Serene Saitama Neighborhood
This time, I want to show you around my local neighborhood. I left the house with an intention to check out the area and in particular to grab a pizza in the café across the river. While the café was actually closed when Google had told me it would be open, the walk was still lovely. Oh well, no way for me to know their weird opening hours. Let me at least share some impressions from my romantic stroll through Kita-Akitsu.
This kind of view is all but uncommon all over Honshu’s residential areas. The closer you get to Tokyo city center, the more everything gets taller and much more cramped. Though, I have to say that even in these more affordable places, houses are built a bit too close to one another. This must also be one of the main reasons, that Japanese culture has placed such a big focus on being quiet especially after dark. The walls are close, thin and many people will judge you if you don’t act in line with the implicit rules of society. Natives learn these rules from a very early age and thus you might want to think carefully how you want to behave. The opportunities to get on people’s wrong side are plenty.
One thing that fascinates me about Japanese neighborhoods are the deep concrete reinforced rivers. The one you can see in the picture above is not even that deep. I’ve seen rivers that were three times as low. Generally there will be handrails running across the side, so they must be safe enough. However, this also takes away your ability to just go straight to the river and dip your feet in. What’s quite interesting regarding these streams, is the foliage that grows to enormous proportions in some places. Sometimes right through the center. It’s almost as if the river grows a beard – lul.
Disappointed by the closed café, I moved on to other places. Apparently, they have mini forests like this in many places, which certainly helps alleviate some of the grey city landscape. Funnily, this park was not a place where one could roam around freely. Almost so as to keep people from stepping on some non-existent rare plants, a rope fence clearly guides visitors on narrow paths between the trees with some sitting accommodations sprinkled here and there. All in all, it’s a nice place with access to the river bank, where I also saw some children play. Since there was a small somewhat secluded open area with a table, I assume families go there for picnics from time to time.
I’ll leave you with this picture of the riverbank. The wooden poles, which must be as protection against erosion, are something I have only encountered in Japan so far. To conclude, while I do prefer the more free-roaming kind of forests, it sure must be a great asset for all those who are living close enough and want a mix up from their tiring city life. Good job, Japan! Now take away the ropes c: