Welcome to the JSNW Members Blog. This is the place to share your views, news and suggestions. Click on the date below each item (its "permanent link") to view all the comments on that item. Click "comments" to leave a comment. Anyone can leave a comment, but if you'd like to post an item on this page, you need to join our blog team. To join our Members Blog team, email the webmaster.

Message From Japan

こんいちわ
Message from Japan? I live in Cheshire and I have never been to Japan. How can I do this? That’s the experiment. I’m going to surf Japan on the web and report back.

‘Wooden homes that meet the legal standards for quake-resistance strength are still at risk of collapsing in a temblor as strong as the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake.’

Can you imagine living in a country that can fall apart so completely, but where people will continue on and cope? This earthquake occurred on January 17 1995 at 5:46am 52 seconds in the southern part of Hyogo Prefecture and lasted for approximately 20 seconds. The epicentre of the earthquake was on Awaji Island. BBC’s ‘On This Day In History’ shows a bus hanging over the edge of a broken flyover. It could as easily be Spaghetti Junction in Birmingham.

So Kobe, what is it like?
‘A great many things account for Kobe’s unique charm – the beauty of the surrounding sea and mountains, the international cuisine, the delicious coffee and western sweets, the exotic and fashionable ambience...’
See the Port Tower and Kobe Maritime Museum, the 108-meter red Port Tower stands out at the edge of Meriken Park…
Kobe is famous for many indigenous products such as its sake, wine, bread, shoes, pearls and, perhaps most famous of all, Kobe beef.

And who is famous in Kobe?
About 20km to the northeast is the town of Takarazuka, famous for its theatre school. Tsubasa Makoto is one of the stars of Takarazuka.

Did you know that Mogwai (Scottish post-rock pioneers) are on at the Namba Hatch, Osaka on the 8th Nov? Oops sorry, too late!

And of course Asashoryu is running away with the Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament, leaving everyone else in his wake.

So what do you want investigating?
Signing off, this is your Message from Japan. また

Web links to KOBE
http://www.city.kobe.jp/cityoffice/17/020/en/tourism/index.htm
http://www.japan-zone.com/omnibus/osaka_kobe.shtml and try out
http://www.kansaiscene.com/current/html/home.shtml
 

         posted by Message from Japan on Sunday, November 26, 2006    3 comments  

 

How to use this blog

This blog can be used by JSNW members to post questions and discuss topics of interest, for instance, if you're learning Japanese you may like to get in contact with other members who are also learning the language.

If you would like to post new messages to this blog you need to be invited by Kevin to create an account. To do this just email Kevin asking him to send you an invitation (his contact details are on the Contact Us page under Webmaster) then follow the instructions to set up a new account, this is free and only takes a moment.

Enjoy!  

         posted by louisec on Sunday, November 19, 2006    0 comments