 |
| Welcome To Atsugi |
|
|
|
 |
| My town |
Welcome to Atsugi. This has been a long time coming, sorry for the delay. Anyways, let me give you an introduction to my city. This is Atsugi City, or, in Japanese, Atsugi-shi. About an hours train ride from Shinjuku Station (Tokyo), my friends from Tokyo and Yokohama call it the boonies, the country, etc. However, it actually has a great urban-like center near the station, with bars, restaraunts, a small mall, and tons of shoe stores. If you can find a more reliable way to tell how urban an area is than by the number of shoe stores per capita it has, I'd be interested to hear it. There are two train stations in Atsugi, one called Atsugi Station, and the other Honatsugi Station (my station). Fortunately for me, Honatsugi Station is where all the action in Atsugi is, and it also happens to be the only station in Atsugi that is an express train stop.
 |
| Across the street, you can see the station entrance and the mall. The mall is called "Mylord", pronounced "milord" |
 |
| A free for all crosswalk. It's pretty sweet |
 |
| Oh yeah we've got a bus station, too |
Upon exiting Honatsugi station, one is presented with a rather impressive view of a bustling station area. Shoppers are constantly rushing past in and out of the mall, hawkers are on the street crying out their spiels, and shiny black taxis are jockeying for position in the designated roundabout. Merely wandering about the station area will provide plenty to see and do. Check out the mall, visit any of the numerous izakayas (Japanese bars), visit any of the numerous and convenient convenience stores, get some KFC, get some Mister Donuts, go bowling, play video games at the game centers, read comics in the manga cafe... you get the idea.
 |
| On the outskirts of the station area |
And of course, after leaving the station area, you can find the crazy network of streets that go every which way typical of any city area in Japan. And going further, you can find the country. Not 15 minutes walking from the station in pretty much any direction will bring you to a more open, older part of Atsugi. Heading east will take you to the Sagamigawa (Sagami River). Famous in Atsugi for the Japanese trout that can be caught here, the Sagami River always has fishermen wading up to their knees through its water. They rise early, and usually begin fishing as early as the sun permits. But before the fishermen can get out into the waters, egrets are already out, dipping their beaks into the water in search of fish. Truly, the early bird catches the fish here, and I have, on occasion, been on the train early enough in the day to see these birds out in the water (one of the few benefits of staying out in Tokyo until first train leaves at 5am). It really is a sight to see.
 |
| That fishing rod is like five times his height! This guy is serious |
 |
| Nice kids. Thrilled to be practicing English with a real, live gaijin |
But for all the beautiful nature one can find down by the river, it's actually pretty dirty. I'd been told by some friends in town that it was a nice little area to go down to. Of course I did, but I was a bit disappointed to see the trash that had come down river and wound up on the small river bank I was sitting on. Hilariously enough, the pollution turned out to be a good thing when a young man came floating up to the bank on a large piece of discarded syrofoam. I appreciated the lad's humility and simple desire to have fun. He was really friendly, so I started talking to him and his group of friends on the river bank. They were a nice bunch of college kids from the nearby university, trying to have a little more fun before the end of their summer vacation. We chatted for a bit in simple English and simple Japanese before they departed.
 |
| A beautiful Atsugi sunset. Note the mountains |
And here's your introduction to my town! Stay tuned for more a more intimate report of my life in Atsugi later this week.
