Tokaido Walk Book： August 30, 2015

A book on my Tokaido Walk was published today.

The title is “Let’s walk Tokaido, watch Japan’s local areas, and talk about the country”.

「東海道を歩こう　地域を見よう　日本を語ろう」

It is written in Japanese language.

The book includes:

- About 200 photos of Tokaido (about 500 kilometers from Tokyo to Kyoto)

- Essays on Japanese history, culture and society observed in Tokaido

- Information on 53 shukuba stations

The book is available for purchase at Amazon and other online bookshops.

The 2nd photo is with a belly band.

Late summer @Setagaya: August 23, 2015

It is still hot, but the season is turning from summer to autumn. The day is getting shorter and the leaves of the trees began to fall.

I walked around Setagaya ward, western Tokyo.

Many people enjoyed their times in the walking paths.

There was s baseball tournament held in the Hanegi Park. Boys played hard in the games and the parents watched them. The summer vacation will end shortly.

Cicadas made sound everywhere. 

Sparrows and other birds flew around. I also found butterflies and dragonflies.

Many typhoons are being created in the tropical area in the Pacific Ocean at the season. Some typhoons hit Japan and dome give influence on the weather even when they do not directly hit the country (We have rainy or windy days). The weather is also moving into the autumn mode.

Dubai: August 8, 2015

I am astonished with the number of skyscrapers every time I visit Dubai. It was my first visit in eight years (except the transits in the airport) and I found much more buildings than before.

The 828 meter-high (160 floors) Burj Khalifar is the tallest building in the world. It opened in 2010. I visited there for the first time.

The observatory is in the 124 and 125floors. The elevator brought us in about 60 minutes.

I found the modern buildings developed in the desert. All the developments have been achieved in last 50 years.

The Dubai Mall is open under the Buri Khalifar tower. It has a huge aquarium inside.

New business and commercial district have been developed in this five to 10 years. The district near Dubai Marina is an example. 

A monorail system has been built in the artificial Palm island.

New metro has been introduced. It was clean and easy to use.

Tourist enjoyed suntan and swimming in the beach near Burj Al Arab, the seven star hotel.

Traditional dhow ships stayed in the Dubai creek. The bring things to/from Iran, Somalia and other nations.

Construction works were carried out everywhere.

It was 2009, the following year of the world financial crisis, when the “Dubai shock” shook the world. There rose a question on the future development of the city. Now, it looked that the emirate had been back on the growth path.

The function as a regional hub seems to be bigger than before.

By the way, it was hot -- 51 degrees!

Cyprus: August 5-7, 2015

It took about two hours by plane from Greece to Cyprus. Geographically, it is nearer to the Middle East (Syria, Egypt etc.) than to Europe. The country is however a member of the European Union.

It had a financial crisis in 2012 and 2013. The economy started to recover, with the help of the EU, and it recorded the first positive growth in the first quarter (January- March) in 2015 after the crisis.

I only visited Nicosia and some other places and it was hard to find the aftermath of the crisis.

The highway from Larnaka Airport to Nicosia was well developed. The number of the automobiles was relatively small.

It was so hot. The temperature went up over 40 degrees. It was extraordinary for the country.

Nicosia has been divided into two parts since 1974. The southern part of the island is ruled by Greek residence while the northern part is inhabited by Turk people. Nicosia is the last divided capital in the world.

I walked along the border in southern Nicosia. The roads were blocked by barriers. (see also the top photo).

I found the “Berlin Wall No.2” café at the side of the border. 

I also found a design in the caps of sewage holes which symbolized the divided city. (see also the 2nd photo from the top).

There is a check point through which we can go up and down between the southern part and the northern part of the city. 

Each Greek and Turk administration has its gate. The left picture is Turkey-side gate.

There is a space which is managed by the U.N. between the two gates. 

The border is called the “Green Line”, which runs through not only Nicosia but also the whole island. The total length is about 300 kilometers. About 800 U.N. soldiers guard the line.

The atmosphere of the two parts was quite different.

The shopping streets in the southern part of Nicosia are modern. They were full of foreign tourists. Historic place such as Byzantine Museum were well arranged.

I found many mosques in the northern Nicosia. 

The streets and the shops looked older than those in the southern part.

I also visited mountainous area in the central part of the island. 

Many villages are trying to attract people with “agro tourism”. 

They sell local products.
The landscape was beautiful.

Greece (2) Acropolis, islands and other must-see places: August 2-4, 2015

It is needless to say that Greece has many attractive places for tourists. I really enjoyed my walks in the country.

Acropolis is the highlight of the sightseeing in Athens. The Parthenon, the masterpiece of the ancient Greek civilization and a symbolic birthplace of the western civilization, stands on the hill. I was strongly impressed.

The old Dionysos theater was at the foot of the hill. Other temples and gates remained. The sky was blue and the temperature was high. I walked around the hill in the shower of the cicada sounds.

I got good information of the Acropolis as well as the ancient Greece at the new Acropolis Museum, which opened in 2009.

I also visited the Agora, the market and the citizen’s gathering place in the ancient times. It is near the Acropolis. It was interesting for me to imagine that Socrates and other philosophers made speeches here.

There are many ancient buildings in the city. The Hadrian’s gate and the Temple of the Olympians Zeus are examples.

The Parliament stood in front of the Syntagma Square. People gathered there to see the exchange of the guards is performed in every hour.

The Plaka district remains old atmosphere. I enjoyed window shopping and the tea there.

I also joined a cruising tour in the Aegean Sea and visit three islands, the Hydra, the Poros and the Egina. The sea was beautiful and the towns were lovely.

People do not use automobiles in the Hydra island. They instead use donkeys and horses there. (see the photo 2nd from the top).

The Poros island locates near the Peloponnese peninsula. Wind power generators were placed on the mountain top.

Greece (1) Society and Economy：August 2-5, 2015

It was less than a month ago when Greek Crisis was at the center of attention in the world. The events such as a chicken race with the EU on the bailout negotiation, the abruptly announced referendum, a sudden agreement, made headlines in the international news.

I visited the Athens, the capital of the country.

The town was calmer than I had expected before my visit. It is reported that the country’s unemployment rate is more than 25% for all working ages and nearly 60% (surprising!) for young generation. The figures are as high as those in the U.S. in the early 1930s, the time of the Great Depression.

The town looked normally working. The metro, the buses and the taxies ran without any serious problem. There were many foreign tourists in the city. The restaurants and souvenir shops in Plaka and other popular places for tourists were crowded.

Still, I found some homeless people lying in the sidewalks. Some of them were just near the automated teller machines, which had recently restarted normal operation after having limited the amount of withdrawal. However, I did not find the number of the homeless people were fur much more than the number in Tokyo.

I found many dogs lying in the ground near the Syntagma Square, the center of downtown Athens. It is nothing to do with the economic crisis. They do so as it is hot.

I also found lots of graffiti on the walls in many places in central Athens. 

Many of them were drawn for the referendum. (see the top picture).

I also visited the cultural area near Athens University and the National Technical University of Athens. Many far-left activists as well as anarchists live in the area, according to a local person. The graffiti looked having been drawn far before the referendum.

The infrastructure, including airport, metro and highways, looked far better than decades ago.

The Athens stock exchange resumed its operation on April 3^rd (during my stay). The index dropped about 16% compared with the level of June 28^th when it was closed.

The hottest news among the Greek people at the moment was the increasing refugee from the Middle East through Turkey into the country (especially to the Lesvos, Kos and other islands which locate near Turkey), not the economy. 

The function of the families (along with other mechanisms) might be working as safety net of the society under such high unemployment rate, according to a local friend.

On my arrival at Athens, I was welcomed by a message board of a bank at the airport. It said "the most forward-thinking banking...”. Many foreign visitors laughed at the board. I was one of them.