All Honshu Network: News and Entertainment from the Eastern Jewel of Kusari
Konnichiwa! Ishikawa Ayumi desu. You are watching "Ikiru michi" (//"Way of life") on All Honshu Network. Seeing the interest in the previous episode of "Ikirumichi", today we would like to continue exploring Haneda island of southern Honshu and invite you to embark on a journey into the beating heart of the isle - the city of Minamimito.
Lying inside of a valley and surrounded by mountains all around, the city of Minamimito has a mild climate and a moderate weather pattern that holds throughout most of the year. Despite its secludedness within the hills results in all the moisture from the morning mist condensing into showers of rain during the day, the city’s climate adjustment system keeps allows the locals to go out any time of the day to do business and enjoy city life.
Built over 300 years ago, Minamimito developed like most Kusarian cities: the busy trade hub around the spaceport attracted businesses that in turn brought more staff to expand. The service sector followed, resulting in booming population growth. Despite the wine industry flourishing on the hills in the suburbs, most of the population still resides within the city limits, enjoying the comforts of hi-tech infrastructure within a handreach. The density of the population in case of Minamimito is also explained by the complexity of expanding the city into the hills, giving preference to building tall hive-type skyscrapers that Kusari is so famous for. Mori tower, the colossal building of 2,086 metres, is the tallest in the city. Tourists can enjoy seeing the sea from its rooftop 50 km away from the city on a clear day. Unlike many skyscrapers on New Tokyo or in other Houses, most of those in Minamimito like in many other Kusarian regional centres combine the function of a business centres with many offices with a dwelling place for thousands of people rich enough to have an apartment in such a prestigious place. Naturally, the building also hosts many izakayas, shopping centres, and even a park on its 70th floor to cater for the inhabitants. Such growth upwards allowed the city of only 129 km2 to support 8.9 million people living within the city ward limits and additional 700.000 living in the suburbs and flocking into the city on a busy day.
Mori tower (in the centre) and Minamimito centre at night
Tanegashima trading district
As a large city of regional importance, it has a lot of activities to offer to its inhabitants and the visitors alike. Minamimito might appear deserted during the day when most of the locals are working either from home or at their kaisha. Do not let the image deceive you, however! The trading district of Tanegashima is a bustling place 24/7. The place is favoured among the young Kusarian ladies who seek for fashionable clothes and accessories, and by young guys looking for a stylish girlfriend. If you are not into fashion - do not be discouraged to visit Tanegashima, as it also offers many electronic devices and hosts a lot of gravicar sale points for all budgets.
Kagurazaka riverside
As the sun hides behind the mountains and dusk sets in, the neon lights pop up all around the streets and the humming labour force gets out of their working space, bring the city to life. At this time all the izakayas (//Kusarian pubs) and mise (//restaurants; cafes) start to get full and unless you have a prior booking, it might be challenging to find a place to sit. However, there are always free standing places near automated kaizen-zushi (//conveyor sushi) if you do not mind eating and drinking while standing that is. Our advice would be to check out Kagurazaka-dori that spans along the Kandagawa, a popular among the locals “food street” where sushi-ya offer o-nigiri, maki, and sushi made from the fish caught just hours prior to serving from the very Kandagawa. Naturally, if your gourmet preference for Kusarian food go beyond the widely advertised o-sushi, you can always have takoyaki, okonomiyaki, yakiniku, and all kinds of “don”.
Happongi at night
Having saturated your physical hunger, it would be just the perfect time to spend the calories on some active entertainment. Head to Happongi district, situated upon one of the few hills in the valley of Minamimito. Happongi is contrasting with traditional Kandagawa arukumichi described in the previous issue and epistomises the “modern” direction in Kusarian culture. Buzzing playing centres where one can experience the virtual thrill of Alliance-Coalition derby in the “War of Sol”, or levitating dances that would enable all your muscles and be a fun combined with sports training. Test your mettle in cyber-kendo, fight hordes of zombies in shooting arcades, or just cheer up other players while drinking the popular among the youth “Sutorongu Zero”. Happongi is especially popular among the students of the neighbouring universities: the Imperial Haneda Gakuin, and private Tenmei Daigaku. Students of these both prestigious in their own way Universities study hard, and party hard thereafter. Do not shun making acquaintance with the students - they for sure know how to spend the night out in a cheap and enjoyable way. Perhaps, they can show you a hidden izakaya that is neither expensive nor crowded due to known only to the locals. Give a try to the local nightlife and do not worry about the safety - it is always kept at utmost level by local police with kouban (//police booth) placed every 300 metres with support available in all official House languages.
View on the city from Tenmei Daigaku campus
The aforementioned universities are two jewels of Minamimito themselves. The Imperial Haneda Gakuin was established by Emperor’s decree 30 years following the institution of Minamimito when it became apparent that the city would grow into yet another Kusarian megapolis. Specialising in maritime research, the university nourished many specialists that contributed to biodivesification of sealife on Kyushu and building platforms on Junyo. While not being on par with the Universities of new Tokyo, it is still an imperial research institution the specialisation of which makes it relevant on all-Kusari level. Tenmei Daigaku, unlike the mentioned above Haneda Gakuin, is a relatively new classical university founded just 80 years ago with the support of the local Shimamori clan. As a private university, it has a reputation of an elitist forum for Kusarian bohème and its scions more concerned with philosophy, arts, and the like. Despite its ambiguous reputation, Tenmei Daigaku accepts many students from ordinary families who were deemed talented enough for a full scholarship. Nowadays the university is recognised as a prominent liberal think tank for political sciences and philosophy, that prepares qualified bureaucrats and politicians. Should you visit Honshu for research symposiums and conferences, it is quite likely you will as a part of your stay visit one of these universities. If so, bear in mind our advice regarding the local nightlife and other recreational activities!
Whether you are visiting for business or pleasure, do not hesitate to visit the southern island of Haneda and its pearl of Minamimito! We in AHN hope that our information will be useful to the visitors of Honshu and help you get the most out of your trip to the Eastern Jewel of Kusari! Go-seichou arigatou gozaimasu (//thank you for attention!)
This programme was sponsored by Haneda Department of Tourism of Honshu and Clan Shimamori. Brought you by
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