Kobe's International Radio Station

It's amazing how many things you miss even when you've been living somewhere for a few years. I just learned today that the city of Kobe actually has an international radio station. I suppose since we don't have a radio in our house, I never had a chance to come across it. It's also not a new thing. It's been in existence for 15 years. Radio FM YY is a foreign language station that has shows in 10 languages and is run by a staff of more than 100 volunteers. The station was born out of the Kobe Earthquake when there was no way for the roughly 45,000 foreign residents of Kobe to receive emergency information.

I learned about the station today while reading an article on Japan Today.

15 years after quake, Kobe radio station still serves foreign community
KOBE - The Radio FM YY studio looks like a miniature version of Kobe and the city’s more than 43,000 foreign nationals from about 120 countries.

“So, how do people in Latin America spend their holidays?” asks a DJ in Spanish in one recording booth, while in the booth next door a DJ welcomes a Thai dancer in Japanese and tells him to introduce himself through simultaneous interpretation.

The community radio station, which broadcasts music, news and other programs in 10 languages, is in a modern-looking church building near the waterfront in Nagata Ward that bears little resemblance to how the area looked after a magnitude 7.3 temblor hit the Hanshin region on the morning of Jan 17, 1995.

The site was an emergency shelter for scores of foreigners, especially Vietnamese living in the area, after the Great Hanshin Earthquake hit, leaving more than 6,000 people dead and thousands injured and forced into hardship.

The disaster was made worse for some foreigners because they couldn’t understand Japanese. Read the rest of the article



Of course, Japan wasn't able to avoid the economic meltdown in 2009 that hit other parts of the world. With a bad economy comes less drinking money in one's pocket. How do you solve this problem? The 50 yen izakaya (50 cent pub).

50-yen 'izakayas' emerge for cash-strapped workers
TOKYO - These are hard times for the average salaried worker, with no pay raise and reduced bonuses. But the happy news is the emergence of so-called “50-yen izakayas.”

According to gourmet writer Ryuji Tazawa, “In recent years company employees have no more than 20,000 yen to 30,000 yen a month as allowance money. After deducting lunch costs and others, you have at most 10,000 yen for after-work drinks. If you spend 5,000 yen a night, you can only go out twice a month. That’s the situation. So this year, I expect an increase in low-budget izakayas to meet the demand of such people. A number of places already serve 50-yen appetizers, so a customer can eat and drink plenty for 1,000 yen. The 50-yen izakayas will probably become very popular this year.” Read more

A beautiful day and 2000 subscribers

Another hot weekend has come and gone. I don't mean "hot" as in "sexy" and "vixen-like", but hot as in...."DAMN...I could fry an egg on the sidewalk in Kansai" hot! Today was a day for hanging around the homestead, getting a nice and sleek summer haircut and generally sitting on my balcony enjoying a cocktail or two.

I'm happy news, I reached 2000 subscribers this week on You Tube. I'm pleased. One might even say that I'm as pleased as punch, though I'm not exactly sure what being as pleased as punch entails. Is that fruit punch or some sort of spiked punch?



I wanted to share a few photos I took over the last week or two in the greater Kansai region!


I saw this sign as I was walking down a street in Akashi, Japan. it's a hair salon and what a name!!! "God Hands"!!! Is it simple arrogance or ignorance? How should I feel about getting a haircut here? Does this guarantee an amazing haircut???


Last Sunday, we had a small You Tube get together inKyoto. There were a few vloggers there. Myself, KansaiPJ, Spydermurphy, Zeroteku and Reynoldsair, the guy who organized it. A few other folks joined our group as well. We hung around in an izakaya (Japanese pub) and had an awesome time. There should be another small You Tube meetup sometime in July, but I'm still unsure of the date and location.


Here's a shot of the Kobe waterfront I took a few weeks ago. My wife and I saw the movie Angels and Demons and as we came outside of the theatre (you can tell I'm Canadian by my spelling of this word) we were greeted by this picturesque sight. It was so picturesque, that I was indeed forced to take a picture. Funny how that happens. You can see Kobe Tower (phallic-like red structure and behind it, the Kobe Maritime Museum). Kobe is indeed a pretty and one might even say, picturesque city!

Train Station Fights and Bicycles

Yesterday was a day for shopping and dealing with hordes of people in downtown Kobe. It is one of the last nights for Kobe Luminare so there were tens of thousands of people on the streets to take in the lights. Luckily Mai and I went there last Friday when there were far less people.

After a day of shopping we deserved a beverage, but soon found that most of our normal haunts were booked with bonenkais. Almost every izakaya, restaurant and pub in Japan is booked up on Friday and Saturday nights in December with year end parties. Eventually we wandered into The Avery's which is a wonderful and wonderfully small Irish pub close to Tokyu Hands. We met several friendly folks, and had a great time.

On the way home we were a little startled when a group of Japanese men were chasing a really big and bloodied man into the JR station. They jumped on his back and continued to wail away on him. Don't know what was going on, but I knew I didn't want any piece of that action. They looked like some pretty tough dudes...probably sporting some big dragon tattoos under their clothes!


Ah....this morning I came across this REALLY COOL video from Danny Choo.

Japan Bike Storage

I actually haven't sen a device like this and neither has my wife. Man....damn cool technology. Check out some more cool Japanese stuff at DannyChoo.com.

Oh yeah...my from PJ and I made a "Bad Beer" review video. Actually we reviewed 2 bad beers. I'll post the vids here tomorrow...or later today.