japan, is that in the international Christian community mostly opens Christmas presents on 25th. So one Christian was confused when I offered him to study verbs with me on 25th.</p></div>
<div class="quoteblock">
<div class="content">
<div class="paragraph"><p>In most parts of Austria, Germany, Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic and Switzerland, presents are traditionally exchanged on the evening of 24 December. Children are commonly told that presents were brought either by the Christkind (German for Christ child), or by the Weihnachtsmann. Both leave the gifts, but are in most families not seen doing so. In Germany, the gifts are also brought on 6 December by "the Nikolaus" with his helper Knecht Ruprecht.</p></div>
</div>
<div class="attribution">
— https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_Eve
</div></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>We did not have any special plans for Christmas. On the one hand, we attended the <a href="kokui-christmas-party.html">christmas party at Kokui residence</a> and on the other hand, being in Japan as an atheist means I am more interested in understanding Shinto culture than Austrian traditions. Martina talked to Shoko about our missing plans and Shoko spontaneously asked us on Tuesday before to come to the restaurant, she is working part-time at.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>The restaurant is located close to Rokko-michi station. So in some way close to university, but much closer to the sea. The name is 翔龍 (しょうりゅう, shoryuu) and focuses on Chinese dishes. Shoko was serving us in German and her boss was cooking for us. I got some spicy, thick soup with thin noodles. Martina got vegetables on top of a pile of thin noodles. We were told both dishes are Chinese and also our dessert, almond jelly in a honey sauce, follows Chinese traditions.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>Afterwards we got home again. The gallery shows some photos of a bakery on our way home. But we didn’t buy anything. Dewin played Shogi with me at the residence. So for me, it was the first time of my life. By the way, American <a href="https://www.hersheys.com/reeses/en_us/home.html">Reese’s</a> (brand name for peanut butter cups) are very good.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>It was a nice evening and if the servant speaks German or English, it is so much easier to find a vegetable dish. My dish was very saturating. Nice!</p></div>
</div>
</div>
Luminarie2016-12-14T15:30:00+09:002016-12-14T15:30:00+09:00Lukastag:japan.lukas-prokop.at,2016-12-14:blog/luminarie.html<div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph"><p>※ Luminarie is an annual event we visited on 9th of December 2016.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>On Friday, Martina and I met in the evening to visit Luminarie. This light festival commemorates the Great Hanshin earthquake. It is visually appealing and furthermore festival food (in booths) is provided. This was our event day this week, because on Sunday I was busy writing my bachelor thesis.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kobe_Luminarie">Kobe Luminarie</a> is light festival taking place every year since the Great Hanshin earthquake 1995. Written in Katakana, the event is promoted as 神戸 ルミナリエ. It took place between 2nd and 11th of December 2016 in Kobe City. The <a href="https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%A5%9E%E6%88%B8%E3%83%AB%E3%83%9F%E3%83%8A%E3%83%AA%E3%82%A8">Japanese Wikipedia</a> gives some nice photo impressions of the past years. However, I want to show you my own photos:</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p><span class="image">
<img alt="Illuminated construction as main attraction at Kobe Luminarie in Kobe City" src="images/luminarie-1.jpg" width="350">
</img></span>
<span class="image">
<img alt="Illuminated <em>150 years Kobe Port</em> sign" src="images/luminarie-2.jpg" width="350">
</img></span></p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>The route of Luminarie is <a href="http://www.kobe-luminarie.jp/cont-10.htm">one-way</a> and you need to enter to the west of Sannomiya (one station with Hankyu Line). If you enter, you walk slowly with a large crowd of people. As far as you are not supposed to stop, it is very difficult to take pictures. I did my best anyways. The main attraction is shown above. It has the largest number of lights and the crowd congests at this point, because everybody keep taking photos. After the main attraction, you can choose between several small places. At each of these places, you can get festival food such as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takoyaki">Takoyaki</a>, cotton candy or fruits covered in a layer of sugar. As a vegetarian, I was stuck with pommes and waffles. Some of the food is displayed at <a href="http://www.luminarie-fountain.jp/">luminarie-fountain.jp</a>. More information is available at <a href="http://www.kobe-luminarie.jp/">the official homepage</a> and its <a href="https://twitter.com/FeelKOBE_Lumi">twitter channel</a>.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p><span class="image">
<img alt="Martina in front of the light installation" src="images/luminarie-3.jpg" width="350">
</img></span></p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>In the end, it was a nice event. Many people take a visit of the 7th floor at the City Hall afterwards, but a friend of ours was with us and already very tired. I even think such an event would be beneficial for a city in Austria. The light installation itself is even provided by an <a href="http://marianolight.it/">Italian company</a>.</p></div>
</div>
</div>
Himeji Castle2016-12-07T14:27:00+09:002016-12-07T14:27:00+09:00Lukastag:japan.lukas-prokop.at,2016-12-07:blog/himeji.html<div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph"><p>※ This article discusses Sunday, 4th of December 2016.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>On Saturday we have been on an international student event. We introduced our dish to one tutor and he organized all ingredients for the event to come. At the event we assigned one role to every person; a "sensei" (teacher) or "gakusei" (student, participant). Sensei teach how to cook a dish to their gakusei. Nobody told me about the sensei-gakusei concept and I showed up with a large bag with cooking equipment to teach them how to cook an Austrian dish; a "<a href="http://lukas-prokop.at/recipes/kaiserschmarrn.pdf">Kaiserschmarrn</a>". This was fun (though Japanese people hesitate to speak English making it difficult) and I had the opportunity to eat foreign dishes (Korean, German, Romania, USA).</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>On Sunday we went on a trip for event day despite the event the previous day.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>Himeji Castle is one of the finest pieces of Japanese Castle landscape. It was the first Japanese site declared as UNESCO World Heritage Site. Wikipedia introduces it as follows:</p></div>
<div class="quoteblock">
<div class="content">
<div class="paragraph"><p>Himeji Castle ( 姫路城 Himeji-jō) is a hilltop Japanese castle complex located in Himeji, in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. The castle is regarded as the finest surviving example of prototypical Japanese castle architecture, comprising a network of 83 buildings with advanced defensive systems from the feudal period. The castle is frequently known as Hakuro-jō or Shirasagi-jō ("White Egret Castle" or "White Heron Castle") because of its brilliant white exterior and supposed resemblance to a bird taking flight.</p></div>
</div>
<div class="attribution">
— Wikipedia's Himeji Castle article
</div></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>It was built in 1333 and extended several times. Being an ancient castle still standing upright means that it also proved earthquake resistance. Wikipedia remarks,</p></div>
<div class="quoteblock">
<div class="content">
<div class="paragraph"><p>In January 1995, the city of Himeji was substantially damaged by the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Hanshin_earthquake">Great Hanshin earthquake</a>, but Himeji Castle again survived virtually undamaged, demonstrating remarkable earthquake resistance. Even the bottle of sake placed on the altar at the top floor of the keep remained in place.</p></div>
</div>
<div class="attribution">
— Wikipedia's Himeji Castle article section History
</div></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>We went there on a Sunday. We were aware that on this day rain was forecast. We arrived in Himeji after a 970 Yen trip with JR (Japanese Railway) from Sannomiya (Kobe). Himeji Castle is close to its train station (roughly 1.3 km). The street leading from the train station to the Castle is very broad. It was interesting to see the shop on both sides of the street. Furthermore momiji viewing is still a thing and I could take a wonderful photo of some autumn leaves (not sure which tree):</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p><span class="image">
<img alt="Yellow tree leaves in Himeji" src="images/momiji.jpg" width="300">
</img></span></p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>We saw some Freestyle BMX bikers doing some tricks and watched them as part of a large audience. In between we went to the toilet and checked out the booths nearby. They offered small snacks and Martina bought French fries. We went back watching the bikers. Sadly one biker lost control of his bike and the bike rushed into the audience on its own. A small child got hit, but as far as we can tell no ambulance was required. Besides that incident it was an entertaining event. We continued to go to the Himeji Castle.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>We entered the site and bought combined tickets for Himeji Castle and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koko-en_Garden">Koko-en Garden</a> (1040 Yen). Koko-en Garden is located outside the moat surrounding the Castle. We decided to visit it later. First we visited the Long Connecting Corridor (Hyakken Rouka) and were introduced to the history of Himeji Castle. We saw an ancient rice "cooker" and previous states of the site. It is also interesting that several point provide Augmented Reality features. First you need to download <a href="http://www.himejicastle.jp/sp/en/ar.html">an app</a>. Then you start the app and select the self-guided tour menu item. In front of designated AR points, the camera will recognize the stand and switch to a different view. Typically it shows a video, but inside the Pagoda, it also shows the contours of the pillars supporting the pagoda. It helps you to visualize the supporting pillars, but you can screw up the visualization easily by moving too fast. This AR experience was a nice feature of the site.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>Continuing through all the different gates featuring tiles with feudal family crests on top (visible in <a href="http://inouetakahilog.blog.fc2.com/blog-entry-203.html">a blogpost by inouetakahilog</a>), we eventually reached the Main Keep (pagoda). It has six floors and a basement. Going up the stairs is difficult, because the steps are very steep, you are accompanied by a large crowd of people and you need to take care of your head. I found the weapon racks interesting. They are used for guns and swords. Furthermore some rooms were specifically designed for ambush in case somebody tries to take over the castle (which never happened). We finished our visit of the Main Keep and went outside again. Now it has begun to rain. We lost motivation to spend much more time there. We watched workers renewing parts of the Castle and checked out the Sangoku-bori Moat. We didn’t visit the gates and towers in the East of the site. We left the site and also skipped Koko-en Garden. Martina wanted to continue her studies and the view was foggy anyways.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>We spent 4 hours in Himeji in total and 2 hours inside the Castle site. I think the design of the Castle is really remarkable, but because of the rain it feels like we missed some part. We were wondering whether we will return again.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p><span class="image">
<img alt="Lukas in foreground with an umbrella and Himeji Castle in the background" src="images/himeji.jpg" width="450">
</img></span></p></div>
</div>
</div>
I’m Japanese!2016-11-22T23:30:00+09:002016-11-22T23:30:00+09:00Martinatag:japan.lukas-prokop.at,2016-11-22:blog/im-japanese.html<div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph"><p>※ This happened on Monday, the 21st of November 2016.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>A few days ago my tutor accompanied Lukas and me to the post office. I had to bring a letter there. Together we went from University to Sannomiya. In Sannomiya we had to find the post office which is located in a shopping mall. The easy part was to find the shopping mall and the corresponding floor. But my tutor was not used to this place and Lukas and me have never been there before either.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>So my tutor asked a passerby where the post office is. The woman thought for a moment and then pointed in a direction while replying "Straight… まっすぐ" (the latter meaning "straight ahead" in Japanese). Then she continued her description in Japanese. Of course, my tutor understood her without problem. After she was gone he said to us "Why? I’m Japanese!". So for every Japanese student out there who is frustrated that Japanese people try to explain things in English to them, this happens to Japanese citizens as well. (At least when they are accompanied by foreigners.) 😉</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>The next time my tutor had to ask for the direction, he asked us to wait in few meters of distance. Obviously, because it was in the middle of the street. But Lukas asked him "… to make sure they speak Japanese to you?" and we shared a good laugh.</p></div>
</div>
</div>
Rokko meets Art 20162016-11-21T11:50:00+09:002016-11-21T11:50:00+09:00Lukastag:japan.lukas-prokop.at,2016-11-21:blog/rokko-meets-art.html<div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph"><p>※ This article discusses Sunday, 20th of November 2016.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>So we shifted <a href="this-mid-nov-week.html">event day from Saturday to Sunday</a>. This week on Sunday we visited <a href="https://www.rokkosan.com/art2016/la/">Rokko meets Art 2016</a>. For one reason, we got free tickets from our Faculty and for the other reason November is <a href="https://www.insidejapantours.com/blog/2015/09/08/our-top-10-places-to-see-autumn-leaves-in-japan/">momiji season</a> (autumn colors watching season). So visiting Nara, Kyoto or Mount Rokko is generally recommended. The exhibition takes place between 14th of September and 23rd of November. So we picked the last weekend of this exhibition.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>As described on the homepage, "Rokko Meets Art 2016" is an exhibition of modern art held on the summit of Mount Rokko located in the port city of Kobe. It is held annualy. The first event seems to go back to <a href="https://www.rokkosan.com/art2010/">2010</a>. We started at 10:00. We first went to Rokko Station and asked about the Rokkosan Tourist Pass. It costs 1000 Yen for foreigners with a short-stay visa and 1770 Yen for others (adults). However, the homepage only listed sale places in Osaka. We went to the train station staff and asked for the ticket. They told us we cannot buy it here, but they can offer another ticket. 1950 Yen with the same public transport included. As far as we don’t have a short-stay visa, the proposed price was 180 Yen higher. We decided to take the ticket.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>First we took the Kobe City Bus to go Rokko Cable Shita station (the lower Cable Car station). Actually this bus is used frequently by Kobe university students because it passes their campus. However, we never took the bus and always went by foot. I have to admit we are lucky to be mostly assigned to campusses which are not too far up the hill. Afterwards we took the Cable Car. It is very comparable to a Cable Car, for example, at the Uhrturm in Graz (Austria). At the top I recognized the first art exhibition station. It consisted of two stands with a square ground connected at the top and flags were sticking on the object’s surface. Rokko Sanjo Bus was responsible to bring us to all sites of the exhibition.</p></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_site_1_rokko_international_musical_box_museum">Site 1: Rokko International Musical Box Museum</h3>
<div class="paragraph"><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musical_box">Musical boxes</a> are small instruments with a metal comb which produce sounds automatically. The Museum opened in 1992 and collected lots of musical boxes in this time. Besides historical remarks, it sells many pocket-sized musical boxes as gifts and offers a musical box performance every 30 minutes. One performance takes a quarter of an hour is accompanied visually by sand drawing as done by <a href="https://vimeo.com/13230122">Kseniya Simonova</a>. To the best of our knowledge, they told a story which is roughly based on Lewis Carroll’s <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice%27s_Adventures_in_Wonderland">Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland</a>.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>We also got a map for the sites we can visit together with a stamp rally pass. So we started to have fun collecting stamps.</p></div>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_site_2_rokko_alpine_botanical_garden">Site 2: Rokko Alpine Botanical Garden</h3>
<div class="paragraph"><p>Because the Botanical Garden is so close to the Museum, we didn’t use the bus. The Botanical Garden features 1500 varieties of polar and northern plants. In autumn, they don’t flourish and are difficult to spot. But we switched to discussing the art objects and collecting stamps. This Garden might be more interesting in spring.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>We skipped "Rokkosan Country House" as a site due to time constraints.</p></div>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_site_3_rokko_garden_terrace">Site 3: Rokko Garden Terrace</h3>
<div class="paragraph"><p>This site is used to enjoy the beautiful view at (almost) the summit of Mount Rokko and eat something. At late lunch time, we sat down and got some ramen and potatoes with butter in plastic dish. This cheap meal warmed us up and compared to the other food, it was very cheap. We finished the meal with French Fries and ice cream (with Green Tea topping).</p></div>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_site_4_rokko_shidare_obversatory">Site 4: Rokko Shidare Obversatory</h3>
<div class="paragraph"><p>The Shidare Obversatory is an obversatory famous for its shape. We checked it out and looked down the hill as far as possible. Due to the fog, you could not see far. After this station at ~17:00, it started to get dark.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>We took the Kobe City bus to go to university. We wanted to attend the theather performance "Potato salad" at university, but we were half an hour too late. We decided to head back home instead. From Rokko Station we took the train as usual back home. Conclusion: Nice autumn, arts exhibition was rather boring especially due to the bad weather and the view over Kobe and Osaka was interesting even though it was foggy.</p></div>
</div>
Buying a mobile phone2016-11-18T16:19:00+09:002016-11-18T16:19:00+09:00Lukastag:japan.lukas-prokop.at,2016-11-18:blog/buying-a-mobile-phone.html<div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph"><p>※ This article discusses an event on the 14th of November 2016.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>On Monday, we met Martina’s tutor. We asked him to help us with the National Pension System. We received a bill via email for the first month living in Kobe. We are required to pay 16000 Yen into the Pension system as regular resident in Japan. As student this makes up 20% of our 80000 Yen scholarship. Not impossible, but pretty high.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>If you contribute to the system, this might become advantageous in the future, if you consider living in Japan in your years of retirement. The government is <a href="http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2015/12/02/how-tos/life-work-japan-tackling-readers-pension-posers/#.WC6txLW1nBQ">currently reducing the minimum eligibility period from 25 years to 10 years</a>. So the situation improved for gaijin (jap. foreigners) a lot recently. Considering 25 years instead of 10 years, the uncertainty related to living in Japan eventually and the amount of the scholarship, we decided not to pay into the National Pension system.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>We went to the municipal office to declare our status as student (see <a href="http://www.nenkin.go.jp/international/english/nationalpension/nationalpension.html">Special Payment System for Students</a>). Our dormitory manager told us that students residing up to 6 months ignore the bills and the government will recognize eventually the intent. But students, like us, residing a year should declare their status explicitly. We went to the office and it took less than 2 minutes. The staff member took note of our residence card and passport and we should not receive bills until April. Then we shall go the office again to declare our status for the second half of the year.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>So the whole procedure was a bit tedious, but acceptable. Martina and I wanted to go mobile phone shopping. Martina initially had an electronics shop to the south of Sannomiya in mind. But I could not find its branch online. Discussing this issue our tutor helped us out and guided us to an electronics shop commonly used by international students.</p></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_device_selection">Device selection</h3>
<div class="paragraph"><p>At the shop, the staff only spoke Japanese. Luckily enough our tutor still helped us out. We asked for smart phones and they offered plans for the iPhone S6. I explicitly mentioned that I will only accept Android phones and Martina joined this request. The selection of devices was pretty small:</p></div>
<div class="ulist"><ul>
<li>
<p>
Sony Xperia X
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
Sony Xperia SX
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
Samsung Galaxy 6
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
DIGNO C
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
Some Aquos smart phone (I don’t remember the model)
</p>
</li>
</ul></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>We ruled DIGNO C out, because it was locked and they told us we cannot use it in Europe. They showed us the data about the devices and we were asked to decide. In the meanwhile another staff member showed up familiar with English language. It was nice that they tried to make communication with us easier, but she could not really contribute to our discussion and Martina’s tutor retained our most valuable translator. The devices had a constant price of 93096 Yen (~800 EUR) and we had to decide. I was unhappy about spending 800 EUR on a device I cannot read about in detail (the technical details were in Japanese and I didn’t want to ask to translate every detail). Furthermore I assume using the phone in Europe might also yield further problems (exchange of the SIM card, etc). I wanted to back off and asked Martina to decide upon a smart phone for her. She has a Sony Xperia already and the Sony Xperia SX seemed most appealing to her. But she was also uncertain. We claimed the Sony Xperia SX was interesting for us and asked for possible plans for our 1 year stay in Japan.</p></div>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_mobile_phone_plans">Mobile phone plans</h3>
<div class="paragraph"><p>They immediately told us the price of 3240 Yen per month (~28 EUR). We can make free calls in Japan and have 2 GB of mobile data available. We totally forgot to ask about text messages. I asked about 1 GB and other plans, but it seemed to me these are fixed packages and there is little variety. 93096 + 3240 * 11 makes 128736 Yen. So I would spend roughly EUR for communication. It sounded like a plan, but because I am not sure about the device, I didn’t want to decide now. We told Martina’s tutor, we understand the conditions and the price, but the monthly costs are high compared to Japan. So I don’t want to make an immediate decision. He spoke to the staff members (I am not sure how he expressed this feeling of mine) and they considered alternatives.</p></div>
</div>
<div class="sect2">
<h3 id="_the_cheap_alternative">The cheap alternative</h3>
<div class="paragraph"><p>They showed us an alternative smart phone; <a href="https://www.freetel.jp/product/smartphone/rei/">FREETEL Samurai Rei</a>. They told us it is much cheaper than the Aquos phone, because it was manufactured in Japan. They told us if we choose this smart phone they can provide a plan costing 39000 + 1980 * 11 = 60780 Yen with the same conditions. This seemed a more reasonable price for our requirements. They rushed to some booth again and suddenly they told us that they can offer this smart phone for 119 Yen (1 EUR) and I have to pay 1980 Yen monthly. However, to terminate the contract after 11 months, we have to pay a cancellation fee of 15000 Yen. Martina agreed, but I hesitated. They showed me that this is a special offer from 1st to 14th of November 2016. So by tomorrow I would have to pay ~22700 Yen instead of 119 Yen. This way the price became more trustworthy and I agreed as well. So the entire plan included:</p></div>
<div class="ulist"><ul>
<li>
<p>
Paying 119 Yen now [constant]
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
Paying 4560 Yen administrative free, I did not learn about that until they asked for our credit card [constant]]
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
Paying 15000 Yen cancellation fee [constant]
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
Paying 3200 Yen for a mobile phone case voluntarily reduced by a voucher of 2500 Yen for signing the contract [constant]
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
Paying 1980 Yen monthly [variable] for
</p>
<div class="ulist"><ul>
<li>
<p>
300 free calls in Japan up to 10 minutes per month
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
2 GB of mobile data per month
</p>
</li>
</ul></div>
</li>
</ul></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>This makes approximate costs of about 42159 Yen (~359 EUR) in the 11 months to come. The next problem was that I don’t have a credit card right now in Japan. Besides our residence card and passport, this was a requirement for registration. Again our tutor helped us out. He offered his credit card and next week it is no problem to switch to payment by cash card and the credit card will be deregistered.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>So in conclusion, on Monday with the very helpful support of Martina’s tutor, we got FREETEL Samurai Reis for both of us, signed a contract with Y!mobile and got a welcome package:</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p><span class="image">
<img alt="FREETEL Samurai Rei" src="images/phone-samurai_rei.jpg" width="300">
</img></span>
<span class="image">
<img alt="Welcome package including a blanket, a mascot, a bag and a cup" src="images/phone-welcome_package.jpg" width="400">
</img></span></p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>We invited Martina’s tutor for dinner. This way we had another opportunity to ask a Japanese about Japanese customs. Martina’s tutor is a really chilly guy. One week later we had to return to the shop again. As far as we found out, we changed our payments from credit card to cash card (= ATM card) and switched from plan M (medium-prized) to plan S (small-prized). Those things were not possible at our first registration visit.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>BTW, the electronics store was a branch of LABI close to Sannomiya and our mobile phone provider is "<a href="http://www.ymobile.jp/index.html">Y!mobile</a>", a part of SoftBank (<a href="https://www.nttdocomo.co.jp/">NTT docomo</a> and <a href="http://www.au.kddi.com/">au</a> are alternatives).</p></div>
</div>
Rokkosai2016-11-14T11:40:00+09:002016-11-14T11:40:00+09:00Lukastag:japan.lukas-prokop.at,2016-11-14:blog/rokkosai.html<div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph"><p>※ This article discusses the 12th of November 2016.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p><a href="http://home.kobe-u.com/rokkosai/about.html">Rokkosai</a> ( 六甲祭 ) is the university’s Festival. The university’s clubs are contributing majorily to this and define the events. At the Festival 2016, you where able to do the following:</p></div>
<div class="ulist"><ul>
<li>
<p>
Eat delicious traditional or non-traditional Japanese food
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
Watch performances by juggling or jump rope clubs
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
Listen to bands and singers
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
Take photos with fun motives
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
Discover some guests dressed in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosplay">cosplay</a> costumes
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
Play <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahjong">Mahjong</a>
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
Indoor exhibitions on art and history
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
A small Flea market
</p>
</li>
</ul></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p><span class="image">
<img alt="Eating ice in banner at Rokkosai" src="images/rokkosai-1.jpg" width="400">
</img></span></p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>We went there shortly after 12:00 and left around 17:00. I liked it very much that students participate heavily to make it run. As far as the food is concerned, you can get snacks for 100 ¥ or 200 ¥. With this price it is easy to try out many different things. We ate fried potato, rice balls, waffles, some ice <strong>inside</strong> banner and also donut balls. The food was incredibly delicious. Often Martina bought one and took a first bite, but afterwards I jumped in and bought another one. It was a challenge to find my Aikido colleagues among all the people at the booths (with some people telling us the wrong direction). We also looked for students from our Academic Writing class who gave us a voucher for their booth. The food was very delicious and the performance levels varied (which is of course okay for students with mixed experiences).</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>On youtube, you can find videos of previous Rokko festivals:</p></div>
<div class="ulist"><ul>
<li>
<p>
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0N0v5o5Pq-A"> 神戸大学 六甲祭 2015 ダブルダッチ 全体 デモ </a>
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QA01pQGdLSA"> 神大六甲祭 2014( 神戸大学六甲台 キャンパス)</a>
</p>
</li>
</ul></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>It was a pleasant day! Thanks a lot, Kobe University & students! I want to see something similar in Austria!</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p><span class="image">
<img alt="Martina and I in front of the Economics building" src="images/rokkosai-2.jpg" width="400">
</img></span>
<span class="image">
<img alt="Martina and I in front of a booth" src="images/rokkosai-3.jpg" width="400">
</img></span></p></div>
</div>
</div>
Hiking to Mount Rokko2016-11-09T13:40:00+09:002016-11-09T13:40:00+09:00Lukastag:japan.lukas-prokop.at,2016-11-09:blog/mount-rokko.html<div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph"><p>※ This article discusses Thursday, the 3rd of November 2016.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>On Thursday, we are usually busy at university. However, this Thursday Japan celebrated the Day of Culture (Bunka no hi, 文化 の 日 ). So we had a day off. Because on Saturday, we <em>only</em> have a workshop in Calligraphy, we wanted to add something else to this week. Martina and I agreed to hike on Mount Rokko ( 六甲山散歩 ). So we start at sea level and will hopefully reach the summit 930 meters above the sea level. We left the Residence at 09:00 in the morning.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>When hiking on a mountain, you should always carry some basic belongings with you. This includes:</p></div>
<div class="dlist"><dl>
<dt class="hdlist1">
Water
</dt>
<dd>
<p>
I took 2 liters with me. You can also buy it at a Konbini close to Ashiyagawa Station.
</p>
</dd>
<dt class="hdlist1">
Lunch/snacks
</dt>
<dd>
<p>
I took some bread for lunch with me.
</p>
</dd>
<dt class="hdlist1">
Clothing
</dt>
<dd>
<p>
Be sure to be prepared for rain or strong winds. I was prepared with 4 layers of clothes.
</p>
</dd>
<dt class="hdlist1">
Sun blocker
</dt>
<dd>
<p>
If the sun is very strong on your hiking day, a sun blocker can be beneficial especially at the beginning before you enter the woods. It was not necessary for me.
</p>
</dd>
<dt class="hdlist1">
Tissues
</dt>
<dd>
<p>
If your nose keeps running.
</p>
</dd>
<dt class="hdlist1">
Money
</dt>
<dd>
<p>
If you want to drink some tea at the teahouse or possibly you need it for the toilet (I didn’t need it and cannot tell). Close to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arima_Onsen">Arimaonsen</a>, many delicious snacks are available in booths. So be prepared if you are open to spend some money.
</p>
</dd>
<dt class="hdlist1">
Towel
</dt>
<dd>
<p>
After hiking, you will enjoy to put your feet into the public bath of Arimaonsen. You don’t need a ticket and it is very close to the street. So take a towel with you.
</p>
</dd>
<dt class="hdlist1">
Camera
</dt>
<dd>
<p>
You will experience some nice views over Osaka and Kobe.
</p>
</dd>
<dt class="hdlist1">
Gloves
</dt>
<dd>
<p>
If you don’t feel very safe when stepping along, you will often use the rocks to gain balance. Japanese people therefore (and because of the sun) prefer to wear gloves. I didn’t.
</p>
</dd>
</dl></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>We took Hankyu Line to Ashiyagawa Station. Coming from Kobe, this is 3 stations more than Rokko; the train station we use for university. In general it is a good idea to hike on a public holiday, because Japanese people love hiking (I think even more than we Austrians). As such you are not left alone and can already spot some hikers in the train. They can (and will) always help you if you don’t know the direction. At about 10:00 we left the train station.</p></div>
<div class="olist arabic"><ol class="arabic">
<li>
<p>
Ashiyagawa is not really a river, but rather a stream. As pointed out in other travel guides, stay on the left side of the river as long as possible. First you will hike through a neighborhood and follow a road. Then the road goes into the woods. Signs warn you about wild boars. So just pay attention not to disturb wild life.
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
Consider to use the last available public toilet ( 公衆便所 ). Afterwards you will need very elementary climbing skills at some points.
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
First you should see Rock Garden. Accidently we picked the wrong path and we cannot even tell where we should have gone. Sorry, no further information.
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
The next place you should reach is "Kaza fuki iwa" ( 風吹岩 ). You can have a beautiful view over Osaka. The coast of Kobe is not mostly not visible due to bushes and hills in the front.
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
You will enter the woods. So you won’t need the gloves any more. Enjoy the smell of the woods.
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
You should reach the Honjo Bridge ( 本庄橋 ) next. As far as I can tell the Honjo Bridge should be large dam you encounter. If not, it is the tiny bridge before you reach the dam.
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
Finally "nana magari" is one of the steepest section. Yes, it is the steepest, but because there are only few obstacles, I didn’t have difficulties to go up in any way. The beginning with all its rocks was more uncomfortable.
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
Rokko Mountain summit ikken-chaya ( 六甲山頂一軒茶屋 ) is a tea house very close to the summit. A road from the Kita ward leads here.
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
After a few hundred meters, you can take a picture of the summit pole and enjoy the view.
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
Going down on the other side of the mountain, you will go towards Arimacho; a village hosting Arimaonsen. The path is rather uninteresting. No beautiful view, no interesting stops and cold because in our case the mountain covered the sun.
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
At Arimacho, it is very difficult to find Arimaonsen and the train station. Prepare with a map or follow/ask your Japanese colleagues. Enjoy the delicious snacks and small shops in Arimacho.
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
Enjoy a free footbath at Arimaonsen. You might need to wait a little to get a place.
</p>
</li>
</ol></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p><span class="image">
<img alt="Lukas shown next to summit pole" src="images/rokko-luk.jpg" width="200">
</img></span>
<span class="image">
<img alt="Martina shown next to summit pole" src="images/rokko-martina.jpg" width="200">
</img></span></p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>After about 1.5 hours, we reached Kaza fukii wa. Another 1.5 hours later, we reached Honjo Bridge. It took us 1 final hour to reach the summit. In conclusion, we hiked for 4 hours up the hill and 1 hour 20 minutes down the hill. It think we were very slow up the hill, but downwards we reached average speed. So prepare for a journey of more than 4 hours.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>At Arimacho we actually met our English teacher. We was showing his uncle (he mentioned in class) Arimaonsen. The uncle spoke a bit of German to us.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>Hiking for the first time. That was fun!</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p><span class="image">
<img alt="Osaka appears above the buches" src="images/rokko-hiking.jpg" width="200">
</img></span></p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>Credits: inspired by <a href="http://hyogo-tourism-en.blogspot.jp/2011/08/outdoor-activitieshiking-in-mt-rokko.html">hyogo-tourism-en.blogspot.jp</a>.</p></div>
</div>
</div>
Tottori earthquake2016-10-30T13:07:00+09:002016-10-30T13:07:00+09:00Lukastag:japan.lukas-prokop.at,2016-10-30:blog/tottori-earthquake.html<div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph"><p>※ This article discusses a happening on 21st of October 2016.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>On Friday, 21st of October, I have been at Kanji class after lunch time. Kanji is the third writing system of Japanese which is based on Chinese characters and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Han_unification">mostly shares them</a> with Chinese script. Chinese students have an advantage when learning them, because they don’t need to study the shape and stroke order. However, the pronounciation and especially meaning is <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanji#Native_reading_.28Kun.27yomi.29">mostly different</a>. Kanji class is always an important event of the week, because I study Kanji regularly to be prepared for the weekly test. In Japanese class, we don’t get tested on vocabulary on a regular basis. We were discussing 15 Kanji, which includes</p></div>
<div class="ulist"><ul>
<li>
<p>
the stroke order
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
relation to other Kanjis
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
On’yomi and Kun’yomi readings
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
meaning when combined with other Kanji
</p>
</li>
</ul></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>Kanji are IMHO, by far, the most difficult topic about learning Japanese.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>When our sensei was explaining some basic Kanji to use, suddenly all Japanese phones went off. Even though most students are exchange students using their mobile from their home country, some of them purchased them from previous students, purchased them in Japan in the first week or the phone is from East Asia. I think generally East Asian phones support this alarm warning system. If I remember correctly, the sound is similar to the one shown <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPDvAYF8Q-I">in this video</a>. It was very loud and first I thought it was coming from the loudspeaker.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>When I came to Japan, I thought the Richter scale is still the measure for earthquake energy. Apparently, scientists use the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moment_magnitude_scale">Moment magnitude scale</a> today. An earthquake of magnitude 3 set in less than 10 seconds afterwards. The earth was shaking and we all watched outside as the trees were shaken and we could observe how the alignment of the university building changed relative to the trees outside. I estimate it lasted about 10-15 seconds. We all got educated on how to respond to an earthquake at the <a href="camera-lost">International Students Orientation</a>. However, in our room no-one hid under the desk as proposed by common earthquake guidelines. In Martina’s class they did. Someone also phoned a student located at the residence at that time. She described the building shook really strong, but the building is very stable. The residence, unlike the university, was built after <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Hanshin_earthquake">1995</a> and is therefore especially robust. You can see multiple structure additionally supporting the building making it very earthquake-safe. But the residence at Minatojima is at sea level whereas the university is located ~150 meters above sea level (hence tremors will be damped more).</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>As it turns out, the earthquake’s epicenter was in Tottori Prefecture. Several building got destroyed, but no-one got seriously hurt. 150000 households had no electricity. Via media, we got asked to watch our for further earth quakes in the upcoming week. Whereas earthquakes got registered in Tottori during the next 3 days, no earthquake was registered at Kobe. In general, you can look up <a href="20161030-01-tottori-earthquake.adoc">earthquakes at JMA, the Japan Meteorological Agency</a>.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>So in conclusion, it is exciting because of the alarm and you can clearly see how the earth is shaking. On the other hand, we survived and it is just a unexpected event during the day.</p></div>
</div>
</div>
Camera lost2016-10-17T10:00:00+09:002016-10-17T10:00:00+09:00Lukastag:japan.lukas-prokop.at,2016-10-17:blog/camera-lost.html<div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph"><p>※ This article discusses the 11th of October 2016 and the following days.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>The 11th of October 2016 was a Tuesday. As every Tuesday I have my presentation. But I lost my voice on the 9th of October. So I wrote my professor an email stating that I can’t hold a presentation and will only raise some questions, I have about the Machine Learning book.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>In the morning, I had the orientation for international students. It was postponed from the Wednesday before to this date because of the Typhoon. And because Monday was a public holiday (Sports Day), it was more difficult to get up after the long weekend.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>The orientation helped us with basic information about living in Kobe, though most of this information was already given at the Residence’s orientation. Some other information just came too late and deadlines already passed. Anyways, the most useful information was insurance-related. We have a very basic, compulsory health insurance, but for riding a bike or driving a car, an insurance covering more cases is recommended. I unexpectedly met my tutor after the session and chatted a little. Martina’s tutor was with us the whole time.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>In the second session, I joined "Speech communication" for the first time. It was astonishing to me, how insecure I can be. Between sessions there are 20 minutes of break to go to the other campus. Then it takes about 10 minutes to find out where the office of the building is. You need to ask for the room number and hopefully you can find the room soon. Therefore I arrived late for class and there were two doors. One had a red arrow pointing to the right handside door. I couldn’t read the Kanji explaining the arrow. I heard the lecturer talking and determined that it should be my Speech Communication lecture. So I wanted to enter using the left handside door because it is in the rear of the classroom and therefore would attract less attention. But there was the red arrow. So I should enter in the front; basically running into the lecturer. I stood there for approximately 5 minutes just to think about how to proceed and whether I really want to do it. Of course, I went through the righthand side door eventually.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>Speech Communication seems to be a nice challengine course for me. We discuss how pronounciation works anatomically (acoustics & phonetics) and discuss differences between languages (Japanese, English, Korean, etc). If I study hard enough, I should be able to know the International Phonetic Alphabet by the end of the term. I got curious how all students already had access to the documents. I asked the lecturer and she told me to access BEEF. Apparently the WiFi password will be sent together with credentials for BEEF; a moodle system of Kobe University. So I had to wait to get access to documents including the homework of the last week. I should receive the credentials during the week and as it turns out, this is going to happen on Wednesday.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>After Speech Communication, I met with Martina in front of the cafeteria. She already had lunch, but I didn’t. So I went into the shop and grabbed some cheese cookies and joined her sitting on the benches. Martina took care of my stuff in the meanwhile. After chatting and eating a little we split up again and I went to the math department. In the students' study room, I prepared for my bachelor thesis seminar later on. I left my stuff unattended while going to the toilet. I went to the board at 15:10 as usual and asked my professor a few questions related to the book. I sat down to watch my tutor presenting in Japanese. It is really difficult to derive anything just by context, but it is a nice learning experience to hear a few Japanese words and try to remember what the vocabulary means.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>Afterwards, we met with Martina again. I wanted to attend "EU-Japan comparative seminar". As the description indicates, the lecture will be about migration policies and three different lecturers will present. We didn’t know where to go specifically, but we guess it takes place in the Economics building. So we changed campus and because we turned around too early, we used additional ten minutes to go back. It was way too late to be in time. Eventually, we arrived and asked at the office, where the lecture takes place. We went upstairs to room I320, but no-one was in there. We had no plan how to proceed, but a Chinese girl had the same problem. She joined us. Martina suggested to go to the Intercultural Building, because the lecturer of today works at this graduate school. So again we changed campus. We arrived there and wondered where its office was. We couldn’t remember. We asked some students and one student mentioned that she took that class last year. She doesn’t know where it takes place, but we could write the lecturer an email. For today we will be too late anyways. We kind of ignored here and found the office.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>At the Intercultural Studies office, they didn’t know about this lecture. On the one hand we had no clue how to get there, on the other hand we verified that the information by the Economics office was wrong. We wanted to confirm that and headed back to the Economics building again. When we arrived they told us that it actually takes place in room I230 today. Next week, it will be room I320 again. So eventually we found the room, but had to go a long path between campusses. In class, we sat down and listened the European Union’s definition of a migrant, of a refugee and fundamental Treaties of the EU. We discussed the associated issues in small groups. Right before that, I recognized that my camera was lost.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>First, I was not very worried about its absence. I had to put down my camera bag several times during the day to fetch documents from my knapsack. Furthermore after 12 days I got very used to have it with me all the time. I didn’t pay special attention any more. After the lecture I immediately checked the Economics building, but found no camera. At this hour, we couldn’t access the other building and couldn’t search there. The next day I went to the places, I have been, as soon as possible. No camera. I asked at all respective offices of the building whether a camera was found. On Wednesday, nobody found it. As far as the Orientation is concerned, we have been told that the organizers checked for belongings after the Orientation, but no camera [bag] was found. The staff at the office, I am registered at, ensured me they will inform me if the camera is found. On Thursday I informed the Kobe International Students Center and the lady responsible for us immediately phoned all offices again. On Friday, the last woerking day of the week, I checked all offices again and even went along the entire path we took on Tuesday. Without result. I attracted the attention by the administration of the math department. A staff member wrote down its model name and chronological details. We wanted to ask for the camera via phone. However, because one week later, I didn’t receive any notification I assume this was also without result.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>So after 3 days of search, I was left without camera and struggled with myself to find a potential reason, why and how I lost the camera. I concluded:</p></div>
<div class="ulist"><ul>
<li>
<p>
I got used to having my camera with me. As such I paid little attention.
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
I checked all places. As such I assume someone took it with him/her, when he/she saw a chance. I don’t know how much criminal energy was necessary.
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
I assume it most likely happened at the math department.
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
The camera is unique, because it has several pixel errors in the LCD screen. It was a Fujifilm FinePix HS10 (as you can find out by the EXIF metadata of the pictures).
</p>
</li>
</ul></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>So sadly, my gallery will lack some good photos. Two weeks later, I settled the issue with Felix, who is the actual owner of the camera. Sorry, Felix. Thank you, Felix.</p></div>
<div class="imageblock">
<div class="content">
<img alt="Fujifilm FinePix HS10" src="images/camera.jpg" width="400">
</img></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
Sign language2016-10-09T17:00:00+09:002016-10-09T17:00:00+09:00Lukastag:japan.lukas-prokop.at,2016-10-09:blog/sign-language.html<div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph"><p>※ This article discusses the 9th of October 2016.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>During the night, my coughing worsened. I woke up and lost my voice. It hurts a lot to speak and eventually leads to coughing. So I did not show up in the study room as planned to meet Martina and stayed in my room. Time to tidy up things and write the remaining blog articles. At 12:30 Martina got hungry and visited me at my room. I told her in sign language about my problem. The question raised, whether there is some special Japanese sign language. Indeed, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_Sign_Language">there is</a>. Later on, right before christmas, I even saw Japanese people interacting with sign language.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>We decided to go towards the train station. Martina discovered a restaurant nearby and we wanted to try it out. On Sunday, it seems to be closed. So we headed for the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7-Eleven">Seven-Eleven</a> conbini. I was curious whether my account balance increased with the money transferred from Europe 3 days ago. Nope, the balance stayed the same. Even though we got some lunch, we were unsatisfied. Finding a clothes line for both of us was a necessary requirement. So we continued our search at the supermarket. Unsuccessful again, we found some dinner. We headed back home again. We came across a sign showing "Minatojima Shopping Center". We got curious which kind of shops there are on this island. As far as I know, besides IKEA, a few supermarkets and a few conbini, nothing of interest can be found on this island. Next time we will check it out. While eating lunch we discussed Japanese courses and how I/we can make some progress. We recognized that we didn’t buy water. We will check out the Shopping Center this evening. We might be able to find a clothes line we are still looking for.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>In the evening we met again and went back to the sign. It indicated to go upstairs some stairs we didn’t know so far. We ended up in a nice shopping center. On the left and right side we found shops such as a Fast Food chain, a barber, a phone company, a shoe retailer and a supermarket. As I didn’t plan for a dinner specifically, we went for dinner at the Fast Food chain DomDom. The food was presented in an American style and contained many fat, sugary and fried products. However, the packages are smaller and equipment was still Japanese. It was a funny experience. I ate some fries and Martina got some Cheese Nuggets. I drank Coca Cola and Martina got some toxic-green artifical-tasting drink. I don’t remember its name. I like my fries, but didn’t like Martina’s food.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>We continued our journey at an 100-Yen shop. It offers many small gadgets and household products. We were mainly interested in a clothes line. Martina found some <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genk%C5%8D_y%C5%8Dshi">Genkō yōshi</a>; a paper defining a particular structure where to put characters on a paper. Furthermore it defines squares to put Kanji into. This way students learn to stick to a certain size when writing Kanjis. Martina needs the paper for her Writing class. I joined in, because of my interest in typesetting I was familiar with Genkō yōshi from the Wikipedia article and where is a better place to buy some than in Japan. I found some hashi. In the supermarket before lunch, I bought a set of 100 cheap chopsticks. Those chopsticks are meant to be used one time and thrown away. Depending on the quality, wood might chip off cheap chopstick. Good chopsticks (as in ramen restaurants) are mainly built from plastics and feature rough end to avoid food slipping off when grabbing it. So I had 100 cheap chopsticks and bought them to ensure that I have always some at home. But I was actually looking for 1-2 plastic hashi as I have just found. So I bought 2 hashi and now had 101 chopsticks available (I used one pair for lunch). Furthermore both of us got a bowl of plastic to eat some cereals, noodles or alike. Finally we found a solution for our clothes line dilemma: We found a simple rope strong enough to hold our clothes. 30 meters was 15 meters longer than required, but it enabled both of us to dry our clothes outside. I washed my laundry on Friday for the first time and Martina was about to do it today. It was a hazzle without a line on Friday. Our balconies have some supporting elements, but the line was missing. As far as the washing machine and dryer is concerned, unlike we were told at the Residence Orientation, we cannot insert coins directly, but necessarily need to buy cards for 1000 Yen.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>Afterwards we visited the supermarket in the Shopping Center. I started to recognize that conbinis are more expensive and have a smaller product palette, but feature extended opening hours. Supermarkets on the other hand have a much larger selection of products and at lower prices. We went through the shop mainly to understand what is available. We both bought water and also Kellogg’s cereals for the morning.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>In the end, it was a day with lots of shopping. But we discovered a new part of Hiratojima. Also I start to feel like I learn how to handle food supply and generally buying products for daily life.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>I am sorry, if anyone was waiting for me online this evening. Because I have no voice and I was still at the Shopping Center, I was not in the video conferencing room. I also did not inform people. I need to work on my information policy.</p></div>
</div>
</div>
First event day: Jinjas in Kobe2016-10-09T15:00:00+09:002016-10-09T15:00:00+09:00Lukastag:japan.lukas-prokop.at,2016-10-09:blog/kobe-jinjas.html<div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph"><p>※ This article discusses the 8th of October 2016.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>To access the internet, we currently use two connections: Martina’s eduroam account (mine does not work at all after an initially successful phase) or a temporary username + password combination provided by the International Student Center. Eventually we should get our own password, but apparently this did not happen within 8 days we are at the Residence. Therefore Martina discussed it with her advisor (as a minor question). She got informed that there are technical difficulties and we should expect our credentials in the mid of next week. Her advisor was also worried whether "Academic Writing" interferes with her intensive course. Apparently, he must also have found "Academic Writing" in a different session. Anyways, it sounded like her advisor is really trying to help her whereas I didn’t get informed. My conclusion is that information you receive really depends on your advisor and tutor (remember translation issues at the Bank and the incident related to National Health insurance).</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>It is Saturday and therefore Event day. So like every week, we leave the Residence and do something tourist-like. This week: Jinjas in Kobe.
Python users might know <a href="http://jinja.pocoo.org/">Jinja</a>. Its logo shows a shrine and this way you can remember <a href="http://jisho.org/search/jinja">Jinja is Japanese for shrine</a>.
We got a map showing some jinjas in Kobe. Researching its locations, we found out that the map is very accurate and Kobe with its long coast does not fit onto a DIN A4 page. Therefore distances were very wrong. I was glad we prepared our goals.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>Because I was coughing badly and wanted to go into public, I decided to test some surgical masks. We dropped by at a conbini and bought some masks. One package containing 7 one-way masks costed 246 Yen.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>Certainly my first and major goal was the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ikuta_Jinja">Ikuta Jinja</a>. It is located close to Sannomiya and I use a picture of it on the <a href="/">homepage</a> and as background image on <a href="https://appear.in/meisterluk">appear.in/meisterluk</a>. An appropriate final destination seemed the Okurayama Park. So at 12:00 we started off at Sannomiya and went to Ikuta Jinja. It is our first contact with Shintoism. The most interesting point of Japanese religion in my opinion is its combination of old traditions and sociological progress. If you look at Austria and its religious representatives, you will find a conservative group of traditionalists. As far as I can see this is different in Shintoism. People are proud of their old traditions, but separate it from political issues. At shrines you will find many people sticking to their traditions. First, you need to clean yourself by washing both hands by pouring water over them. In front of shrines, you will find boxes where you donate some money and wish for good health (or alike). Then you are allowed to ring the large bell to make the wish become true. Charms are small widgets offered for ~300 Yen which should bring you luck in a certain part of your life. This is another way to get luck or donate money. Inside a shrine, photographs are not allowed. I was wondering about that and many people took photos at Ikuta Jinja. It seems like you are not allowed to take photos inside the shrine building, but from outside it did not seem like a problem. Ikuta Jinja is really a beautiful shrine and worth looking at. It comprises a typical Japanese design. In terms of photography, I had difficulties photographing it. Because of the curvy roofs, many parts below the roof are in shadow which gives poor quality for my photos. I need to improve upon it.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>Our next destination was the NHK main building in Kobe. NHK is Japan’s public broadcasting company. However, we discovered a ramen restaurant (Japanese noodles) beforehand and went into it. A nice chef greeted us and due to Martina’s Japanese skills we found some appropriate ramen. This was the first time I felt saturated after a meal, because meals are typically smaller than in Europe or America. At the ramen restaurant, the TV was running and we watched some melodrama while eating our ramen. Our hashi skills (chopsticks) got trained as well.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>We only saw the NHK building from the outside and it was not spectacular at all. We immediately headed to our next goal: Kobe Mosque, the first Mosque in Japan. When taking our first photo, a man in a car mentioned we could go inside to look at the Mosque. We decided not to but looked at the Mosque from outside. It was a very nice building to look at.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>Our next destination was Sorakuen; which I expected to be a general garden. We were asked to pay 300 Yen entrance fee and wondered whether it would be worth it. First we passed some palms and the Kodera stable; it features a German design. The Hassam House was designed as fusion of Eastern and Western design elements. Currently, they are construction sites inside, because they are preparing for an exhibition. So far I thought that was not worth 300 Yen, but then we found the second part of the garden. It has a pont where we found some koys and turtles. Some kids were throwing stones at them and Martina teached me that "Dama" is used to shout, making them stop. At the pont, a typical Japanese boat house - with golden decoration - and a tea house - reconstructed after war - can be found. I totally wanted to see a Japanese garden and wondered why it was not considered a Japanese garden in one of the tourist websites I found. The 300 Yen were worth it and we proceeded to our next destination which was a Catholic church.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>Again we did not enter the church, but we recognized that we can spot several building in Japan made of red brick. This is something I commonly associate with Great Britain. In the following, we briefly saw the Chuo Police Department, which was a tall building and as often, a single man in the front took care of surveilling it. We headed towards the first protestant church in Kobe. This building reminded me more of Austria than the red brick Catholic church. Because fire cars in general look cool, we went to the "Chuo Fire Department of Yamate Branch". The fire cars looked indeed very cool, but we did not find the departmet initially. So we traversed the streets consecutively. I mentioned that cars in average are narrower than in Europe. This also holds for Japanese fire cars. We continued through some small side streets and wondered how people can actually drive into their parking spot. In the first floor they park their car and go up the stairs. In the second and third floor, they are living on narrow space.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>Finally we arrived at Okurayama Park. It consists of a large baseball field. People use it for jogging around. In the rear, the area has many trees and people actually practice their instrument there. A woman was practicing an etude for flute lessons. I guess when living in a small Japanese house with several family members, this seems an admissible alternative for practicing the instrument. Because insects kept biting us the whole day (and especially in this area), we were sped up and finished our journey. We went to the next train station. We dropped by at the bakery within Sannomiya train station. I got something I would describe it as "Zuckerreinkerl mit Schokolade statt Honig" in German. In English I describe it as dough of multiple layers. In between there are raisins, sugar and chocolate. It tasted delicious, but I ate it at home.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>Enough for the day. Considering I felt sick with my bad coughing, it was an eventful day we spent together, even though we mainly walked around (about 4.5km) and litte action was involved.</p></div>
</div>
</div>
Our first supermarket2016-10-03T04:30:00+09:002016-10-03T04:30:00+09:00Lukastag:japan.lukas-prokop.at,2016-10-03:blog/our-first-supermarket.html<div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph"><p>※ This article discusses the 2nd of October 2016.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>On Sunday, nothing special was planned. I had lots of planning and work ahead of me. Martina was tired beginning from the morning.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>I got up and went to the study room to use the eduroam connection. Sadly it did not work at all. After a few hundred trials, I gave up. I met up with Martina and wanted to do some shopping. We were still lacking soap, trash bags, toilet paper and other equipment in our room. So for the first time we planned to visit a supermarket; not a convenience store. A supermarket like a convenience store is very close to our residence.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>We discovered interesting items. Including products by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knorr_(brand)">Knorr</a> or <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maggi">Maggi</a>. Martina took care I don’t consider "something that looks like a soap" as a soap, but a kitchen cleaner. She interpreted my wrong Katakana correctly and hinted me to the right decisions. I got some bread with Jam (for lunch), some nuts (as afternoon snack), some fruit in jelly ("dinner") and a sandwich (breakfast). Martina only grabbed some Jelly. Furthermore we found trash bags for the first time. Martina didn’t buy bedding equipment the previous day. So she has more cash left. I made debts for ~1500 Yen for the first time to make sure I have enough money to eat tomorrow. Hopefully we will get our bank accounts soon.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>On our way home, we recognized that Martina bought almost nothing to eat for her. I guess I have used her as a translator too much. I need to take better care of her.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>At home we shared food. The nuts turned out to be non-vegetarian (containing fish) and actually we both didn’t like that much jelly.
Martina showed me that her TUGraz eduroam connection works. So I switched from Uni Graz to TU Graz eduroam and it also worked. Being online, I was happy again and working productively to get my things done. But at ~22:00 I lost my connection again and I was left without internet. Work regarding this weblog and homepage does not require an internet connection, so I was left busy anyways.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>Apparently I started at roughly 17:00 (excluding a shower, video chatting with my parents and dinner) and it is now 04:53. I need to get up in less than 3 hours again. Good night!</p></div>
</div>
</div>
Visiting Sannomiya2016-10-03T04:00:00+09:002016-10-03T04:00:00+09:00Lukastag:japan.lukas-prokop.at,2016-10-03:blog/visiting-sannomiya.html<div id="preamble">
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph"><p>※ This article discusses the 1st of October 2016.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>So it is our first Saturday in Kobe. We visited the convenience store in the morning to got some sweets. In the following, we headed towards Sannomiya.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>Sannomiya is the center in Kobe. As it will turn out, the municipal office, the City Hall, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wards_of_Japan">ward</a> office and other important building are close to the station. We started our ride with the Portliner to travel the opposite direction of the previous day; from Kita Futo to Sannomiya. It is very funny to sit in the Portliner and look across Minatojima from above. If you look at my pictures, you might recognize that the trains don’t have a human driver. At Sannomiya I felt that I was in a big city. If we look at the data, we have:</p></div>
<div class="ulist"><ul>
<li>
<p>
270,000 inhabitants in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graz">Graz, Austria</a>
</p>
</li>
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1,853,000 inhabitants in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vienna">Vienna, Austria</a>
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1,536,499 inhabitants in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kobe">Kobe, Japan</a>
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<div class="paragraph"><p>making Kobe, the fifth-largest city of Japan. It is smaller than Vienna in terms of number of inhabitants, though you need to point out that space is much more compressed in Japan. Houses of many floors are usual and the tram is built into the air to use space more efficiently. This means that on an average train station in Kobe, you will see more passengers than in Vienna.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>Walking around in Sannomiya, I added the goal to visit <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ikuta_Shrine">Ikuta Jinja</a>, but Martina correctly pointed out that we went in the opposite direction. We sticked to our main goal to find a suitable restaurant where we can eat something more nutritious than the previous days. We stopped in front of a Japanese restaurant and because we didn’t know what to expect, we were excited about this next challenge.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>We sat down between a pair of Japanese women and a young couple. The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oshibori">Oshibori</a> were laid down immediately when we sat down and water to drink was offered as well. Unlike most Japanese menus, this menu did not feature picture to represent what is going to be ordered. We peeked to the other desks to see some wonderful plates of sushi and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sashimi">Sashimi</a>. We settled down to interpret the menu. Thanks to Martina’s skills, we were able to get a general idea of the menu and iterated over the items multiple times. Apparently, the women must have wondered about us and eventually asked us whether we are fine. We asked them to translate a few items. Thanks to the woman, we were able to order some noodles with onion salad for me and Martina got a mixed plate including <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tempura">Tempura</a>. In total we paid roughly 2,100 Yen which corresponds to 18 Euros in the EU. The taste was definitely above the average. Martina conjectured that the women got a free drink by the serving lady, because they helped us ordering. When leaving the restaurant I recited a new phrase I learned by Martina: "Oishii katta desu" (It was delicious), the past tense of "Oishii desu" (Delicious!).</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>After this awesome experience, we went through the city without particular goal. But Higashiyuenchi Park ( 東遊園地 ) was just beautiful, so we stayed there for a long time. We watched Japanese people in daily life passing by. We say parents playing with their children in the grass. Lukas was fascinated by a small kid which excited about the Hanshin Awaji Monumentum, which reminds people of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Hanshin_earthquake">1995 Kobe earthquake</a>. It drops water on a glass plate. Below this glass plate, a monumentum is built with names of all victims. The kid ran excitedly towards the water, made gestures with its hands and ran back to the bench close to its mother. On our back home we recognized other people taking a photo of a butterfly and I joined in. Furthermore we learned that the golden statue holds the clock stopped at the time of the earthquake, because originally it fell down due to the earthquake and stopped working.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>Considering a wonderful meal and a nice trip to Kobe City, we went back to the residence. I tried to take photos of our street comparable to the one of Google Street View, but failed with the first attempt. I ended up writing blog articles.</p></div>
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Going to IKEA2016-10-03T03:15:00+09:002016-10-03T03:15:00+09:00Lukastag:japan.lukas-prokop.at,2016-10-03:blog/going-to-ikea.html<div id="preamble">
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<div class="paragraph"><p>※ This article discusses the 30th of September 2016.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>Yes, IKEA is really the (only?) choice to get furniture at the island. So with measurements of my bed in mind, we went to IKEA.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>Unlike the afternoon, no lady was standing in the entrance area and offering you an IKEA bag. Very few people were left and we learned that 25 minutes are left before the lockers were emptied. 30 minutes afterwards the store will close. We took the challenge. I already felt a bit sick. I was not feverish, but I didn’t want a dinner to avoid vomitting. We going through the store, my body temperature rised a bit, because it was exhausting to me. At IKEA we bought Daim sweets, a pillow for Martina and bed protectors for both of us in the afternoon. In the evening, we bought blanket and pillow for me. I spent 12485 Yen at IKEA as estimated (with 10000 Yen) by a blog I found online beforehand. For dinner, Martina ate a hot dog (I don’t remember the price, but they are said to be cheap) and I only drank some water. I felt sick now. We got curious about ice teas offered at many places, but we saved it for later. On our way home, we again bought water at a convenience store and it got dark in the meanwhile.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>At home, Martina helped me to go to sleep and I slept for 14 hours (!!!). I drank several times during the night. I recognized that maybe I was just dehydrated from carrying all the luggage to the residence in the morning. In the morning I got up and felt fine again.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>IKEA was a nice experience and it is funny to see how the swedish furniture company adapts its products to minimalistic Japanese housing style.</p></div>
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Visiting Minatojima2016-10-02T16:00:00+09:002016-10-02T16:00:00+09:00Lukastag:japan.lukas-prokop.at,2016-10-02:blog/visiting-minatojima.html<div id="preamble">
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<div class="paragraph"><p>※ This article discusses the 30th of September 2016.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>Minatojima is <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Island">Port Island</a>, we live at. It seems like a mixture of a residential and industrial area. Many large buildings with either a company name on it (industry) or individual units on each floor (residential). The train helps people to get to the mainland and there is the problem we experience now: there are no restaurants and lively areas on the island.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>Without a breakfast at 14:00, we were hungry and Lukas had no bedding equipment at all (no sheets, no blanket, only a small pillow). Time to go shopping! Talking to a Finnish resident (who confirmed that staying 1 year abroad is much better than 6 months), we asked for restaurant recommendations. He hesitated to mention anything specific and recommended restaurants at the mainland. But we just arrived from the mainland and wanted to discover Minatojima. Martina and I started going along in a random direction.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>Seven Eleven is one popular convenience store for foreigners, because the ATM machines work with foreign ATM cards. We looked at it, but wanted to find a restaurant. We gave up after some more 10 minutes. We recognized that we won’t find a restaurant at this island. Going back a similar way, we came across Seven Eleven again and grabbed some snacks (2 rise balls and a bread with corn) with water. Whereas I consumed my items immediately, Martina was required to warm up her rice ball first. We also reached IKEA. Yes, the swedish furniture company is also popular in Japan. We saw the IKEA store already from the train. We wanted to get some bedding equipment and decided to do it immediately. As it turns out we did not know the measurements of our bed and Lukas hesitated to estimate them (which was the right decision by the way). But we got a general idea what IKEA offers. I jokingly said "Well, IKEA offers something to eat in Austria" and, yes, in Japan too. We considered it for dinner. We headed back to the Residence and put our remaining items into the fridge.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>At 16:00 one of three orientations per day for arriving students take place. We joined at 16:00; together with 2 girls and the German we met at the train station. We got information on how to write our address, open the post box, do the laundry and how to handle garbage. We also got an idea of the important rooms in the building. Yes, the water is clean and drinkable, though I need to point out that you can smell and taste chlorine, which I am not used to as Austrian. No, visitors are not allowed though if we ask beforehand he might make an exception.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>It was the first time, I said Hi online, because accidently my eduroam configuration from Austria works in Japan as well. We will receive our own WiFi password on Monday.</p></div>
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Going to our residence2016-10-02T08:15:00+09:002016-10-02T08:15:00+09:00Lukastag:japan.lukas-prokop.at,2016-10-02:blog/going-to-our-residence.html<div id="preamble">
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<div class="paragraph"><p>※ This article discusses the 30th of September 2016.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>A few days before, we were asked whether we want a tutor to help us finding the residence. Because we started at the Hostel and didn’t know when we will be ready in the morning, we decided to handle it on our own. As it turns out, we were one of the very few people to do so. But with Martina’s experience with reading Kanji, we successfully used public transport for the first time.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>Waking up at 9:30 at the hostel, we recognized that we suffered from a jetlag. I was very dry and needed something to drink (and eat for breakfast). Because of our journey in the neighborhood at the previous day, I already knew where to find a convenience store. I grabbed some water (a very expensive one as it turned out) and brought it our hostel. At the hostel, I also found some maps for Kobe for free, which turned out to be helpful. Studying our path to go to our designated Kobe residence for International Students, we recognized that we would take two trains. However, finishing our room and studying the material took some time and we started at 11:00. We expected to start earlier and therefore decided to skip breakfast.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>We headed immediately to Shinkaichi station and bought tickets. 260 Yen don’t seem much, but paying each direction individually accumulates to a high price. For now it was fine, but the Student Commuter Pass helps a lot to reduce costs when going to university. Once you had the tickets, we pushed them into the machine and it will register your initial point of travel. It will spit out the ticket again 1 meter in front of you. Don’t dare to loose this ticket, because when leaving the train, you need to push it into the machine again. It will determine whether you paid correctly.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>The Hanyku line towards Osaka dropped us at Sannomiya. Sannomiya can be considered as center of Kobe. We left the train, pushed our tickets (yay! we paid correctly!) and tried to find our next train. It is called Portliner and takes passenger either to Kobe Airport (for domestic flights) or general destinations at Minatojima (the Port island). We paid 250 Yen for the Portliner. Because no train was available for the latter, we took one heading towards the Airport and left at Shimin Hiroba station as suggested by the loud speakers. Waiting a few minutes at the station, the next train took us to Kita Futo which is the closest train station to the Kobe University International Students Residence. At the station, Martina went to the toilet and I started a chat with another foreigner. He was from Germany and also just arrived to go to the same Residence. He had a tutor with him and as a team of four, we went to the Residence by foot. It takes roughly 5 minutes to go there.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>At the residence 2 officials waited to register arriving students. We got our key, sheets of paper with instructions and an explanation how to go to our room. Martina and I are in different buildings, so we split up and put our luggage into our rooms. As it turned out, Martina’s room wasn’t cleaned. The floor was very dusty, the bathroom had many stains and the freezer was really gross. We decided to report it and the official tolds us the room will be cleaned on Monday again. Later he checked and confirmed that the freezer proves that the room was not cleaned. As it turned out, Martina was not the only one with an uncleaned room though a cleaning fee is paid by every resident, when moving out.</p></div>
<div class="paragraph"><p>In conclusion, it would have been very difficult to find the right trains without Martina and registering at the Residence was not without troubles, but fine.</p></div>
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