The quiet seaside

It's been awhile since I've posted. I've recently started a new Japanese language class and have been back to work after the "Kobe Swine Flu Hysteria"!


KOBE INFLUENZA UPDATE: As I mentioned in some previous posts. It was all hype and hysteria. Things are pretty much back to normal and almost no one is wearing masks now. Finished! Hopefully the local businesses will recover quickly. The local economy took quite a hit recently since so many folks in Kobe were hiding under their table,crying with masks on; afraid of a relatively weak form of the flu!



Recently I was on a field trip with my class to the seaside in the small city of Akashi. Akashi is located between Kobe and Himeji and is a quiet little fishing city. We were hanging around the waterfront drawing pictures of the fishing boats.

If you've ever wondered what a Japanese fishing boat looks like, here's your chance! It was cool to see lots of great blue herons strutting about on the bows of the various draggers and long liners. What I found the most interesting (especially since I grew up in a fishing town in Canada) was how remarkably "unseaworthy" these fishing boats looked! Honestly, I don't think I'd be caught dead on any of them going out to sea. They looked as if they were about to sink right there.







Here's a little video I filmed yesterday. just another "odd" thing I noticed while going about my daily business!

Human Damage Accident?!

Roh Moo-hyun and some things in Japan

Just a quick update on things:

1. I was shocked and saddened to hear about the suicide of former South Korean President, Roh Moo-hun. He was being investigated for a bribery scandal. I remember being present at the candle light protests in Seoul in 20004 when the government attempted to impeach him.

Here is a video from my You Tube Channel about those protests. This was taken by my friend. Myself and two friends went into Seoul that night (we lived in Ilsan) to check things out). You can see me at the end of the video I think.

Protest in Korea (President Roh Impeachment)



2. Influenza A hysteria is still holding on in Kobe. People are, in general, being completely irrational and buying and surgical mask that isn't tied down!

3. Schools all across Hyogo and Osaka Prefectures reopen tomorrow.

4. I'm off to a You Tube meet up this afternoon in Osaka.

5. I've been running a lot....feels good.

6. I plan to run in 2 full marathons this Fall...that's why I've started to train!

7. I just had a wonderful breakfast!

More Kobe Flu and a Sea of Masks

There are more people wearing masks in Kobe than you can shake a stick at! Of course, on any normal day of the year, no matter where you are, you'll see lots of people wearing masks. they are either fearful of spreading infections or acquiring them. Today is a little different. With 4 confirmed cases of domestic H1N1 here in Kobe (as of today).

Most schools in Kobe city and Osaka city have been closed due to the flu "hysteria"...and it truly is hysteria here in Japan, mostly to the sensationalizing of H1N1 by the Japanese media (they are really blowing things out of proportion!). I work just outside of Kobe City and am scheduled to work as usual tomorrow morning, but I have a feeling things might change later this week as the new flu seems to be spreading throughout Hyogo Prefecture.

I was told hat I had to wear a mask while working tomorrow so my wife and I struck out to find some at a local pharmacy. It wasn't such an easy task. Masks are going like hotcakes in these parts (medical masks are the Japanese "hotcake" for sure!). Eventually, after 5 or 6 pharmacies we visited apologized to us (in the ever polite Japanese way) about being completely sold out, we were able to find one package of masks for me at a pharmacy (or chemist for any fine folks from the British Isles who may be reading this)close to my house. I'll be ready to look like a doctor while going to work tomorrow morning. The question is, how many students will actually show up tomorrow?

Here's the latest news on the Kobe H1N1 from JapanToday:

Japan confirms 13 more flu cases; total domestic cases rise to 21
Sunday 17th May, 03:38 PM JST

OSAKA —

A total of 13 students from a high school in Osaka Prefecture and one in Hyogo Prefecture were confirmed to have been infected with the new strain of influenza A, the health ministry and local authorities said Sunday, bringing the total number of domestic infections in Japan to 21 in the two prefectures.

The confirmation follows the discovery of Japan’s first eight domestic cases of the new flu in Hyogo, which adjoins Osaka, on Saturday.

‘‘We need to be fully prepared to prevent the further spread of infections,’’ Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura told reporters.

The 21 cases exclude four cases discovered during onboard quarantine inspections at Narita International Airport among a group of Japanese students and teachers who flew home from the United States after a trip to Canada.

Of the 13 new cases, nine are from Kansai Okura Senior High School in the city of Ibaraki and none have traveled overseas recently, the Osaka prefectural government said.

About 110 students at the high school have shown symptoms of influenza since around Monday, according to the privately-run school.

The school will be closed from Monday through Saturday. Experts suspect a group infection at the school.

The other four of the 13 are from Kobe High School, a public-run school whose three students are among the first eight people confirmed to have the new flu.

The government on Saturday shifted the stage of its new-flu action program from ‘‘a period of overseas outbreak’’ to ‘‘an early period of domestic outbreak’’ and called for companies and schools in the areas concerned to allow individuals to avoid commuting during rush hours.

Commenting on the discovery of the first domestic infections in Japan, Masato Tashiro, chief of the National Institute of Infectious Diseases’ influenza virus research laboratory, said that community-level transmissions may have begun in Japan.

Tashiro, a member of the World Health Organization’s emergency committee, told reporters at the organization’s headquarters on Saturday that several hundred people in Japan may already be infected with the H1N1 strain of influenza A.See original...



Here is the latest coverage from the Japan Times Online:

Teens in Kobe test positive for H1N1
First in-country swine flu cases shut schools
Kyodo News

Schools in the Kansai region were shut down in three wards in Kobe and in the nearby city of Ashiya after a local high school student became the first of a spate of nine domestic cases of H1N1 swine flu.

The student, who has been hospitalized, is a 17-year-old male from prefecture-run Kobe High School who has never been overseas, the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry said.

Two other students from the school, a male and a female, also tested positive later in the day, along with five more people from a different high school in Kobe, and a high school student from Osaka Prefecture, the ministry said. Read More Here...

H1N1 vs. Kobe

1st domestic infection of new flu confirmed in Japan
TOKYO —

The first domestic infection of the new strain of influenza virus A in Japan was confirmed Saturday, the health ministry said. The patient is a 17-year-old male high school student in Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture, who has no record of overseas travel, according to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.

Two other senior high school students from the city—one male and one female also with no record of overseas travel—have also tested positive for the new flu in local laboratory tests, according to the Kobe municipal government.

At a hastily called press conference, Yoichi Masuzoe, Japan’s health minister, said the government ‘‘will detect through aggressive epidemiological study those who had close contact with the patient to hospitalize them or to urge them to refrain from going out.’’

Prime Minister Taro Aso issued a statement in which he said, ‘‘The government is ready to take measures to prevent the expansion (of the new flu)...I hope people in Japan remain vigilant while staying calm.’’

Specimens taken from them are analyzed by the National Institute of Infectious Diseases in Tokyo, the ministry said. Japan Today...Read More...

Curry in Kobe

Who says that filling mailboxes with advertisements and leaflets doesn't work? last night we found one in our mailbox for an Indian restaurant in Sannomiya called Aarti. Man....it looked good. So we made the team decision (team...as in my wife and I) to go there this afternoon for lunch. So off we went earlier today to Sannomiya and just behind JR Sannomiya Station, we found Aarti. A great feast was then had!


Here is Aarti Indian Restaurant, located just behind JR Sannomiya Station. Look for Nishimura Coffee and there's a little road between it and a pachinko place. It's about a block up the road, just after the AM/PM convenience store.



Some great lunch specials. I had the 1000Yen one!



Here's my plate. 3 types of curry and rice. There was nan bread to follow as well.



My wonderful wife had spinach curry. I've never seen or tried spinach curry before, but it was really good.



The nan bread was HUGE and tasted so great. They had an oven at the entrance of the restaurant and a guy was stationed there making fresh bread.



When all was said and done, this is what my plate looked like. It was a true feast.

My wife's only complaint was that she would have preferred the curry to be a little spicier. Myself, I am a true wuss when it comes to spicy food (even though I lived in South Korea for 5 years),so I was content with a milder curry.



Oh yeah...another H1N1 case!
Another student confirmed to be infected with new flu; 4th case in Japan
TOKYO —

Another male student who arrived at Narita airport from the United States on Friday was confirmed to be infected with the new flu strain, the health ministry said Sunday, bringing the number of cases of new flu in Japan to four.

The student was on board the same flight as a teacher and two other students who were confirmed Saturday to be Japan’s first cases of the new strain of the H1N1 influenza A virus.

A further 48 passengers and crew who were on the Northwest Airlines flight are being monitored at an accommodation facility near the airport for 10 days and the health ministry is conducting follow-up checks on all the other passengers.Read more...(Japan Today)