Neighborhood Hirakata

As of now, I am living in Hirakata, a small city in Japan. But when I think of Hirakata I don’t really think of it as a city. To me, it’s a suburb of Osaka. It’s just a quiet little town that doesn’t really seem to have much action. But I shouldn’t generalize Hirakata, since it is a large area and I only live/walk around a small part of it.

Where I live is in Kansai Gaidai’s Seminar House (3) for international students. The Area it is located in is just a quiet neighborhood. To me, this neighborhood reminds me a lot of home. Just by how the neighbors will be walking around and run into each other and start to chat about what’s been going on and to catch up with each other. The only other sounds that are present are the sounds of motorcycles and children playing. 

There are 2 main places that I go to in Hirakata; the first is Hirakata station, the “down town” area of the city. This area is rather lively compared to where I live because so many people are either going in and out of the area because of the train station and the small shopping area near it or local/international students are meeting up and hanging around the area. The 2^nd area I go to is Kansai Gaidai itself. When I think of Kansai Gaidai’s campus, it feels more like a high school. It’s quiet on campus, and people are running off and fitting different activities in between their classes and they truly live by the bell that rings throughout the campus.

I would say that Hirakata is a good area for both the locals and the international students to live in. it’s a nice quiet little area that one can call home.