Gala Event of Shizuoka City in Tokyo: Dec.16, 2015

I attended a gala event held by Shizuoka City. It aimed to promote the city in Tokyo. More than 300 people gathered.

Famous animation (manga) character chibimaruko-chan, along with the mayor, politicians, and the local government’s staff members, welcomed the guests(top photo).

Local foods were served. They included oden (ingredients such as daikon vegetable and processed fishcakes boiled in soy-flavoured soup), motsu curry (curry with organ meats), sakura-ebi shrimp, shirasu (whitebait), oranges, green tea, local sake (rice wine), and many others.

They promoted local products, too. They included plastic model toys, canned foods, and cookies. Tourism and local events were also campaigned.

The information for those who want to move to Shizuoka and work there was offered. The city is keen in attracting companies as well as people.

Revitalizing the local communities is one of the most important topics in Japan now. They face problems such as the decrease of population, aging, the decline of traditional industries, and the deterioration of public finance. The local problems are partially linked with the concentration of population and economic activities into Tokyo area.

The local governments make their own plans for .reactivation of the areas. Most of them are similar. They include the policies to invite companies, promote tourism, to offer better social security services, and to support raising children. Shizuoka City is same in the points.

The meeting was useful for me to expand my human network. I heard interesting stories in the region. I tasted good foods, too.

The articles of my walks in Shizuoka area in this blog are posted at:

TokaidoWalk (Yoshiwawa-Yui)

TokaidoWalk (Yui-Ejiri)

TokaidoWalk (Ejiri-Fuchu)
TokaidoWalk (Fuchu-Okabe)

Daidogei(Street performance) in Shizuoka

ShizuokaCity

Sakura-ebiShrimp (Yui)

Mihoin Shimizu ward, Shizuoka City

Singapore: Dec. 5-10, 2015

I had my first visit to Singapore and walked many streets and places in the city-state.

It was 1819 when Sir Thomas Raffles of England landed the island. It was a small village of fishermen. Now, skyscrapers of financial building stand along the Singapore River behind Ruffle’s statue.

Singapore separated from Malaysia and became an independent state in 1965. It celebrates its 50^th anniversary this year. The logo of “SG 50” is displayed everywhere.

The new buildings have the facilities with latest technologies. The buildings at the Marina Financial Center do not have the buttons of floors in the elevators. Instead, the operation is controlled through ID cards and instructions at the elevator halls.

The Merlion has been ill-spoken as one of three big disappointments in the world. It was not so bad for me (partially because the expectation was not so high). Many tourists enjoy taking pictures with it. (see also the top photo)

There stand the buildings of the “Marina Bay Sands” in front of the Merlion. The three hotel buildings have about 2500 rooms. 

The famous ship-shape sky deck is on the buildings. I enjoyed a skywalk at about 200 meter high.

“The Gardens by the Bay”, which lies between the sea and the Marina Bay Sands, has the features of both public park and amusement center. The Super trees were especially impressive for me. There are 18 trees and they are 25-50 meter high. The scene gave me the impression of the future city in the SF movie (See also the photo second from the top).

I found interesting objects and monuments in the garden.

Hundreds of ships were anchored off the shore. It is probably possible because Singapore does not have big typhoons. The city-nation competes with Shanghai and other ports for the largest container port in the world (see also the the third photo from the top).

The country’s size is as large as Tokyo’s 23 wards. It has about five million people. With its success (so far) in financial service and high-tech industries, Singapore enjoys economic prosperity. Its GDP per capita is the highest in major Asian countries.

The Orchard Road, one of the busiest commercial areas, was decorated with Christmas goods. Huge commercial buildings including the Ion and Takashimaya were crowded with shoppers.

The city was clean and artificial as is often reported. Still, there are some messy areas, too. I felt people's energy when I visited the hawkers (open-air stools) at the Bugis Street.

The combination of traditional houses and tall buildings were found in many places.

The ASEAN paragames (ASEAN version of Paralympic) were held when I visited there. The players as well as the officials looked happy when they moved around the city.

I found no ASEAN flags in the city (it is quite different from EU member countries), but I felt the ASEAN integration proceeding (slowly) at the paragames scenes.

Johor Bahru, Malaysia: Dec.6, 2015

I had a short trip to Johor Bahru, Malaysia, during my stay in Singapore.

There were many things to talk about. What was most impressive for me was “co-existence” of different cultures, religions and lives in the city.

They have a Hindu temple in central Johor Bahru (top photo) There are shops around the temple to sell flowers and other decorations (to offer them to the temple).

There stands a Sikh temple next to the Hindu temple. 

Then, there is a Buddhism temple in the next corner. The Koran announcement began when I was walking in the area. 

At least four religions, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Sikhism, live together there.

I also found the co-existence of the old and the new. Modern high buildings stand behind the temples and old stores.

Old traditional houses and stores remain in many places. 

The area around Jalan Dhoby (Dhoby Street) is now famous as a place with many old buildings. I found tourists walking there. 

Constructions were taking place in many places. I found many roads in the map of my tourist guidebook no longer remained because of recent developments.

The City Square shopping mall in the central city was crowded. Unlike the shopping centers in Singapore, they do not have luxury-brand shops such as Hermes or Gucci. 

Instead, they have H&M, Uniqlo, and other popular stores. The restaurants were crowded with families. Snoopy, Hello Kitty and other characters were used for the Christmas sales.

I saw some women in Islamic cloths, but I also saw ladies in miniskirts and in hot pants. I found many mobile phone shops in the city like many other cities in the world.

It took only about 30 minutes by bus from central Singapore to Johor Bahru. However, it also took another 30 minutes to wait the bus in a long cue. I was also in long lines at the border controls of both Singapore and Malaysia. The situation on the way back from Johor Bahru to Singapore was worse in the evening. The border scenes are always interesting.

Jakarta: Nov.29-Dec.4, 2015

I came to Jakarta for the first time in about 18 years and walked around the city. A mask was indispensable to prevent the dirty air from coming into my body.

I found dramatic changes of the town. The city was full of energy for development, and messy.

Skyscrapers, traffic jam, motorbikes, air pollution, busway, and mobile phones are among the keywords which symbolize current situation of the metropolis.

Jakarta was huge but flat in my memory 18 years ago. Now, there are hundreds of skyscrapers in many districts in the city.

The buildings are not only tall, but also massive.

Constructions are under way everywhere. 

In addition to the buildings, works to make transportation system (Mass Rapid Transit, which includes subway) are being conducted.

There remain old houses around the modern skyscrapers (see the top photo). 

The sidewalks are full of holes.

The water remains long on the road after the rain. 

The canals are dirty. The contrast between the new and the old is impressive.

Traffic jam is heavy. It took more than 15 minute to move a bloc by taxi. There are so many motor bikes (like other Southeast Asian nations) and three wheelers (the also second photo from the top). 

Jakarta does not have its subway system so far (it is under construction). Instead, they have the "busway" system. I took on it (see also the third photo from the top).

The air pollution is mainly caused by the emission of the bikes and cars, not by the haze here in Jakarta. I had a headache when I forgot wearing a mask on my mouth.

I found the development of the middle class. The new shopping centers in central Jakarta are large and spacious. They attracted many shoppers. I found the prices of the goods and foods were as expensive as those in Tokyo, but many customers were enjoying their shopping and meals.

I saw the customers making lines to make their shopping cards in the “Plaza Indonesia”, one of the leading shipping malls.

There are shopping centers for less rich people, too. I visited one of them in the northern part of the city. Many goods were displayed in narrow spaces. The prices of the goods were lower. The prices were much lower in the open-air stalls outside.

The gap between the rich and the poor is widening, which makes a problem as economy rapidly develop.

Families enjoyed their holidays in the Murdeka Square, central Jakarta. They took pictures in front of the 132meter-high Monas monument, which commemorate the independence.

Hundreds of people gathered in the Fatahillah Squre in Bativia, northern part of the city. The area is the birthplace of Jakarta. Old Dutch court stands at the side of the square. The first construction of the Bativia CIty was in the early 17^th century or about 400 years ago.

The mobile phones were used every where.

The Japanese pop culture was popular, I found. JKT 48' s theater is in a commercial building in Senayan, southern Jakarta. I also found various Japanese characters used in the packages of food products even if the products were not made by Japanese companies.

Autumn Scenes @ Iwate Prefecture: Oct 31- Nov. 1, 2015

During my visit to the places to see how reconstruction efforts are being made, I enjoyed the autumn scenes of Iwate Prefecture.

It was the season of autumn color. The mountains changed partially to red and partially to yellow.

It was nice days and the sea was blue.

At Sanriku Station of Sanriku Tetsudo railway, they dried persimmons. 

People wrote their wishes in on the scallop shells and left them at Koishihama station.

They run a steam locomotive train in the weekend. My tourists bus ran side by side with the SL train. It was an exciting experience.

There is a shopping place with old-fashioned atmosphere in Machiya-Monogatari facility in Morioka City. The goods produced by Save Iwate and other NGOs engaged in the reconstruction works are sold there. I tasted walnut-flavored soft cream in the store.