Lukas and Martina in Japan//japan.lukas-prokop.at/blog/2017-01-04T13:56:00+09:00Venus 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>