Yesterday, I assembled my bicycle. At last, I could go to various places!
Although I explained my living area in an earlier article (this article), it was brief. Let’s introduce it again with the photo I took yesterday.
About Yanai City
About two months ago, I started to stay in my parents’ house. Then, I decided to live with them. Last week, I carried my belongings from my previous apartment to the current home.
I now live in Yanai City, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. Its population is around 30,000. It is a small city close to the sea and mountains.
In my opinion, the city’s railroad station symbolizes the city’s scale. The building of Yanai Station is shown in the following image:
It is a bit bigger than the previous city I lived in, but it is still the countryside.
A compact city and life
Yanai City is a compact city. The commercial facilities, such as grocery stores and restaurants, are gathered in one place. That makes shopping convenient.
The following photo is of a shopping mall near the station.
This taught me the importance of compacting life functions. If we can organize things efficiently, we can reduce wasted energy.
Now I have to optimize my belongings due to the limited storage space of my room. My brother’s items occupy the most area of my room’s closet, and I cannot dispose of them on my own, so I have to manage my belongings with severely limited storage space.
Compact living is one of my current themes.
Goldfish handicrafts
By the way, many goldfish crafts can be found in the streets. They are lanterns made from cloth and bamboo sticks.
They are in the station, as shown in the following image:
On the street:
Under the eaves of the houses:
They are everywhere. Even the McDonald’s in this city, a well-known burger chain, is decorated with them.
They seem to be a symbol of this city. Such a symbol brings a sense of unity, even in a chaotic society.
It is like a flag. For example, many houses in the U.S. hung the national flag in front of their homes right after its independence from Great Britain.
Perhaps they wanted to unite socially and feel safe. Even if races and lifestyles were different, the same flag made them feel they were companions of the same society. That made them relieved and cooperative.
This tendency becomes more apparent when society is in turmoil and chaotic. The U.S. has a large racial divide, which could be why people in the U.S. often raise the flag.
The goldfish crafts might play the same role in this city. Decorating with them allows the new shops and houses to be accepted by their surroundings more easily.
Conclusion
That is about Yanai City, where I live now.
Since I finally got my bicycle, I am going to explore this city.
Thank you for reading this article. I hope to see you in the next one.
