Family Trip to Japan - Part 3 - Sanomiya, Kobe
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A week has passed since our arrival in Japan and today my mother in law and two nephews come to visit us for several days in Kobe. Since it is also Spring break in Japan, it is a great opportunity for my son and his two cousins to spend time together and bond in a new environment. They have lots of fun rough housing, running around and eating, this is also a good opportunity for the adults to catch up and chat.
We start the afternoon by picking them up at the JR Sanomiya train station which is always bustling with people during the day. We stop at a really nice bakery called Boulangerie Comme Chinoise, a charming place with many different varieties of breads and other daily lunch specials.
After lunch, some play time for the kids followed by a stroll around the Sanomiya shotengai, streets that are shopping areas that connect to the nearest train stations. This particular shotengai is quite vast, covered, and closed to traffic, great for walks with kids. We also pass through koka-shita, a long stretch of special interest retail shops under the JR train line. Koka-shita is very unique and the walkway is very narrow and retail spaces very small. Before we head to dinner, we make one last stop at Ikuta Jinja to show our son how to pay your respect at a temple.
- For more information on Sanomiya visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sannomiya
- For more information on Boulangerie Comme Chinoise visit: http://www.feel-kobe.jp/_en/gourmet/spot/?sid=450
- For more information on shotengai visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sh%C5%8Dtengai
- For more information on Ikuta-jinja visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ikuta_Shrine
- For more information on Motomachi visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motomachi,_Kobe
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On the next day we take the kids for a walk through the neighborhood via the shotengai to visit Meriken Park and the Kobe Earthquake Memorial in the park. It is a good deal of walking and we cover a lot of ground. We walk the shotengai and look at the various storefronts, pass by Chinatown, and make a pit stop at a game arcade. After the park, we make our way back to the Sanomiya area and stop for lunch at a kaiten sushi restaurant on the dining floor of a new department store. It seems our kids really like sushi, and kaiten sushi is more fun and affordable than going to a traditional sushi restaurant. In Japan, the top floors of department stores are usually a dining floor with many different kinds of restaurants, and in the basement and sub-basement level are food courts with many prepared foods to go, as well as a grocery store. I have found that the fish area usually have excellent choice of fish, prepared sashimi, and sushi. The sub basements are often connected to chikagai, underground shopping areas connecting to train stations. One can get to their destination traveling these areas while also window shopping or shopping at the many varieties of shops.
Tomorrow we head to Shiga for a week...
- For more information on Merkien park visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meriken_Park
- For more information on chikagai visit: chikagai: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underground_city
Rock Papa
あっと言う間に日本滞在が一週間が経ち、今日は、お義母さんと、二人の甥が神戸にやってきた。子供達が春休み中なので、息子とそのいとこ達がゆっくり時間を一緒に過せて、お互いの絆を深めるのにはいいチャンス。一緒に走り回ってりして遊んで本当に楽しそうだった。子供同士で遊んでいる機会に大人同士で近況報告なんかも出来たし良かった。
その日の午後、お義母さんと甥達を迎えにいつも人でいっぱいなJR三宮駅に行き、その後、お義母さんおススメの美味しいパン屋さんブランジェリーコム シノワに向かって、ランチをいただきました。このパン屋さんは美味しい事はもちろん、内装も素敵で本当よい時間を過ごせました。
ランチの後は三宮商店街をブラブラ。ココは、駅の真横で、アーケードもあり、車も来ない。ココは子供とブラブラするのにはもってこいの商店街。その後、高架下にも行った。JR線の高架下にあるお店達は個性的でこじんまりしているお店が集まっていて、とても面白い。そして、晩ご飯を食べに行く前に、ちょっと生田神社に寄って、息子に神社参拝のやり方を教えたりした。
次の日は、子供を連れて商店街からメリケンパークそして、神戸震災メモリアルパークを訪れた。商店街をウィンドウショッピング、神戸中華街を見て、ちょっとゲームセンターに寄り、メリケンパークの後は、また三宮の中心に戻りランチと、この日は本当に良く歩いた日だった。ランチの場所は、駅の近くにあるショッピングセンター屋上にある回転寿司屋さん。寿司が好きな子供達は大喜び。日本の駅ビルって本当に便利。最上階にはレストラン、地下にはデパ地下の美味しい食べ物があって、そして、駅に繋がる地下にもまた、ショッピング街がある。日本に住んでいる人達には、なんて事ないこの駅ビル。海外から来た人達にはとても珍しく、驚きの場所なんだよ。
Rock Papa
