On Jul 11, 4:31 am, Declan Murphy <declan_mur...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> On Jul 11, 1:09 pm, mtfes...@netMAPSONscape.net wrote:
>
> > Just got done wathing another episode of Sawaya Shizen Hyakkei, and was
> > reminded of how truly beautiful Japan is. For a land with so many people
> > in such a small area to have so many essentially unspoiled areas is
> > absolutely remarkable, and unappreciated by roughly 99% of the Japanese,
> > much less tourists. It seems half the episodes deal with Hokkaido, but
> > some of the shows dealing with areas just outside of Tokyo (well, Izu),
> > not to mention Kochi really drive home to me some of the things I miss
> > about the country (though my wife and the child units are solidly in the
> > "If it's not a city, it doesn't exist" school of thought.)
>
> Even a highly urban area such as Aichi, has extensive areas of
> mountainous terrain that is mostly devoid of people. Its one of the
> best things about living here. The "unappreciated by roughly 99%..."
> comment though, is pretty much spot on. I take students to a senmaida
> not far from Toyokawa on a regular basis, beautiful place, but apart
> from a handful of local farmers (average age 90?), never anybody
> around.

The reason I love Kobe is that you can be at great restaurants or
shopping within ten minutes, and can also be on hiking trails in some
pretty deep forest in the same amount of time. Add to that the
relative convenience of life in Japan (easy access to groceries/food/
beverages/transportation/etc) and it's pretty ideal. Unfortunately my
wife and son have no desire to live there unless I can make enough for
her to not work and for him to go to one of the better international
schools. Which is to say, we won't be going back. (I now refer you to
the 'mid life crisis' thread).

John W.