KIOC Newsletter December 2004
Contents
* Greetings* December events
* Event reviews
* January Events
* Call for submissions
Greetings
Hello everyone and Happy New Year!
I hope you all had a nice and relaxing winter vacation with lots of eating and drinking involved along the way. A little too much of both, in my case! If, like me, your waistline is suffering from the Christmas/New Years excess, then why not sign up for some of the great events coming up soon. Stay tuned for further details.
I spent 4 weeks backpacking my way around New Zealand, and so was unable to attend any IOC events in December. As a result, this is a little mini-newsletter, a compilation of all articles submitted by your good selves. A newsletter made for the people, by the people, you could say! This month’s star member is Jeremy, who had an article written and submitted less than twenty-four hours after the event had taken place. Hurray! Yuka and Keiko collaborated to produce an article about the Maya-san and Kobe Luminarie event, complete with photos. Thanks guys. Mehyar and Miyuki pooled their resources for a great account of the hike in Kobe on November 20th. It just missed the deadline for last months newsletter, so instead will be included in this months one. We all appreciate you taking the time to write your articles. Thank you, or “go raibh mile maith agat” as we say in Irish. Arigatou.
December Events
Although December is one of the busiest months of the year, people still found time to organize and attend IOC events. The month started in style, with Fumie organizing a fantastic three day skiing and snowboarding trip to Niesko in Hokkaido. December 11th was the spectacularly successful IOC Christmas Party, attended by an astoundingly high proportion of our members. This years bash was held in an Indian restaurant in Kobe. Shinobu put in an incredible amount of effort to organize this, so on behalf of everyone I’d like to say a huge thank you to her. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to attend, and nobody sent in any pictures or an article about it, so that’s pretty much all I’ll say on that event. If anyone would like to send me an article about the Christmas party, I’d be delighted to include it in next months issue. Newsletter@IOCkansai.com is where to direct it. Jeremy organised a pre-Christmas Party ice-skating event and Junko kindly sent some photos, which will be appearing later in this issue. Next up was a hike on December 12th to Hutatabi Park ending up in the famous Arima hot springs, organised by Yuri. The final event of 2004 was a hike up Maya-san, with a bit of dinner and onsen afterwards, before going to view the stunning Kobe Liminarie. A great way to end the year. Thanks to Yoshimi for organizing that.
Event Reviews
Hike to Kobe Arboretum, November 20th by Mehyar and Miyuki
It was a beautiful sunny Saturday morning. On November 20, nine of us (Erin, Yuri, Yoshimi Hayashida, Keiko, Adam, Mehyar, Miyuki, Sonia and Yoshimi Suzuki) met at the Shin Kobe station around 10 AM to participate in a hike in Kobe Arboretum proposed by Yoshimi Suzuki.
The first break came soon when Yoshimi guided us to the Nunobiki waterfall. We stopped to watch the beautiful scenery and take pictures. Then we started the climb under the colorful autumn trees in a rather joyful mood taking time to introduce ourselves to the other members and discuss subjects of interest. Several of the participants including the new members, would slow down at times to take pictures of the splendid views of the Arboretum's trees, streams and ponds.
Kobe Arboretum is located on Mt. Rokko. It’s a collection of world forests and Mount Rokko native plants: Australian, Pacific Northwest, Atlantic Northeast, Siberian, European, Southeast Asian, and so on. It is the largest in Japan with about 1,200 species of trees. The landscape is planned skillfully to suit each species. In addition, the arboretum is famous for its collection of hydrangea, the city flower.
As we approached the rest area at the top, we noticed dozens of amateur photographers carrying sophisticated equipment busy taking pictures of the scenery, and others strolling through the woods bird watching. Walking around the big pond, we found a nice area under the trees, removed the backpacks and had lunch. After a brief group picture taking time, Mr. Yoshimi suggested playing AMIDAKUJI (ladder lottery to settle disputes by peaceful means) to choose who would write the hike report. Once that was decided, we started to walk down the mountain taking a different trail.
Kireiiiiii! (The trees or the people? you decide!) :)
In about 20 minutes the group arrived at Futatabi Park. We stopped for soft drinks and watched people boating on the lake then began to walk again. After a couple of brief rests at a hillside temple and a vista point, we rushed down a steep slope of the mountain to make time for a soak in a local onsen and to change cloths for the big KIOC event planned for the evening. The beautiful view of the city below and beyond made the descent pleasurable.
Around 5 PM, we arrived at the station, said goodbye to the friends who were heading home, and walked to the onsen. This turned out to be yet another exhilarating experience as the deep red waters of the iron onsen brought soothing comfort to our tired legs and afterwards while sitting to cool down, we had a good time talking and sharing humor.
Many thanks to Yoshimi Suzuki for selecting and leading this wonderful hike.
Yuri’s Futatabisan hike, Sunday December 12 by Jeremy
Amidst glorious sunny weather without a cloud in the sky, we met near the Kobe city center on Sunday morning: Yuri, Yoshimi, Keiko, Maki, Mayumi, Anthony, Andy, Sonia, MinHao, Estella, and Jeremy. Energetic and undaunted, we set off up a long, windy road leading up from town towards Futatabi-yama. Near the outskirts of town, we walked past a house with a metal fence and a hole in the fence under which was a sign “beware of large-toothed dog”. Fearing our presence, the guardian of this house heeded his call to arms, and suddenly the ugly mug of a pit-bull started barking at us and chased us all away! No, really what happened was that the heads of two adorable beagle-puppies emerged through the hole in the fence, seeking wet sloppy doggie kisses, a request to which Andy was more than happy to oblige! It was very cute. A little higher upon the mountain, we encountered some more wildlife in the form of an exceedingly overweight housecat (though I could have sworn it was a yama-neko, owing to its fearsome fangs!), intent on blocking our path. Luckily, Yoshimi (the female Yoshimi) is a world-renowned expert of feline zoology, and skillfully picked up the fearsome beast by its neck and placed it aside, and we were all thus out of harm’s way. Yet further upon the mountain, the autumn foliage became more and more vivid. Even though it’s already December, the red and yellow leaves were spectacular, especially amidst the toriis and stonework of “big dragon shrine”. The top of our hike was Futatabi park, where we lunched near a placid little pond amidst trees and lots of fallen leaves, and everybody wanted to steal Estella’s yummy homemade trail mix. An hour later, we made our way back to town and Suzurandai station, from which we took the train to Arima onsen, always the perfect end to a day’s hiking, especially since the weather had quickly turned from sunny to rainy.
Maya san & Luminarie Hike, Sunday, Dec. 19th by Yuka and Keiko
It was amazingly warm day, I can’t believe it was Dec. We went hiking with short sleeve shirts and sweated all the way up to the top of Maya san. Kei was taking photos and video all the time. He seems cheerful, when he is getting higher and higher place.
Ladies, you know you want him! *swoon*
At the top of the mountain, the guys tried on a nice purple wig.
Minhao was posing like a typical Japanese Obasan tourist. Why they
stand aslant? ‘Cause that makes them thiner on the photo.
On the way down the mountain, we visited to Tenjou temple. They were cleaning up for New Year(o-souji) and ojizou san are wearing new bright red cloths on. That makes me remember that the end of year is close.
Before the Luminarie we took a bath and ate at yakitori-ya. Now we’re ready to go.
What a beautiful illuminations!! There were so crowded, especially Sunday night. If you’ll go next year, you should go up the Kobe City Hall building. You can see the fantastic view of Luminarie and tons of people (like an ant) for free!
Thank you Yoshimi♂ for organizing the event.
Upcoming Events
Well now that the Christmas parties have ended, there is no better time for.....another party! The IOC annualNew Year Nabe party is taking place on January 22nd on top of the mountain near Myokenguchi station. This is the same place as last year, just outside Osaka. The hike to the top takes two short hours. Once at the top, everyone pulls together to cook a wonderful nabe while enjoying great views, good company, and of course, wonderful Japanese "nihonshu!". Not to be missed!
There's nothing like a hike in the fresh winter air to make you feel alive. Join Yoshimi as he hikes up to Kikusui-Yama for some amazing views and knowing Yoshimi, will end in a steaming hot public bath followed by some delicious food. This hike is on January 29th. Sign up now!
Call for Submissions
Well thats it for December. Best wishes for the coming year. See you on a mountain top soon!
Over & out,
Claire
