Local Business

Not to be overlooked in the way of all this franchise business, however, are the smaller-scale and local retailers to be found in the quieter areas. The following pictures are of some smaller shops along the road from the kyu kyu store towards Route 1 (away from the main gate), and in also in Makino.



Above is a butcher's shop in Makino.
Below is a florist on the same street.



Below again is a small supermarket, again on the same street in Makino.



And this is a snapshot of a minor frenzy as both a bicycle-bound grandma and a family of three all parked their bikes up against the side of the building and dove inside.




This picture shows a clothing store with carpark further towards Makino station, with another below it in the cluster of shops situated around the station itself.






Next, we have a picture of a bicycle shop near the first clothes shop, and another one going from the Kyuu Kyuu store towards Route 1.






Lastly, we have a typical kareoke bar towards Route 1, opposite the bicycle shop pictured above. There are several of these situated throughout Hirakata.

Townside

The following are a couple of photos taken in the area around Hirakata-shi Station. These do not represent the overall make-up of the area in any way, which is home to a number of popular restaurants and bars, and various shops and department stores. They are biased in that they simply present two things I personally found of interest in the area.




The above photo shows a pair of doormen conversing outside a male entertainment complex. Two more are visible is the background. I found this building of interest because of the nature of the signs. Entertainment consists of a number of available role play scenarios with women, one which is a simulation of a morning commuter train. While this is not presented in the full context of the rest of the Hirakata City station area, the city's red-light districts are popular and frequented, and this is one simply representation of this.

The photo below is of a pachinko slot machine parlour next to a barbershop, opposite a bus stop. I found the attention-grabbing design of each interesting. The woman with her attention caught by the barber's advertisment is almost invisible next her surroundings. Slot machines and pachinko parlours do make up a visible portion of the business in the immediate vicinity of the station.



The following pictures show the other areas around the station. In the one below the station is on the left, with a busy sidewalk. On the right a variety of business fronts including a Tsutaya bookshop and department store, and a bank as well. The Kintetsu department store lies directly ahead beyond the taxi roundabout.





This shows the same area from the opposite direction, taken outside the Kintetsu department store across the taxi roundabout. The walkway stretches over the top and is connected to some of the surrounding buildings on the upper level.
The picture below is of a pedestrian crossing between the Kintetsu store and the multifunctional building ahead.


An interesting thing to note on looking at buildings in this area in particular is the repetition of colour in their exterior. The undertone is very consistent and very definitely one of grey. On top of this is the frenzy of bright colours and advertisements. However, no matter how bright these advertisments are, they never quite seem to escape the grey behind them and surrounding them. Another intersting thing is the visual impact of the highly efficient use of space. The reality of this highly efficient usage manifests itself as a condensing of everything as far as groundspace is concerned. This means that there are casinos, private classrooms, doctors, shops, offices and agencies all directly above one another. The effect of this can be almost claustrophobic as everthing is packed in so tightly.

More Shopping

The picture above is of the ¥99 store a little further up the road from the East Gate of the Nakamiya campus. It stocks groceries, crockery, snacks, budget toiletries and practical domestic goods. It is popular amongst both native residents and foreign students, and boasts a convenient location next to the bus stop for buses towards Hirakata-shi Station. It offers hot cooked sweet potatoes at the check-out counter, which sit in an incubator being cooked until bought, the odour of which permeates the entire store. Due to its limited stock within each category of goods it offers, shoppers often spend only little time in this store. This results in the jingle played over the PA system being short and repetative, the lyrics: "shop, at Kyuu, at Kyuu, Kyuu Kyuu Kyuu!", 'kyuu' being Japanese for 'nine'. That is the 'Kyuu Kyuu store'.

The picture below shows a Lawson situated opposite the Kyuu Kyuu store. The rival to 7/11 as the most dominant 'konbini', Lawson offers fried meats and carbohydrates, and 'dango', a type of handheld Japanese dumpling, available with a variety of fillings including curry.



While Lawson and the Kyuu Kyuu store have their own variety of fast food flavours, it is naturally 7/11 that takes the crown with its 'oden', vegetables that sit stewing in a hot broth in front of the counter and gently release their flavourful steam into the rest of the shop. This combined with their own brand of fried food makes 7/11 the ultimate fast food solution for many a customer. Unfortunately it is 7/11 company policy that no photos be taken inside the premises by customers, according to the till workers of the Shiminbyouinmae, Hirakata branch, and are very quick to stop people from taking photgraphs of their oden.

Shopping

Dividing these images of Hirakata life into categories, first here are shops. There are a number of shops of various kinds in Hirakata. Supermarkets, ¥99 shops, smaller supermarkets, 'konbini' or convenience stores, and a number of smaller shops in the more residential areas. The photo below is of the Top World supermaket in Makino. It offers a large variety of import foods. It is photographed as it would be seen approaching from the Makino station.



And here, inside the supermarket, are some people doing their shopping. Nearly every franchise shop in Japan has its unique and memorable music that is played through a PA system. Top World could almost be considered a pioneer in that it does not have its own irritating 'Top World' jingle, but instead plays old American hits such as 'I Heard it through the Grapevine', 'Wild Thing' and 'Great Balls of Fire'.



An interesting feature of Top World is that it provides unlimited 'pure' water to its members. Upon creating a ¥500 membership card and purchasing an empty 2l bottle for ¥300 or a 3.8l for ¥500, one gains the ability to access the machines that refill the bottle. Below is a picture of people lining up to refil their bottles from the Top World 'Pure Club' refill machine. Videos of the machine being used to clean the bottle out and refill it are available at the following links respectively, recommended viewing if you have not previously seen this! It is dramatic stuff.


THE WASH

THE FILL





Here is a woman wearing a face mask and trying to choose between two packets of fish, also in Top World. Face masks are a common sight, and are used by some in spring as a line of combat against hayfever.



This is a picture of the check-out counter at Top World. These vary very little between the larger supermarkets.



And the following picture shows people packing their bags after check-out. In order to save time customers are simply given as many plastic bags as they need and sent away to pack their shopping.

Hirakata: The backside of Kansai Gaidai

The purpose of this blog is provide a picture of Hirakata, the home to overseas students studying at Kansai Gaidai University. It is created with the purpose of providing infomation that is omitted in the Kansai Gaidai prospectus, or brochure. While ample information is provided on Osaka and Kyoto, these two cities remain separate from Hirakata. Although they are easily accessable by train from the station down in the centre of Hirakata City, the City of Hirakata is inevitably where residents spend the majority of their time, shopping for groceries, etc. and supporting themselves, and also going out after 11pm, since the trains stop running at night.

The three pictures below are those in the 'Location' section of the Kansai Gaidai website. The first is the picture they provide of Osaka, they second of Kyoto, and the thrid of Nara.





There are no pictures of Hirakata City in the prospectus.

The pictures here are by no means all encompassing as a complete portrait of the city. However, they are intended to provide a fair image of Hirakata where Kansai Gaidai provides none.