There And Back

Tia, a girl from Minnesota also in Osaka on exchange, shared the first song with me. They are amazing Japanese guitar players (しゃみせん- shyamisen). The second song I heard playing in McDonalds the other day and I instantly connected it to my life here. 

Rising- Yoshida Brothers
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RERXiliJfdI

Moment 4 Life- Nicki Minaj
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YN0Saar-QKQ

This is the blog I've been trying to work out for awhile now. My goal was to create a post that has pictures from my personal experience in different major cities that I have visited and also have background information on these cities so that you can have a better understanding of these amazing places.

Osaka
Osaka literally translates to "large slope" or "large hill".

Osaka is the capital city of Osaka Prefecture. It is located at the mouth of Yodo River on Osaka Bay. It is the third largest city by population after Tokyo and Yokohama. Historically the commercial center of Japan, Osaka serves as one of the command centers for the Japanese economy. The ration between day time and night time population is 141% (the highest in Japan- highlighting its status as an economic center)- Day time population is around 3.7 million while night time is around 2.6 million.

Osaka used to be referred to as the "nation's kitchen" in the Edo period because it was the center of trading for rice, creating the first modern futures exchange market in the world.

The initial area of the city was 15km sq. and after three major expansions it has reached its current size of 222km sq.

Osaka was the industrial center most clearly defined in the development of capitalism in Japan. The political system was pluralistic, with a strong emphasis on promoting industrialization and modernization. Literacy was high and the educational system expanded rapidly. This produced a middle class with a sense of literature and a willingness to support the arts. (*Today it is the center of comedy in Japan.)

Like its European and American counterparts, Osaka displayed slums, unemployment, and poverty. In Japan, it was Osaka that first introduced a comprehensive system of poor relief, copying part from British models. Osaka policymakers stressed the importance of family formation and mutual assistance as the best way to combat poverty. This minimized the cost of welfare programs.

Osaka faced major devastation during World War II due to American bomber attacks on a regular basis in the last year of the war. Many people fled and most of the industrial districts were severely damaged. However the city quickly rebuilt its infrastructure after 1945 and regained its status as a major industrial and cultural center.

I live in the Osaka Prefecture and have been into the city a couple of times. I normally go into the city for shopping in Namba and Tenouji but I have also been downtown Osaka at the Grand Cube for my school's 100th anniversary celebration. Oh and I can't forget the time I went to Tenouji Zoo!

Shopping at Namba with Shiho (8/27/12)

Eating out (9/23/12, 10/6/12, 11/14/12, 11/25/12, 12/10/12)

Zoo (9/23/12)

Kanan's 100th Anniversary at the Grand Cube (11/14/12)

Movies (9/29/12, 12/10/12)

Nara
Nara is the capital city of Nara Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan. The city is in the northern part of Nara Prefecture and directly borders the Kyoto Prefecture. Eight temples, shrines, ruins, and Kasugayama Primeval Forest collectively form "Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara", a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The temples of Nara are collectively known as the Nanto Shichi Daiji. The remained powerful even after the move of the political capital to Kyoto in 794. Nara was the capital of Japan from 710 to 794.

In 2010, Nara celebrated its 1,300th anniversary of its rise to the high level and power as Japan's imperial capital.

With my host grandpa, cousins, and parents (10/6/12)

With Valentina and her host grandma (10/20/12)

Kyoto
Kyoto is a city in the central part of the Honshu, Japan. It has a population around 1.5 million. It was formerly the imperial capital of Japan (794-1869) and it is now the capital of Kyoto Prefecture. It is also a  part of the Kyoto-Osaka-Kobe major metropolitan area.

It was ranked 11th as on of the world's most livable cities in the magazine Monocle in 2012- Kyoto was praised for its history and compact city solutions such as its own subway system.

In the late 16th century, Toyotomi Hideyoshi (a warrior, general and politician in the Sengoku period. He is regarded as Japan's second "great unifier") restructured the city by building new streets in order to double the number of north-south streets in central Kyoto. He created rectangle blocks, taking the place of the ancient square blocks. Hideyoshi also built Odoi (earthwork walls) throughout the city.

Today, Kyoto is one of the few cities in Japan that still has an abundance of prewar buildings like machiya (traditional townhouses). However, modernization is continually breaking down the traditional Kyoto in favor of newer architecture like the Kyoto Station complex.

With my host parents (10/26/12)

With my host family (11/25/12)

Tokyo
Tokyo has been the capital of Japan since 1869.  It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace (home of the Japanese Imperial Family). It is also the largest metropolitan area in the world.

Tokyo was originally known as Edo (meaning estuary) and changed to Tokyo (to- east + kyo- capital) when it became the imperial capital.

Edo was originally a small fishing village in what was formerly part of the old Musashi Province. Edo grew into one of the largest cities in the world with a population over 1 million by the 18th century. It became the capital even while the emperor lived in Kyoto, the imperial capital. In 1869, the 17 year old Emperor Meiji moved to Edo. Tokyo was already the nation's political and cultural center and the emperor's residence made it the imperial capital as well. The former Edo Castle became the Imperial Palace. 

I have not been to Tokyo yet but I would really love to visit!

Sayonara from Osaka, Japan.