Hello Neighbour!
Welcome to Neighbourhood Hirakata!
Hirakata City - A quaint town, friendly and slow-paced. Much like my home town— Acton, Canada.
As I settle in to my new lifestyle in Japan, I’ve come to realize how much Hirakata reminds me of home. Like Acton, Hirakata is full of friendly people. Every day on my way to or from school someone extends a friendly greeting. To the city folk these places may not have recognizable distinctions that make them unique or special. Yet, to us these small towns have a charm of their own. For example, Acton is known as the “Leathertown” and holds an annual festival in celebration of our history tanning leather. The same way Hirakata has come to be known as the "University City" with six universities that have been recently established in the area thus creating a new image for itself (Find more information about the university city on the homepage for Hirakata City: http://www.city.hirakata.osaka.jp/freepage/gyousei/hpcontent/eng/index.html). And again, like Acton, Hirakata is moments away from an exciting city oasis. I am comfortable living in Hirakata because it feels familiar...
I started writing this blog on a theme of being a Stranger in a Strange Land... but as I continued to write, gradually the words changed, I have to come realise that maybe this strange land is home after all.
Over looking Hirakata City.
City details.
In Japanese culture there is an apparent attention for detail—in artwork, the presentation of Japanese cuisine, business negotiations and the like. There is one particular detail in every city of Japan that I find fascinating—the man-holes in the street. Each one illustrates some purpose and meaning that corresponds to the city.
The chrysanthemum is one of the many symbols of Hirakata City. It signifies the earth’s suitability for cultivating this flower, which “is intimately connected with Hirakata's traditional craft, the flower doll.” (see link below.) There are two people perhaps harvesting near their home and the surrounding landscape illustrate the boundaries of the city; Yodo River to the west, and the verdant Ikoma Mountains to the east. The picture represents what Hirakata has been previously known as—a suburban farming village.
(http://www.city.hirakata.osaka.jp/freepage/gyousei/hpcontent/eng/welcome_hira.htm)
Side streets.
Every day I follow this route to and from school. It follows behind the main street and cuts down about 10 minutes of the ride to school. I tried to illustrate how there is no geographical segregation between the classes in terms of housing.
3 comments:
A very informative post indeed with lots of interesting observations presented in text, photo and video form. This is a nice early representation of your new surroundings and this should give people an idea about your new environment. Except the video is kinda quiet. What time where you riding around? Is it always that quiet? I wonder if you should have had Godzilla trying to fight off Mr. Rogers... I also wonder if you needed to provide the same basic link multiple times in your post.
I took the video after 5:00 p.m. when I was coming back from class. The video, to me is actually more of a mis-representation than anything else, because I have never seen the street so lively! It is usually more quiet than what I have captured. When I played it for the first time on my computer, it was in sync with the music I was listening to at the time... I thought it would be a cool to add a sort of "theme" song -- but then you can't hear the sounds of the street, so I left it naked as is.
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