Japan: Kitanoda

During my first week here I’ve been living with my boss and his family in an area of Sakai City called Kitanoda. Because of the threat of earthquakes here people tend to knock down and rebuilt their houses quite frequently, and like a car in the UK, every house will begin to depreciate in value as time goes by. A lack of space means that houses are also quite small, so the suburban landscape is totally different to any I’ve ever seen.

I had a spare couple of hours the other day between lessons, so I went out for a walk and took some pictures. Here they are!

Garbo. I’m guessing it doesn’t sell cheap Estonian beer like the one in Hull.

The local bread shop - they don’t have Kingsmill, I asked.

A Kitanoda street. I have to violate the “never walk over three consecutive drains” rule quite frequently here.

I can see mountains from the road – quite a change from living in Hull.

These people obviously didn’t get the memo about rebuilding their house.

Kitanoda apartments.

If “Nishikawa” translates as “the nude” then I’ll be frequenting this alley very often.

Typical Japanese house with cherry blossom tree.

Choose your starter Jeff!

Local advertisement for the school.

The order of the day is lines, squiggles and dots apparently.

Nearby apartments and the main road.

I thought these were Hugo Boss vending machines at first, but apparently it’s coffee!

Cheap petrol - ¥149 is just under £1.

I’m hoping to get some proper exploring in the centre of Osaka done next week, and maybe a trip out of town, so watch this space!