Paiyama

 

I’m going to introduce famous place among young people in Kobe. The place is called ‘Paiyama’. In fact the true name is the public square of Sankitaamore, but most of people don’t know this true name. When we hang out around Kobe with my friends, we usually meet here.  The reason why this place is called Paiyama is that the stone of this place looks like chest.

This place is also famous for street live. I visited here few weeks ago to meet my friends. While I was waiting, a young man started playing the guitar and singing. A long time ago, Kobukuro and Non-style use to do street live here.

However here is a little bit dangerous place. Sometimes there are many drunken men and Yankees although it is daytime. Nighttime is more dangerous so I don’t go here at nighttime. So if you want to go to paiyama, you should go with your friends!  

OKAMOTO

Today, I am going to introduce my neighborhood and my part time job.

 

 

 I live in the eastern parts of Kobe city and my nearest hankyu station is Okamoto station. Okamoto is famous for stone pavements. So there are many stone pavements around Okamoto station. Here is also famous for Ume. We have Ume festival once a year. Ume is our ward’s tree too. Near Okamoto station, there are many shops; 3 famous convenience stores, Tully’s coffee, Starbucks, Matsuya, Sukiya, Osyo, drug store, Tsutaya, RyuRyu, Masaya, MacDonald and 31 ice cream and so on. It is difficult for me to decide what to eat every time.

 

 

I work at 31 ice cream near Okamoto station. I work there because I like ice cream except mint taste. I always think I want to eat these ice creams while I scoop ice creams. It is difficult for me to remember the name of ice cream and customers’ order. We are conducting a campaign called ‘Happy 4 you’ now. You can eat 4 kinds of ice creams at 3 ice cream’s price, so I have to remember 4 kinds of ice creams. It’s not happy for me actually, but I want you to enjoy 4 kinds of ice creams! If you have any questions about ice creams’ taste, I can answer you. My recommend one is strawberry short cake, but it’s limited taste. So all things you have to do now is go to 31!

 

YUZURUHA Shrine

 

I went to Yuzuruha shrine today by bicycle. It took 20 minutes from my house. In Chinese character, this shrine is written “弓弦羽”. Haven’t you ever seen this name? You must know his name, Yuzuru Hanyuu. He is a champion of Sochi Olympic. This shrine became really famous when the Olympic began. Many people visited this shrine to pray for his performance. Mr.Hanyu also has been to this shrine before and he wrote a votive picture tablet then. I tried to find his one, but I wasn’t able to find it. However, I found many people wrote support massage for him.

 

 

I also found very tall, big and old tree. I was really surprised when I found it. I heard this tree is designated as Kobe city’s protection, so this tree must be amazing.

 

 

 

            After I went to Yuzuruha shrine, I enjoyed cycling after a long time. I didn’t apply sunscreen to my skin, so I got sunburned. However I had a great time. I want to play any kinds of sports more and more. I like sports both playing and watching. I’m planning to watch Kendo game of Hyogo prefecture in Jun, so I’m looking forward to seeing Kendo game!

Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge

 

 

     I'm going to write about Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge today. Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge ties up between Tarumi-ward and Awaji-Island. The length is 3911m, but plan of the length was 3910m. When Hanshin-Awaji earthquake happened, the ground moved 1m. This is the longest suspension bridge in the world. It costed 50 billion yen and it took 12 years to build this bridge. Only cars can pass this bridge, so we cannot walk or ride a bicycle on this bridge.

     When I was a junior high school student, I went to Awaji Island via this bridge for the first time. When I saw the front, there was just road, but when I saw the side of bridge, I could see sea. So I felt scary a little bit, but I enjoyed passing there. When I was a elementary school student, I rode a helicopter. Then I saw it from sky. I felt that modern technology is amazing. This bridge shine at night time, and the light design change every season. There is a park named Maiko Park and many people enjoy fishing there. 

KANNONYA

　　　　　　Have you ever eaten cheese cake of Kannonnya? "Kannonya" is a cheese cake and cheese shop in Kobe. Their cheese cake is really good! I like it very much.
　　　　　　The name of "Kannonya" came from the Goddess of Mercy. The founder of Kannonya worshipped the Kannon, and he wanted people to get happiness by coming the store.

Kannonya's cheese cake is hot. They are also very popular as a souvenir of Kobe. When we eat the cheese cake at home, we make it hot by using a microwave. This is the way to eat them better.
　　　　　Their cheese fondu is also famous. I have eaten that, but I don't like it very much. It was OK at first, but there were too much. So I felt bad finally...

　　　　　When I went there before, they had lunch menu like pasta or rice. I saw them for the first time at Kannonya, so I was surprised. Then I decided to eat pasta. It was good.

                                        I want you to eat Kannonya's hot cheese cake!

Ikuta Shrine

          I went to Ikuta shrine yesterday, so I am going to write about it today.
          Ikuta shrine is located in Tyuou-ward, Kobe-city. This is the shrine that Tomonori Jinnai who is a comedian and Norika Fujiwara who is an actress held a wedding ceremony although they got a divorce only two years later. The name of "KOBE" actually came from this shrine, so it represents Kobe. This shrine is a very old one, so it encountered Kobe-big floods in1938, Kobe-big air raids in 1945 and Hanshin-awaji big earthquake in 1995. Although it got huge damage everytime, it revived everytime. So this shrine is also called "Revived Shrine".

          This shrine is also famous as "Love fulfill shrine", so many couples hold a wedding ceremony every year. And there is a legend that if a man buy a white lucky charm and a woman buy a red one after they worship together, they will marry in the future.
          In conclusion, I want to visit Ikuta shrine again with my future husband!

Symbol Mark in Kobe

 

Kobe city's symbol shows the shape of fan and it also relate with history of Kobe. This is designed in 1907.

          Kobe is one of the most famous port towns. In the old days, harbors of Hakodate, Niigata, Nagasaki and Kobe were opened by Perry who came to Japan by black ship. Kobe port used to be said "Fan port", because the shape of Hyogo bay and Kobe bay look fan. So each of semicircle shows each port.

          There are one more reason. Kobe was used to be said "Kaube". To take over the old name, this symbol look like the word "Ka" in Hiragana.

          Although there are so many transportation such as plane, bullet train or bus, port of Kobe is still working. Big gorgeos cruises often come to Kobe. Both visiters and people around Kobe visit Kobe port to see these ships. International and historical city: Kobe is loved by people all over the world.

          So the symbol of kobe shows its history and now in Kobe.