Job Discussion Forums

nonsmoker · Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2007 4:16 pm Post subject: Wakayama Prefecture

Has anybody taught or live in the southern part of Wakayama? There's not much information on that part of the country but from what I read, I can see that there are pretty nice beaches, mountains, and historic temples there. Does anybody have any info about the southern part of this peninsula?
Thanks.

Eva Pilot · Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2007 1:43 am Post subject:

It's a nice place to visit.

NorthofAmerica · Joined: 17 Jul 2006 Posts: 187 Location: Recovering Expat

I lived down there for a bit and was down there this weekend visiting some friends. If you live in Wakayama City (about 400,000ish) it's not too bad. The city is pretty bland but it's lgot some stuff and it's ess than an hour from Osaka and close to loads of beaches and hotsprings. If you live further south than that it's pretty rural. The beaches and scenery are really nice but it can be pretty boring out there.

They're also famous for growing mikon oranges down there. I love those oranges so that was nice Wink

nonsmoker · Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2007 12:48 pm Post subject:

furiousmilksheikali · Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2007 1:00 pm Post subject:

No doubt you will have already looked at this but I will repost it just in case you haven't. I was a little surprised to see that the city is the second largest as I thought that honour belonged to Hashimoto.

Anyway, as you can see it has a population of 85,000 which makes it pretty small and probably quite rural if you compare it to the TV images of Osaka and Tokyo. Personally I think that places like that are excellent motivating factors for learning Japanese and experiencing a bit of Japanese culture. Some people go straight to the big cities and learn almost nothing about the country they move to.

Tanabe appears to be spread out over a pretty large area, however, so it won't feel very "city-like" I expect. To earn the name "city" in Japan, a place does not have to be very built-up at all.

nonsmoker · Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2007 1:31 pm Post subject:

Yes, it looks like a nice place to learn the language and become submerged in Japanese culture. Also, it's probably a good place to save money. I'm really interested in all the festivals and historical things that occur there and because it's the birthplace of Morihei Ueshiba, aikido's founder. There's an art I want to take up. I can see that the city is pretty spread out. I hope I'll get placed near the city center by the beach and not in the eastern woods. It should be pretty interesting, overall.

furiousmilksheikali · Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2007 1:41 pm Post subject:

Benkei is also a well-known folk hero throughout Japan. The writer Alan Booth wrote about him in his book Roads to Sata, which I recommend to anyone interested in Japan. Tanabe apparently has a festival dedicated to Benkei in the town so read all about him and impress the locals when you turn up. Wink

nonsmoker · Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2007 1:55 pm Post subject:

Jon Taylor · Joined: 09 Mar 2005 Posts: 238 Location: Tokyo

nonsmoker · Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2007 6:21 pm Post subject:

Eva Pilot · Posted: Thu Jun 07, 2007 1:01 pm Post subject:

I went there at New Year and spent probably half of my entire budget on commuting around the prefecture.

And as an aside, I found, at least in Roads to Sata, that the author was jaded and unlikeable. I really hope I don't become like that.

nonsmoker · Posted: Thu Jun 07, 2007 2:31 pm Post subject:

Eva Pilot · Posted: Fri Jun 08, 2007 12:26 am Post subject:

nonsmoker · Posted: Fri Jun 08, 2007 12:48 am Post subject:

Eva Pilot · Posted: Fri Jun 08, 2007 2:15 pm Post subject: