Blogs from Takamatsu, Kagawa, Japan, Asia

Friday, 28th June 2019 From Yashima, I made a trip back to the city centre where the Takamatsu Symbol Tower is located. Towering 30th stories above ground level, there is a public observatory where free views of the city could be had. Following which, I took a relatively late lunch at one of the restaurants located at the station arcade which served the famed Sanuki Udon. It was a lovely meal indeed. After lunch, I took a walk around the waterfront which formed part of the "Support Takamatsu District". Also located within close proximity are the castle grounds as well as a unique artwork known as the Liminal Air Core next to the port district. On my way back to Honshu island, I decided to make a stopover at Utazu since this is the only other ... read more

Over deze stad valt weinig te vertellen. Weer een mooie tuin. Het meest aantrekkelijke van Takanmatsu de mensen. Zo ongelooflijk aardig. Twee voorbeelden: Bij de tram lukte het ons niet om een kaartje uit de machine te halen. Op mijn wanhopige 'help' spurtte een persoon uit de rij achter ons naar het loket. Vanuit een deur kwam een klein vrouwtje (met hoofddeksel reikte zij tot mijn schouders). Ik wees op de kaart boven de machine naar onze halte en stak twee vingers op voor het aantal en gaf haar geld. Zij begreep gelijk de bedoeling en kocht twee kaartjes voor ons. Daarna liepen we naar de perrons van het stationnetje en nog voor we één voet op wat achteraf het verkeerde perron bleek te zijn, kwam hetzelfde vrouwtje weer achter haar loket vandaan om ons te ... read more

As an American living in Japan, I often have to respond to my Japanese colleagues concerns about personal safety in America. After all, didn’t you know that EVERY SINGLE AMERICAN MAN, WOMAN AND CHILD OWNS (AND USES) A GUN? Teachers feel it is their duty to relay the story of the Japanese teenager who went trick-or-treating in the States. He did not knock on the door before entering, and since he didn’t understand the word ‘freeze’, was shot to death. The message from the teacher: either learn the meaning of ‘freeze’, or you will die if you go to America. With each concerned question comes a nice opportunity to dispel certain myths about the United States. Yet, there has always been one follow up question in my mind that I have never had the courage to ... read more

With adrenaline pumping through my veins, I waved “so long” to Takamatsu as the 1am ferry pulled out from the dock. I had begun my long journey back to the States, figuratively and literally: the door-to-door trip from my apartment in Takamatsu to my parents’ house in Lexington took thirty hours and thirty minutes. In the greater sense, it took 16 months to come back home. In order to preemptively combat the onset of jet lag, I stayed awake through the four-hour ferry ride to Kobe, the hour-long bus from Kobe to Kansai International Airport near Osaka, and the short flight up to Tokyo. I was aided by pure excitement and more than one vending machine can, yes can, of coffee. From there, just a short thirteen-hour flight to New York, and a hop over to ... read more

Well, this journey could have started with better circumstances, but in the end it turned out great and a fun time was had. With companion in hand, we set out to the last big island for me, Shikoku. The shinkansen rolled out of Sendai at 7:15 in the morning for the start of a 7 hour train journey across Japan. I could tell you how beautiful the scenery was as the train moved from prefecture to prefecture. I could tel you about how entertaining with was to be in a train with a bunch of high schoolers going on their summer trip. What I am going to tell you, though, is that traveling in a typhoon is NOT fun. Those in hurricane ridden parts of the world will understand this fairly well, those in others...well, maybe ... read more