{"id":4057,"date":"2014-06-03T09:07:23","date_gmt":"2014-06-03T00:07:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hyogoajet.net\/hyogotimes\/?p=4057"},"modified":"2014-06-03T13:16:54","modified_gmt":"2014-06-03T04:16:54","slug":"june-2014","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hyogoajet.net\/hyogotimes\/2014\/06\/june-2014\/","title":{"rendered":"June 2014"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Greetings!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Now don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t hate me, but I have been craving the arrival of the rains for some weeks now. I know, I know, spring is a delightful time of year in Japan and I should savour it while it lasts, but I just can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t. I think it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s partly that the season starts so gloriously with all those cherry blossoms that the following weeks just cannot impress me. Plus this year, raging hay fever has most certainly turned me a little against spring, and maybe my roots in the UK\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s perennially drizzly north are also a factor; I just really feel the need for a good old storm. I took a day this weekend to prepare for the impending downpours. I did <i>four<\/i> loads of washing to make sure I won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t run out of socks for a good few weeks. I also \u00e2\u20ac\u201c heavily medicated against pollen \u00e2\u20ac\u201c ventured out to enjoy one more spring time bout of blossom viewing before lashings of rain tear the petals away. For this I chose Osaka\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Utsubo Park where you can find a spectacular rose garden, literally buzzing with life. It was the perfect way to bid goodbye to spring.<\/p>\n<div id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-4057 gallery-columns-3 gallery-size-thumbnail'><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.hyogoajet.net\/hyogotimes\/sony-dsc-126\/'><img width=\"175\" height=\"116\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hyogoajet.net\/hyogotimes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/DSC04540-175x116.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hyogoajet.net\/hyogotimes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/DSC04540-175x116.jpg 175w, https:\/\/www.hyogoajet.net\/hyogotimes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/DSC04540-300x199.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.hyogoajet.net\/hyogotimes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/DSC04540-512x340.jpg 512w, https:\/\/www.hyogoajet.net\/hyogotimes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/DSC04540.jpg 1154w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 175px) 100vw, 175px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.hyogoajet.net\/hyogotimes\/sony-dsc-125\/'><img width=\"175\" height=\"101\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hyogoajet.net\/hyogotimes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/DSC04583-175x101.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hyogoajet.net\/hyogotimes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/DSC04583-175x101.jpg 175w, https:\/\/www.hyogoajet.net\/hyogotimes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/DSC04583-300x173.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.hyogoajet.net\/hyogotimes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/DSC04583-512x296.jpg 512w, https:\/\/www.hyogoajet.net\/hyogotimes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/DSC04583-85x50.jpg 85w, https:\/\/www.hyogoajet.net\/hyogotimes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/DSC04583.jpg 1327w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 175px) 100vw, 175px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.hyogoajet.net\/hyogotimes\/sony-dsc-120\/'><img width=\"175\" height=\"105\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hyogoajet.net\/hyogotimes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/DSC04527-175x105.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hyogoajet.net\/hyogotimes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/DSC04527-175x105.jpg 175w, https:\/\/www.hyogoajet.net\/hyogotimes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/DSC04527-300x181.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.hyogoajet.net\/hyogotimes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/DSC04527-512x309.jpg 512w, https:\/\/www.hyogoajet.net\/hyogotimes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/DSC04527-570x340.jpg 570w, https:\/\/www.hyogoajet.net\/hyogotimes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/DSC04527-85x50.jpg 85w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 175px) 100vw, 175px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The one thing I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t like about June is the lack of long weekends. May spoiled me with Golden Week, before that it was spring vacation and now I have to wait until July for another free day? It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just too much! Seriously though, we are incredibly pampered with the national holidays in Japan, and that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s set to improve even more in 2016. The government has just <a href=\"http:\/\/news.yahoo.com\/blogs\/sideshow\/japan-creates-new-national-holiday-for--overworked--population-214042766.html\">announced<\/a> creation of Mountain Day, an extra day off in August. Ostensibly this is to celebrate Japan\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s most significant mountains, but word on the street is that it is a last ditch effort to help Japan\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s overworked who refuse to take their allocated leave. We know our colleagues take a different attitude to the gold dust we call nenkyu and eke out with the greatest care, but for a nation to create a whole new national holiday to avoid attempting going to the root of the problem seems like short-sighted madness to me. Or perhaps that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just the nenkyu-envy talking.<\/p>\n<div id='gallery-2' class='gallery galleryid-4057 gallery-columns-2 gallery-size-thumbnail'><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.hyogoajet.net\/hyogotimes\/sony-dsc-124\/'><img width=\"175\" height=\"142\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hyogoajet.net\/hyogotimes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/DSC04580-175x142.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hyogoajet.net\/hyogotimes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/DSC04580-175x142.jpg 175w, https:\/\/www.hyogoajet.net\/hyogotimes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/DSC04580-300x244.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.hyogoajet.net\/hyogotimes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/DSC04580-512x416.jpg 512w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 175px) 100vw, 175px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.hyogoajet.net\/hyogotimes\/sony-dsc-122\/'><img width=\"175\" height=\"124\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hyogoajet.net\/hyogotimes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/DSC04560-175x124.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hyogoajet.net\/hyogotimes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/DSC04560-175x124.jpg 175w, https:\/\/www.hyogoajet.net\/hyogotimes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/DSC04560-300x213.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.hyogoajet.net\/hyogotimes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/DSC04560-512x364.jpg 512w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 175px) 100vw, 175px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p>We may not have any extra national holidays to while away reading, but the rains may keep you cooped up indoors a little more this month. Enjoy that time in perusal of this month\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s issue in which we have a real variety of articles: Sean is helping us all to sound like knowledgeable football fans ahead of the World Cup, Dana\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s introducing the finer points of her beloved bento box, Cherie and I have eaten many many burgers on your behalf, plus our ever topical current affairs section, Kicchiri Kitchen, Where are they now? and more!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Until next month,<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Char<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Greetings! &nbsp; Now don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t hate me, but I have been craving the arrival of the rains for some weeks now. I know, I know, spring is a delightful time of year in Japan and I should savour it while it lasts, but I just can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t. I think it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s partly that the season starts so gloriously&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":82,"featured_media":4038,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false},"categories":[278,362],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.hyogoajet.net\/hyogotimes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/DSC04546.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hyogoajet.net\/hyogotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4057"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hyogoajet.net\/hyogotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hyogoajet.net\/hyogotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hyogoajet.net\/hyogotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/82"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hyogoajet.net\/hyogotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4057"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.hyogoajet.net\/hyogotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4057\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hyogoajet.net\/hyogotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4038"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hyogoajet.net\/hyogotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4057"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hyogoajet.net\/hyogotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4057"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hyogoajet.net\/hyogotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4057"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}