Welcome to my Neighborhood (part I)

One  lesson for my English kids classes is about the places in the neighborhood.  This gave me the idea to take photos of some of the places in the area where I work and live here in Japan.  So one spring day with my cellphone in hand, I went around my neighborhood and took photos.  These I printed out and compiled  in a small scrapbook that I bought from the 100yen shop.

My neighborhood is called Okamoto.  It is close to two train stations and there are many shops all over the place . So let's take a walk  around my neighborhood.

Let's start with the train station. This is the newly-renovated JR (Japan Railways) train station that I often take when I go to and from downtown.

There's a lovely flower shop across from the station.  It's one of the branches of a local flower shop chain called Nirakuen.

My favorite spot in the neighborhood is the Rose Garden.  There you can see different varieties of roses.  The local officials take care of the upkeep of this garden.  They hire professional gardeners to maintain these blooms every year.  Often I see workers cutting, pruning and cultivating soil in the garden.

The Rose Garden is close to the local police station.  I thought the police on duty there might not want me to take a photo of their station especially the front area so I decided to take one with the side view of it.

We have a small river called Tenjo that runs from the mountain side to the sea far down south. Sometimes we see wild pigs from the mountains walking about the river sides looking for what they can eat around the area. On rainy days you can see the angry foamy current running but on most days of the year, this is what you see of that river.

The streets around here are clean, lined with trees and the sidewalks are wide and safe.  The highway which runs from west to east is a four-lane street.

Along this highway you get to see many shops:  a drugstore, an ice cream shop , juku (cram schools or tutorial places) , coffee shops and restaurants.