Job Discussion Forums

anh · Joined: 04 Jan 2007 Posts: 22 Location: USA

I know that I am sort of taking a leap in the water, since the city seems a tad rural, but has anyone been to Kato City in Hyogo-ken or live/lived there? If so, what is it like? (scenery, meeting people, transportation/getting around without a car, "foreigner" population, anything really!)

I'll be an ALT there and moving in less than a month, so I was hoping for some input from anyone who might know anything.

Thanks in advance!

kitano · Joined: 18 Nov 2004 Posts: 86

Is it the Kato city near Nishiwaki? If it is it is really very small and very rural with nothing much around and almost no foreigners. It takes about an hour or more on the train to get to Kobe from Nishiwaki. If you have a choice don't live there unless you want an immersion experience.

Speed · Joined: 04 Jul 2003 Posts: 152 Location: Shikoku Land

Moto Sensei · Joined: 01 Aug 2007 Posts: 5

Hi! I was a teacher at Kato! Like Kitano-san said, it's a very very small town and I remember the teacher teaching there was supplied with bus tickets so that gaijin's can move around Smile

, without a car. Other friend owned his car, but I'm not sure how he did it.. Anyway, I wish I could help you if you have any questions. Good luck!

anh · Joined: 04 Jan 2007 Posts: 22 Location: USA

Thanks everyone for your replies! I'm not sure if there was a Nishiwaki city nearby, but if it is about 1 hour from Kobe it seems like it is in the same location. I'm not worried about it being too rural (I hope that phrase doesn't come back to haunt me later) - I'm looking forward to getting better at Japanese!

Moto Sensei · Joined: 01 Aug 2007 Posts: 5

I was commuting from my hometown, which is an hour away from Kato--fyi, I was a full-time employed Japanese teacher. I taught there for a year. I'm sure the situation has got better by now, but when I was teaching, the whole district was just a mess. Don't assume that all the kids in the rural are naturally of well behavior. So actually I lost 20 pounds or more in 2 month and quit after my full school year. But again, school environment can be changed depends on teachers and committee, you may want to check around the people there, if you could.
As long as I see my American or other foreign friends there, they were playing sports after classes, traveling to Osaka--amazingly, if you use long distance bus, you could get to Osaka quite easily-- riding bicyles to the mountains, hiking.. getting together with other ELT's such as joining JET program party.. People in Japan generally are very much interested in gaijin-san's, so you wouldn't have a problem to find any activities with local people (if you don't mind being stared and admired just because you look different.. :p)
Hope this helps you and that I didn't make you worry too much.