Posts Tagged ‘kobe’

Kobe’s Gigantor statue nears completion

A video from the Asahi Shimbun shows that Kobe’s Gigantor (Tetsujin 28-go) statue is almost finished:

It was originally supposed to be finished by October, but it looks like work is progressing ahead of schedule. The official homepage of the project states that will probably be finished some time near the end of this month.
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Work progresses on Kobe’s Gigantor statue

FTV’s “Mezamashi TV” morning show visits the park in Kobe where work is underway to erect a life-size statue of Gigantor (Tetsujin 28-go):

Giant robot legs are already visible in the park where construction is taking place. The TV crew is given special access to a workshop that is creating the rest of Gigantor. The project is scheduled to be completed in October, after which Gigantor is expected to be one of Kobe’s major tourist attractions.

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Kobe Port Tower mascot needs a nickname

The Kobe Shimbun reports that Kobe Port Tower‘s mascot needs a nickname. The character’s official name, Kobe Port Tower-kun, is terribly uncreative, so the Kobe Port Promotion Association is turning to the general public for nickname suggestions.

Anybody got some good ideas?

[hat tip to Ken Y-N of What Japan Thinks]

Candy Model Of Himeji Castle Displayed At Expo

The 25th National Confectionery Exposition began yesterday in Himeji City, Hyogo Prefecture:

During the exposition, original cakes with the theme of the three beauties–Cleopatra, Ono no Komachi, Yang Guifei–prepared by Antenor, Kobe Fugetsudo, Henri Charpentier and Morozoff will be served with other confectionery. Le Cordon Bleu Kobe and seven other confectionery schools will hold daily classes on making confections.

On display will be a confectionery model of Himeji Castle, ornamental candy flowers and birds, about 6,000 confections from across the nation and memorabilia among other items. A musical, “Sweet Drops: A Story of a Pastry Chef,” will be performed daily by former top members of Takarazuka Revue and OSK Nippon Kagekidan revue.

Below are a few photographs of impressive candy creations on display at the expo.

A 1:50 scale model of Himeji Castle, complete candy versions of famous historical samurai:

A clipper ship, globe, and Russian scene:

A close-up of the globe:

The expo will be held next to the real Himeji Castle and will run from April 18 to May 11, 9:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. A map of the expo location can be found on the event’s official homepage.

Kobe and Yokohama ranked among Asia’s favorite spots for expats…

In a recent survey conducted by ECA International a human resources firm specializing in expatriates and which operates in 71 countries, Kobe and Yokohama both rank in the Top 10 best locations in the world for Asian expats.

The survey takes into account things like safety, cleanliness, crime rate, housing, health etc. For Asian expats, Singapore took the number 1 spot with Sydney 2^nd and Melbourne tied with Kobe in 3^rd place. Yokohama also made the top 10 in 8^th place. The other cities in the top 10 are Copenhagen, Denmark 5^th, Canberra, Australia in 6^th, Vancouver, Canada in 7^th, Wellington, New Zealand in 9^th, and Dublin, Ireland in 10^th place.

That Japanese cities rank so highly says a great deal about the relative safety of Japan, and those cities in particular. It also says something about the level of general cleanliness in the cities… The two cities chosen are also two of the busies port cities in Japan as well as two of the earlier ports opened to Western commerce.

Are there any other reasons why you think these cities are so popular among Asian expats? What other cities in Japan should have gone ahead of them? Any reasons why these cities should not be in the Top 10?