{"id":62052,"date":"2024-10-15T19:14:41","date_gmt":"2024-10-15T08:14:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/billmitchell.org\/blog\/?p=62052"},"modified":"2024-10-15T22:20:28","modified_gmt":"2024-10-15T11:20:28","slug":"kyoto-report-2024-no-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/billmitchell.org\/blog\/?p=62052","title":{"rendered":"Kyoto Report 2024 – No 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

This Tuesday report will provide some insights into life for a westerner (me) who is working for an extended period at Kyoto University in Japan.
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Life is settling down here again – it always takes a week or so to put my Japanese shoes on so to speak and get used to the different sounds from nature and people.<\/p>\n

But out here in the suburbs it is very quiet and as long as one keeps clear of the tourist areas, Kyoto is a magic place to be.<\/p>\n

We know the local shopkeepers and other personalities around the locality and feel very much at home.<\/p>\n

Here are few things to report from this week.<\/p>\n

Cleaning up the landscape after Summer<\/h2>\n

All along the Kamogawa and Takano rivers – the latter running into the former near where I live (the Y junction near the Kamo \u014chashi Bridge which is where Imadegawa dori crosses the Kamo), there is a lot of work going on cutting the grass down after the Summer growth.<\/p>\n

Council workers do this everywhere (in the World) but I have never seen the workers who hold the safety screens in anywhere but Japan.<\/p>\n

They shield the runners (and walkers) along the river paths from the workers who whipper snipper the grass.<\/p>\n

Sometimes, the work crews also have whistles and when someone is approaching they blow the whistle and the work stops.<\/p>\n

They place a priority on safety.<\/p>\n

This photo was taken above the river along Kawabata Dori – a main road heading North-South down the east side of the Kamo river.<\/p>\n

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Black kites attacking runners<\/h2>\n

At this time of the year, when I have been in Australia, I am constantly on the lookout for swooping magpies when I am out running in the mornings.<\/p>\n

In Kyoto, it is the Black Kite that swoops.<\/p>\n

The Japanese part of the sign says ‘To All Visitors’ then ‘Watch out for Kites’ and finally ‘They may dive down from the sky and target you’.<\/p>\n

Okay.<\/p>\n

This sign was in the Imperial Palace Gardens which has one of my favourite running routes.<\/p>\n

I keep my eyes peeled that is for sure.<\/p>\n

The Kites are huge and make the magpies look like angels.<\/p>\n

The Kites fly overhead around the river too, which is just near the Imperial Palace and their wing span is something to behold.<\/p>\n

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Yodogawa kasenkoen Hirakata chiku Parkrun<\/h2>\n

Parkrun is catching on in Japan, which is a good thing.<\/p>\n

There are not many opportunities yet in the Kyoto area but the options are expanding.<\/p>\n

Last Saturday, I left my house early (6:20) caught a train down south to Hirakatashi Station (about 30 minutes from Demachiyanagi station which is near where I live) and walked across the Yodogawa River Park through the Wildflower Field in the Ikaga Wildflower District (\u30a4\u30ab\u30ac\u30f3\u91ce\u751f\u82b1\u30a8\u30ea\u30a2) and came to the – Yodogawa kasenkoen Hirakata chiku<\/a> – Parkrun.<\/p>\n

This is down near Osaka and runs along the Yodogawa River through the big park.<\/p>\n

I was surprised that the participants were mostly local – so the Westerners haven’t caught on to it yet – and the organisers were really welcoming.<\/p>\n

The run director came across especially to explain the course to me, which I thought was great.<\/p>\n

It is a nice course, a little rise in the way out and a big loop to finish.<\/p>\n

It was great weather and everybody exuded health and happiness.<\/p>\n

I caught the train back and felt that it was a great day.<\/p>\n

Here is the group photo – I am the guy with the fluoro yellow cap and blue top.<\/p>\n

I love Parkrun because it brings together all ages in a non-corporate environment.<\/p>\n

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Next week, I am off to the Sunshine Beach Parkrun, which is down on the shores of Lake Biwa.<\/p>\n

That is enough for today!<\/p>\n

(c) Copyright 2024 William Mitchell. All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This Tuesday report will provide some insights into life for a westerner (me) who is working for an extended period at Kyoto University in Japan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-62052","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-japan","entry","no-media"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/billmitchell.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62052","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/billmitchell.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/billmitchell.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billmitchell.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billmitchell.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=62052"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/billmitchell.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62052\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/billmitchell.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=62052"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billmitchell.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=62052"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billmitchell.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=62052"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}