http://www.city-cost.comThu, 20 Aug 2026 05:19:23 +0900City-Cost is an interesting new way to find and share useful financial and living information in Japan. Make your life easier and help others with City-CostenCopyright © 2015 - 2026 City-Cost All Rights Reserved.webmaster@city-cost.com (CC Team)http://img.city-cost.com/static/blog_campaign_icon.pnghttp://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Heath320/z1Bg6-livingWashing your big laundry in Japan can be a bit of a hassle. The washing machines that can be bought are pretty small and are not good for big blankets and coats. Laundry mats are the best way to get the big laundry washed and dried.I have only been to one laundry mat in Japan so each one could be different then the others. This laundry mat has a place to wash your shoes, a washer dryer combo machine, big washing machines, a normal size washing machine, and a gas dryer.I brought laundry detergent with me but these washing machines have the laundry detergent already in them. Before you go I would confirm if you need soap or just bring it with you. We were here to wash our kotatsu blanket so we chose the washer/dryer combo. It was 1200¥ for 60 minutes. It washed for 20 minutes and dried for 40. There is an option to add more drying time if needed. There is only one dryer but I think it would be a good place to bring wet laundry in the winter if you need a quick dry and not wait for it to hang dry.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Heath320/z1Bg6-livingSun, 11 Nov 2018 14:36:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Heath320/z1Bg6-livinghttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Heath320/GR4Jg-living_transportation_galleries_miyazu_shi_kyotoAmanohashidate, even though it’s one of the 3 most beautiful places in Japan I would consider it off the beaten path. I definitely think it’s a good side trip when visiting Kyoto.From Kyoto there are a few different ways you can get there. Depending on the time of day there is a limited express train straight to Amanohashidate which you can use your JR rail pass. The route I would recommend is taking the limited express from Kyoto station to Nishi Maizuru station, which your JR rail pass can be used. From there you would switch the to KTR and take the train to Amanohashidate station. This is a private line so the rail pass can not be used. They have some special trains and the route is right along the coast. It is very beautiful. If you take that route make sure to sit on the right side to see some stunning views of the water and coast. Get off at Amanohashidate station and take a right out of the station. When you get to a stop light you can either go left into the little town that takes you to the sand bridge or go right and head up the first over look to see the sand bridge. There is either a chair lift or a trolley you can take up to the top. At the top there are a few rides including a Ferris wheel and a cafe. Make sure to look between your legs to view the sand bridge the proper way. It’s other name is bridge to heaven, which you can see looking between your legs. The view you see from this over look is my favorite because you can see the outline of the beach.After you finish at the over look head back down to the little town where there are restaurants, gift shops, and a beautiful temple. You can walk out onto the sand bridge and even go swimming if it is summer. The sand bridge is covered in pine trees. In the middle there is also a small shrine. To get to the other side you can walk, rent a bike or take a boat. On the other side is a beautiful shrine, restaurants, gift shops, and another over look. At this over look you can take a chair lift or a trolley. It provides a different angle view of the sand bridge. Up at the top there is a restaurant, cafe, and gift shop. There is also access to go farther up the mountain to another temple. You can walk or take a bus.Exploring Amanohashidate can take a whole day if you do both over looks. I suggest walking or riding a bike one way and taking a boat the other way. It is said it is bad luck for your love life if you walk both ways so taking a boat is recommended. You can even feed seagulls off the boat. Amanohashidate is a wonderful side trip from Kyoto and I highly suggest you do it if you have an extra day. It is a great opportunity to explore a small town in Japan and see some amazing sites.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Heath320/GR4Jg-living_transportation_galleries_miyazu_shi_kyotoSun, 16 Sep 2018 11:29:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Heath320/GR4Jg-living_transportation_galleries_miyazu_shi_kyotohttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Heath320/z3l98-living_galleries_iida_shi_naganoThis is a local festival that happens in Tokimata which is in Iida, Nagano. The festival starts at Choseki Temple where men and women carry mobile shrines, known as “mikoshi” in Japanese. They carry the mobile shrines through Tokimata where they stop next at the Tokimata Tenryu Bridge. They do a ritual of dumping purified water and then one of the mobile shrines with a man standing on it goes to the monument for the bridge and pours water on to it. They then carry the shrines over the bridge and back and then head down to the Tenryu River. At the river, certain men dump water from the river on to other men and themselves. Then two men go out into the water to see how deep and how far the shrines should be carried. The first shrine is the one with the man on top who then dumps water from the river over the shrine. The mobile shrines are then carried in and out of the water three times. However, the women only carry their mobile shrine into knee deep water while the men go into the water at chest depth. They head back to Choseki Temple where the festival ends.The men and women who participate are half naked. Since it is held in the second Sunday of March the water is very cold. It usually somewhere near the temperature of 5°C.The shrines leave Choseki Temple at 1pm. It is a very interesting and an exciting festival to watch. There is lots of energy from the participants and the people who are watching. The men and women had started to drink alcohol at 10 am, so they are pretty animated. If you are in the area I would recommend going, if you don’t live in the area I suggest finding out about your local festivals and your community may even have a naked man festival.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Heath320/z3l98-living_galleries_iida_shi_naganoFri, 13 Jul 2018 10:14:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Heath320/z3l98-living_galleries_iida_shi_naganohttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Heath320/G63dV-education_familylife_iida_shi_naganoWe are an American couple living in Japan. Our oldest child is three and ready to go to school. At three your child can start "yochien" which is basically preschool here in Japan. Since I stayed home we couldn’t send him (our son) to daycare. Not such a problem but it meant that we had no idea how school worked here. We did, however, have a company help us to find schools and give us the information we needed. They found us multiple schools and I picked which ones I felt fit our family and location.If you want to get your kid into yochien, you need to start looking in September. In October I visited 3 different schools for their information meetings. Two of the schools we picked we really liked, the third was nice but didn’t fit what we wanted.I got an application which I had to turn in by 8 am November 1st at my first choice school. We got to the school about 15 minutes early and there was already a line of about 20 parents. We had to wait and have a very short interview. The interview was all in Japanese so it was hard to understand but they asked about riding the bus, allergies, and made sure the application was filled out the right way. At the end they told us they would get back to us by sending a letter.At the end of December we got a letter saying our son was accepted, and it had ID forms for us to fill out and a date for a meeting. A couple weeks later we got another note with more forms for a supply order and a bus sign up (if you want your kid to ride the bus).During that first meeting our son got to try on the uniform, we turned in the ID forms, and got more information about the school such as the opening ceremony and other events happening throughout the year. We even had to do a self introduction. We will have another meeting and at that one we will receive the supplies we ordered, have an event for the kids, and talk about any health concerns your child might have.School will be starting the beginning of April. The school hours will be from 10 am - 2 pm. If you work you can add on more hours.The cost of this school is dependent on how much tax you pay.This is just my experience of signing my kid up for school in a small city here in Japan. In the big cites there is more work originally when turning in the application.My three year old who is going to school.To view the full contents of this page visit www.city-cost.comPostshttps://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Heath320/G63dV-education_familylife_iida_shi_naganoSun, 04 Feb 2018 11:50:00 +0900https://www.city-cost.comhttps://www.city-cost.com/blogs/Heath320/G63dV-education_familylife_iida_shi_nagano