City vs Country in Japan

In this essay I will write about the good things and bad things about city and country living in my country. For myself, I was brought up in the countryside. My house was on a hill with about 40 houses. We could see the sea from the upstairs window, and it was located near the fishermen’s village. Our school was in the fishermen’s village and my classmates were only 12 boys and 8 girls at that time.

I can think of many good things about living in the country. First, there is lots of nature. I used to take a long way back from the school and played in the stream, picked flowers and sat on the green grass and chatted about future plans with friends. Also it was safe because parents never worried about locking the door and they didn’t say anything about where we were playing as long as we kept the time. In addition, we knew all our neighbors. They were very helpful and kind. However, there are also bad things living in the country. First, there is not enough public transportation. We had only a few bus services in the day. Second, there are no hospitals or doctors in the village. My grandmother used to take us to see a doctor when we were sick. It was very hard work because we had to go by bus and we had to wait a long time for the bus. Also, there was no shopping center in the village. My mother had to go a long way to go shopping or wait for the truck to come and sell things.

I think living in the city is the opposite. The best things about living in the city is convenience. First, there are more public facilities like big hospitals, post offices, banks and so on. Second, there are many amusement places like museums, cinemas and concert halls. Also there are more job opportunities related to all facilities in the city. On the other hand, there are many bad things. First, the housing price is so high. We can’t afford to rent or buy reasonably sized accommodation. Next, it is not so safe because too many people are there. Sometimes we don’t know our neighbors either. Furthermore city is very noisy. Some people are stressed about the noise.

I had very nice time in my hometown during childhood. Of course, there were some inconveniences for adults at that time. However, thanks to modern technology, we can drive and go far away easily now. I like to spend my daily-life in the countryside with my children. And whenever I want to go to the city, which does not happen so often, I want to drive and visit places.

My favorite childhood place-Hiraodai

When I was a child, my parents took me and my sisters to a lot of different places.
I loved going out and still I prefer going out rather than staying in the house.

When I was little, I preferred going to the mountains rather than the beach, because I hated to walk wet feet with sand. After I grew up I didn’t mind that at all. However, when I was a little, after we had played happily in the sea, I complained a lot about walking back to the car with sandy feet.

My grandmother’s sister used to take me hiking to the different mountains with her friends when I was around 8 years to 12 years old. I really enjoyed going out with them and walking in the mountains. Spring and Autumn were especially beautiful.

One of my favorite places when I was a child was called Hirao-dai, which was famous for lime-stone rocks and a cave. This place was about 30minutes away by car from my parents place. Until 5years ago, this place didn’t have many attractions except the cave, hiking courses and picnic areas. We used to come often for driving and hiking. But now there is a concert hall, lots of shops and restaurants and many events.

When we lived in Japan my husband Chris used to go there for his weekend hiking. Also he used to take our children there as well. So now I believe that now Hiraodai has become the place for my family’s favorite place in Japan.

A Japanese recipe-Miso soup

This is a recipe for Miso soup, a Japanese traditional soup.
For this meal, you need these ingredients:

For 4 people:
・800ml water
・10g of dried kelp (dashi-konbu), cut the edge
・200g of tofu, cut it into 1cm cubes
・5g of dried cut seaweed (Wakame)
・40g～50g of soy bean paste (Miso)

You can make delicious Miso soup like this:

・First, leave the kelp in room temperature water at least 30min.
・Next, heat the kelp water, then take out the kelp before boiling.
・After that, put the cubes of tofu and dried seaweed into the hot water and wait until the water is boiled.
・Then, turn the gas off, and put the bean paste into the hot water. And stir it carefully until it completely dissolves .
・Finally, the Miso soup is ready when soup is heated again. Remember, you shouldn’t boil the water any more.