Season’s Greetings! Well, a short but sweet koyo season is rapidly fading as the chill of winter takes hold. Kotatsus and electric blankets across the region are being dusted off and plugged in, and those without shiver with cold and poorly concealed envy. Thanks to the sudden switch from Halloween to Christmas decorations in…
This article is brought to you through a partnership between the Heart of Japan blog, a project by　the Hyogo International Association, and the Hyogo Times. Boasting 10,000 candles placed all over the town, Takasago Lantern Festival (é«˜ç ‚ä¸‡ç¯ç¥, Takasago Mantousai) also features jazz and traditional Japanese music performances along with specially illuminated historical buildings, temples…
Hyogo Board of Education’s annual Skills Development Conference November 21-22, 2013 Attended by 485 ALTs and JTEs A review by two JHS ALTs: This year’s Skills Development Conference was a pleasant surprise. Sort of. Well, there were pieces that were helpful and interesting. Unfortunately, there were more parts of the Conference that were frustrating and…
Taking my own good advice from the November issue, I took myself off to Osaka to indulge in some European culture at the 20th anniversary of the Osaka European Film Festival. Over the festival’s final weekend I enjoyed two films at the Hotel Elséreine. Although on very different topics, both were well-executed examples of Europe’s…
Last month we kick started our first book club with reading fanatics from all over Hyogo (thanks for coming guys!). There were heated opinions, casual conversations and a spontaneous game of charades. For an unbiased review here’s Amy Kelly from Akashi: An afternoon of high-brow literary analysis with a side of book-title charades. Last month,…
This article comes from former Awaji island ALT Stephen Harmon’s blog A Walk in Japan. Having spent a year exploring all that the island has to offer, Stephen is the perfect man to tell us how to use this year’s Skills Development Conference on Awaji as an excuse for an unforgettable, fun-filled weekend trip on…
This month Arjan Tulsi speaks to Canadian couple David Chan and Susan Wong about their Hyogo experience.  When were you in Hyogo and where were you placed? We were in Hyogo for 1 year from 2010-2011 and were Hyogo ALTs placed in Kobe. We got married the year before joining JET and were lucky…
Our next stop along the pilgrim trail is in Nara, temple number nine, known as Nan’endo. Nan’endo is a small octagonal space (in fact, its name means “southern round/octagonal templeâ€), part of the more massive and influential Kofuku-ji complex. Kofuku-ji has been one of the most influential temples in Japanese Buddhism, and Nan’endo has always…
In October there was an 英国 fair at the Hankyuu department store in Umeda. There was a picture of pasties on the advertisement for it. Pasties! Teachers at work may have been lusting after scones, but meh, they’re easy enough to make at home (though the cream is an issue I will allow). When I…