Quite a surprise to find my old hometown of Ashiya in a Substack. I lived there from 1982 to 2011, when I moved to Tokyo to more easily report on the aftermath of the triple disaster in Tohoku.
Your observations about wealth in Ashiya are correct. One has indeed to go up into the mountains to encounter it.
I gathered from your account that you arrived at JR Ashiya Station? As there are three Ashiya Stations the locals always add the railway name. If it is omitted it is assumed it is JR Ashiya.
Your walk to the old Henri Charpentier shop (I used to visit often in the 1980s—lovely memories!) took you away from the mountains to the area close to Hanshin Ashiya Station.
The area along the Hanshin Railway line is traditionally considered the least wealthy in Ashiya, as you observed. The wealth improves in the area between the JR and Hankyu lines, and is highest from Hankyu into the mountains.
Rokurokuso (六麓荘), nestled high in Ashiya’s mountains, is known as one of the most exclusive residential areas in Japan.
As it happens, the area between JR and the sea is mostly alluvial and therefore experienced the greatest destruction from the 1995 Hanshin Awaji Great Earthquake.
As usually happens with disasters—both natural and human-made—the least wealthy were hit worst. Whole neighborhoods along the Hanshin Railway line, even complete shopping streets, disappeared. A lot of the buildings you saw on your walk were likely built since then.
The geographically more stable area in the mountains experienced relatively little damage and still features many old buildings that exude wealth and history.
I used to walk to the monkeys once in a while and didn’t realize that they were no longer there. Just as well for the poor monkeys, but it does feel like a door to the past has been closed now the cages are gone. The park was always buzzing with the voices of children; hopefully that won’t change.
Thank you for taking me back to the town that I still consider home.
I'm so glad you found this post! And thanks so much for commenting. Very interesting to hear more details about the town, and to have my general sense confirmed. I'll have to go back and explore more from where I left off.
Ashiya is a relatively small town, but it has a few very nice spots. When you have the chance to spend some more time there, try to visit the following places:
• Rokurokuso (六麓荘), mentioned above
• Yodokō Guest House (ヨドコウ迎賓館), the only surviving Frank Lloyd Wright residence in Japan
• Ashiya Rock Garden (芦屋ロックガーデン), a rocky area in the mountains with a beautiful view on Osaka. The trail starts from Hankyu Ashiya Station and passes by a small waterfall. I used to walk to the falls every morning before starting work.
You make a great point about language acquisition that I can relate to, Daniel. When I was teaching English in Nishinomiya high schools in 1986, I wasn’t supposed to use Japanese in class, all my fellow English teachers wanted to speak to me in English. I chose baseball (Hanshin Tigers) as my 推しand sought out fellow fans in the staff room to chat about it.
That's a great strategy. I was in a similar position during my JET years. Because I was isolated in an "English office" separate from the main teacher's lounge, I didn't really get a chance to talk with teachers much unfortunately. But I think めちゃイケ was my 推し at the time. I watched that show pretty religiously. And strangely enough, it enabled me to connect with my students because they were watching it as well.
コギャル語 has certainly calmed down, but I have heard "KP" in the wild a couple times (乾杯).
I think 推し is such a powerhouse term at the point it's going to spread to all sectors/age ranges of society. I can see an old codger at the bar saying "My 推し was the leader of Communist Party...'course, we didn't use the term 推し back in the day..."
Ha! KP is new for me. I like it. Going to have to try and embarrass myself by using it the next time I go out with coworkers. And you're totally write about 推し. If you look at my blog, I posted an image of a bag of potato chips that encouraged people to treat it as an 推し!
Quite a surprise to find my old hometown of Ashiya in a Substack. I lived there from 1982 to 2011, when I moved to Tokyo to more easily report on the aftermath of the triple disaster in Tohoku.
Your observations about wealth in Ashiya are correct. One has indeed to go up into the mountains to encounter it.
I gathered from your account that you arrived at JR Ashiya Station? As there are three Ashiya Stations the locals always add the railway name. If it is omitted it is assumed it is JR Ashiya.
Your walk to the old Henri Charpentier shop (I used to visit often in the 1980s—lovely memories!) took you away from the mountains to the area close to Hanshin Ashiya Station.
The area along the Hanshin Railway line is traditionally considered the least wealthy in Ashiya, as you observed. The wealth improves in the area between the JR and Hankyu lines, and is highest from Hankyu into the mountains.
Rokurokuso (六麓荘), nestled high in Ashiya’s mountains, is known as one of the most exclusive residential areas in Japan.
As it happens, the area between JR and the sea is mostly alluvial and therefore experienced the greatest destruction from the 1995 Hanshin Awaji Great Earthquake.
As usually happens with disasters—both natural and human-made—the least wealthy were hit worst. Whole neighborhoods along the Hanshin Railway line, even complete shopping streets, disappeared. A lot of the buildings you saw on your walk were likely built since then.
The geographically more stable area in the mountains experienced relatively little damage and still features many old buildings that exude wealth and history.
I used to walk to the monkeys once in a while and didn’t realize that they were no longer there. Just as well for the poor monkeys, but it does feel like a door to the past has been closed now the cages are gone. The park was always buzzing with the voices of children; hopefully that won’t change.
Thank you for taking me back to the town that I still consider home.
I'm so glad you found this post! And thanks so much for commenting. Very interesting to hear more details about the town, and to have my general sense confirmed. I'll have to go back and explore more from where I left off.
Ashiya is a relatively small town, but it has a few very nice spots. When you have the chance to spend some more time there, try to visit the following places:
• Rokurokuso (六麓荘), mentioned above
• Yodokō Guest House (ヨドコウ迎賓館), the only surviving Frank Lloyd Wright residence in Japan
• Ashiya Rock Garden (芦屋ロックガーデン), a rocky area in the mountains with a beautiful view on Osaka. The trail starts from Hankyu Ashiya Station and passes by a small waterfall. I used to walk to the falls every morning before starting work.
You make a great point about language acquisition that I can relate to, Daniel. When I was teaching English in Nishinomiya high schools in 1986, I wasn’t supposed to use Japanese in class, all my fellow English teachers wanted to speak to me in English. I chose baseball (Hanshin Tigers) as my 推しand sought out fellow fans in the staff room to chat about it.
That's a great strategy. I was in a similar position during my JET years. Because I was isolated in an "English office" separate from the main teacher's lounge, I didn't really get a chance to talk with teachers much unfortunately. But I think めちゃイケ was my 推し at the time. I watched that show pretty religiously. And strangely enough, it enabled me to connect with my students because they were watching it as well.
Great piece!
コギャル語 has certainly calmed down, but I have heard "KP" in the wild a couple times (乾杯).
I think 推し is such a powerhouse term at the point it's going to spread to all sectors/age ranges of society. I can see an old codger at the bar saying "My 推し was the leader of Communist Party...'course, we didn't use the term 推し back in the day..."
Ha! KP is new for me. I like it. Going to have to try and embarrass myself by using it the next time I go out with coworkers. And you're totally write about 推し. If you look at my blog, I posted an image of a bag of potato chips that encouraged people to treat it as an 推し!
Let me know how it goes. I got "what are you talking about!", then a table of people Googling it. :)