Blogs from Kobe, Hyogo, Japan, Asia - page 2

Hallo Freunde! Nachdem Robert die letzten Blogs geschrieben hat (auch in Deutsch!) darf ich wieder mal ;-) Sonntag war für mich ein aufregender Tag. Denn Sonntag fuhren wir nach Osaka um Maeno Sensei zu treffen wie Robert euch schon erzählt hat. Während Robsi im Training war, habe ich mich nach ca. 1 Stunde davongestohlen und bin GANZ ALLEINE mit dem Zug ein Stückchen weiter nach Kobe gefahren und habe mir das "Harborland" angeschaut (FOTO!). Keine Sorge, ich habe wohl auf zu Roberts Training zurückgefunden. Als das Training dann um 14 Uhr vorbei war, sind wir dann gemeinsam mit Maeno Seinsei und Okamoto in das Onsen in Kobe gefahren. Anfangs war ich mit der Situation leicht überfordert, denn ich hatte ja keine Ahnung, dass wir das heute machen würden und ich hatte auch keinen blassen Schimmer wie ... read more

Travelling in Japan had made us a little bit soft…we decided to break an hour and a half journey and stay in an additional city before our last stop of Osaka. We were also a bit curious after what we had read about Kobe, mostly that it is a very European (it was one of the first places in Japan to be opened to foreign trade just before the Meiji Restoration) and is a ‘different’ city to others we experienced in Japan. Kobe is mostly famous for beef and the 1995 ‘Great Hanshin Earthquake’ which destroyed a huge part of the city. It’s easy to see why Kobe was devastated by the earthquake, just by looking at the pictures from our hotel room; Kobe is a long narrow city wedged between mountains and the sea but ... read more

Friday, 24th May 2013 My final day in Japan took me to the port city of Kobe. Devastated by the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake, it made sense to pay a visit to the Earthquake Memorial located just south-east of the city centre (Full name: The Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake Memorial Disaster Reduction & Human Revolution Institution). I was 16 and reading Geography in school when the earthquake struck in Japan. In those days, I even had difficulties pronouncing "Kobe" properly. As expected, I was probably the only foreign visitor this morning as it was crowded with school groups some coming from as far as Fukuoka. In the afternoon, I paid a visit to the Mitsui Outlet Mall. The Kobe branch was better stocked with popular brand names. Since this was likely to be my final visit to ... read more

Thursday the 5th of July was one of the more uneventful days of my stay in Japan. Lentle had classes and so I was alone again to explore Japan. I traveled to Sannomiya station, and my plan was to try and find the 'Disaster Reduction and Human Renovation Institution' a.k.a. the Earthquake Museum. Kobe was struck by an earthquake that measured 6.8 on the magnitude scale in 1995, which was at that time the second worst earthquake in Japan in the 20th century. Internet told me that I needed to go to Nada or Iwaya station, but I figured that I'd also be able to walk there from Sannomiya station in about 30 minutes. In the end I only found a rather deserted park called the Earthquake Memorial Park. I thought the Museum would be located ... read more

I'm back in Belgium! I've been back since yesterday 11AM, but didn't get much rest because we had to drive home from Schiphol airport (ca. 2 hours), visit my maternal grandmother who wanted to hear all about my trip (ca. 2 hours) and in the evening we went out to eat at a restaurant. Though now I'm rested and ready to start my Japan report posts! Because I posted my pictures on facebook while I was in Japan and didn't have access to editing software, the quality might not always be the best - but oh well ... Also this first post is not the most interesting because it's mostly about traveling, I'm afraid. Day 1: Crossing Seven Time Zones I still had an exam on June 30th. The day after that me and my parents ... read more