Himeji: The Road to Engyo-ji Temple on Mt. Shosha.

Written by Yuka

 

Himeji Castle is undoubtedly the most iconic attraction of Himeji City, Hyogo. At present, the Japan’s greatest castle has been under five-year restoration process. Some of you, therefore, might hesitate to visit Himeji due to the construction. Well, Himeji is a gem and they have plenty to offer other than the castle. I’d like to introduce some of Himeji’s charms today. One place that is definitely worth a pilgrimage is Engyo-ji Temple on Mt. Shosha which is a film location of the Hollywood movie The Last Samurai. Here’s guide and some tips to enjoy a journey to the thousand-year old temple.　

 
Himeji can be easily reached by JR or Sanyo Railways from Kobe/Sannomiya or Osaka. When you get to JR Himeji Station, you’ll spot a nice tourist information center. Guides and maps of foreign languages, and Internet are available here. Friendly staff are on hand to offer you helpful advice and information to help you make the most of your trip.
 

Hungry in the morning?

Celebrate the Chinese New Year in Kobe Nankinmachi.

 

Hi readers! How did you celebrate the New Year's Day? China celebrates the Chinese New Year as the most important celebration in the Chinese calendar, letting off firecrackers and performing lion dances and dragon dances. Nankinmachi in Kobe has been hosting the Spring Festival with their own twist for the last 27 years.

The Chinese New Year’s Day of 2013 was February 10 and Nankinmachi held the festival from February 2 to 17. One of the highlights of the festival a parade featuring Chinese historical figures, in which people dress up in clothes and makeup from Beijing Opera or the Chronicle of the Three Kingdom, was held on February 10. There are some other great performances each day during the celebration.

(c) Nankinmachi Facebookpage

 

Jalan Besar Community Club who won the Shanghai 4th World Dragon & Lion Dance Championships were invited to perform this year. Their 30 minutes stage was tremendously exciting. Even though it was a cold winter day here, the crowds were mesmerized by that performance.

Look how lively it was!

 

It really was like the dragon was alive! I saw the performance for the first time, and didn’t know how hard they worked inside of the dragon. Their teamwork was amazing.

Yummy part...

Mouthwatering Chinese foods on the street are something you can’t miss. There are limited foods exclusively available during the New Year’s celebration. There was also the New Year’s calligraphy. It was like a beautiful painting.

The Spring Festival  takes place every year in Nankinmachi, Kobe. Why don’t you join next year? Nankinmachi itself is open all year round, so you can enjoy the Chinatown at any time of the year.

 

Happy March,

Hana

Learn about the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake

What comes to mind when you think of the city of Kobe? Many people probably think of the sophisticated modern city with western influences that it is today. When you look at this beautiful city, it’s hard to imagine what it looked like 18 years ago when a huge earthquake devastated Kobe and the surrounding areas at dawn on January 17, 1995 and more than 6,000 people lost their lives.

I would like to introduce the best places to learn about that event.

 

The Disaster Reduction and Human Renovation Institution (The Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake Memorial), located in Chuo ward in Kobe, provides real insight into the tragedy and how the city managed to recover from the effects of the earthquake to come back as one of the most beautiful cities in Japan. It also has plenty of resources on disaster management and an earthquake simulation theater, both of which have contributed a lot to national and international disaster risk reduction.

 

Disaster Reduction and Human Renovation Institution

 

Recreation of the earthquake’s aftermath

 

Hyogo souvenir collection: Banshu-ori Textiles

New serious “Hyogo souvenir collection” starts from this issue.

When you travel somewhere, picking up souvenir is always fun part of a journey. We would like to introduce some of the best local products in Hyogo in this series. Today, I’ll introduce the Hyogo’s top-end textiles Banshu-ori.

Takenaka Carpentry Tools Museum

Guest writers Kanae and Mariko who worked as summer interns write for this issue.

 Hi, everyone! We would like to introduce Takenaka Carpentry Tools Museum which is situated in Kobe Sannnomiya/Motomachi area. 

Takenaka Carpentry Tools Museum

This museum is Japan’s one and only museum that displays carpentry tools. Visitors can see the history, details of carpentry tools and reproductions of classic tools used for centuries in this country. Exhibitions are easy-to-follow and beautiful to see. There are visual touch screen navigations that allow you to study more about the tools.

Yokoo Tadanori Museum of Contemporary Art opened on Nov 3rd.

 

About Tadanori Yokoo

Tadanori Yokoo, born in Nishiwaki city in Hyogo, became an artist after working as a graphic designer for the Kobe Shimbun newspaper. He is an oil painter, book designer and writer. He won the Grand Prize at the 6th Paris Youth Biennal in 1969. Following this success, he has held exhibitions in New York, Hamburg, Amsterdam and Paris, and is recognized as one of Japan’s most successful artists.

 

Yokoo Tadanori Museum of Contemporary Art

The museum houses Yokoo’s world-renowned classic collections in addition to pieces by other artists who have worked alongside him. A whole range of special exhibitions related to Tadanori Yokoo will be held here from now on.

Hyogo’s best viewpoint: Takeda Castle Ruins

View from Ritsuunkyo

Requiring little or no introduction, Himeji Castle has always been Hyogo’s most iconic castle. However, it is the ruins of another castle in Hyogo that are drawing the limelight as a must-see site. Some doubt that ruins alone are worth a visit until they see the picture above. These are the Takeda Castle Ruins in Asago-city, Hyogo. With National Historic Site status, the ruins are attracting quite a few tourists from all over the country as a recently released Japanese movie was filmed there. The figure of visitors hit a record high this year and is expected to rise even further.

This site is also referred to as Japan’s Machu Picchu or “Castle in the Sky” due to its autumnal views surrounded by sea of clouds like the picture above. This sea of clouds can be seen in the early mornings during autumn (Sept- Nov) when there is a sharp temperature difference between day and night.