Ken Matsuoka's Tips: Utsunomiya City, Tochigi Pref., Japan
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Welcome to Utsunomiya City
city.utsunomiya.tochigi.jp
Utsunomiya LRT Google Map
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Utsunomiya is located 100 km to the north of Tokyo, and is now a base of |
Utsunomiya is accessible from Tokyo by the Shinkansen, or the Bullet Train,
in 60 minutes. It is also connected with Narita Airport by bus in about 3 hours.
The bus stop location at Narita Airport Terminal One is #6.
At Terminal Two, the bus stop is #9.
Airlines at which terminal? Here is the terminal guide on the web site of Narita Airport.
The bus timetable is shown on the travel section of the telephone directory.
Well, after arriving at Utsunomiya Station, there is an information desk you can contact to find
the way to your final destination.
What's
New
1 :
The
hotly contested race for the new governor of Tochigi Prefecture ended
on the election day Sunday, November 28, 2004, when the finalized vote
count was announced at midnight.
The winner was Tomikazu Fukuda, the former Mayor of Utsunomiya City, advocate
of LRT,
beating the incumbent governor Akio Fukuda, formerly Mayor of Imaichi
City, near Nikko, who has been
opposed to LRT. Refer to Guideline
of the New Transportation System Committee of the city.
The LRT (Light Rail Transit) system is now proposed after long debate as the
new traffic means
of transportation to solve such problems with today's automobile dependent
transportation
as air pollution, energy conservation, traffic
accidents as well as the terrible traffic congestion
which will not be eliminated even when all the new routes are completed as planned
with the current pace of increase in number of cars in the city.
Utsunomiya Mayor Eiichi Sato, successor to former Mayor Tomikazu Fukuda, announces his personal goal of
introducing the LRT system to Utsunomiya
in 2010. Timeline
in excel (May 31, 2005). Further information to follow.
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Among them, Twin Ring Motegi offers a wide variety of events, racing, attraction, including
ASIMO, fireworks display in August and hot air balloon championship races.
- April 1, 2003 -
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YouTube - Honda's Asimo Robot buckling on the stairs |
Well,
if you are not a racing enthusiast but just fond of less dynamic entertainment
or just fun,
would Twin Ring
Motegi be a boring place? No way. Even on weekdays (except
Tuesday, weekly closing date)
and weekends
when there are no automobiles or motorcycle racing events, there are a hotel, restaurants and
souvenir shops, all
open to serve the families and
the young and the aged alike. And some events:
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For weekdays, performance time schedule:
(http://www.honda.co.jp/fanfunlab/asimoworld/index.html)
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Thus
the following are now old pieces: ASIMO ,sighting obstacles, veers to escape ASIMO steps forward to a pointed spot
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Now, frequently asked questions are going to be answered. - Oct. 13,
2001
Q2: I am going to Utsunomiya and have my kids enrolled in
local schools there. Is it possible to
If
you live in Utsunomiya and own a car, here
is the easiest way to go to Narita airport
Q1: Where are smoke-free spots in Utsunomiya?
A1: Among the very scarce smoke-free spots I know is only
Starbucks Coffee.
There are now 2 Starbucks, one in Fukudaya (FKD), the other in PARCO.
Comment 1: Many smokers are seen puffing while driving and
throwing butts out of the windows.
We cannot pass through the long corridor of JR Utsunomiya Station East
exit
without seeing the smokers puffing while walking and scattering ashes, throwing
butts
on the pathway. The moment we arrive in Utsunomiya and walk through the
wicket,
the air smells suffocatingly smoky, possibly compounded by hundreds of
taxi
never bothering to stop idling while parking. Being unaware of how they are doing harm
to
the images of us Japanese, not to mention how dirty people they are themselves, they
should
know how to behave, and the city should ban littering the streets and public
installations,
if Utsunomiya is to be called an international city worthy of its grand
convention center,
Marronnier Plaza, and rapidly growing alien population.
provide information on enrolling in school by age?
A2: This Excel spreadsheet would be handy. Just type
in their birth dates in cell B4.
School
Age Counting for Japan
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January 16, 2002 -
while leaving your car on a parking site close to the busstop in Utsunomiya
so you can pick up your car when you return and load your suit case and
bags full of souvenirs on it and head straight home from the busstop.
Its location relative to its environs in Tochigi Pref. is shown in this map.
Show Larger Map
Among the many sightseeing spots, Utsunomiya City Museum, located to the northwest or
11-o'clock direction of JR Utsunomiya Station, holds various exhibitions, but it is an interesting
architecture on its own light, surrounded by the spacious, scenic and sunny expanse of nature
and the affluent residential community of Toyosatodai with Teikyo University's campus on the hill
and amenities such as the shopping center "Muse". Some Americans, who are learning Japanese,
are confused and think the name means a shop, or mise. In my assumption, it is named after the nearby
museum. Utsunomiya City Museum is open 9:30 AM and closed 4:30 PM, is closed on Monday.
The bus service is available from Utsunomiya Station West Gate, or Nishi Guchi,
bus stop #5, leaving at 9:15, 9:55, 11:15, 11:42, 13: 15, 14:20 and 15:05. It takes
about 25 minutes via Toyosatodai and Teikyo University.
The Utsunomiya Station East Area used to be sparsely populated and
have few stores and offices, but has grown into the new business town
as more office buildings, shops, restaurants and hotels have been completed
since Utsunomiya was connected with Tokyo by the Shinkansen some 20 years ago.
Among them, Kojima, who originated from Utsunomiya, is Japan's No. 1
appliance retailer, has expanded its shop floor with its new, massive
building. Ohtsuka Shokai has completed an eight-story building and had
its shop as well as its computer school moved there. And, Yamada Denki,
also originating from the Tochigi area and now a competitor of Kojima, has just
opened its new store with the floor area on a par with Kojima's.
Thus they compete for the market to make Utsunomiya a town as crowded
with the shoppers as Akihabara. Add Koizumi, another big local appliance retailer,
and we have the YKK, not the zipper manufacturer of course, who invite us to shop around
in Utsunomiya for personal computers, color TVs and air-cons at discount.
And the station east area has the shops of all the mobile phone, or keitai, companies -
NTT DoCoMo, KDDI and J-PHONE, owned by vodaphone of the UK. We see their shops busy
with many customers who have come to get the latest electronic gadget of the 21st century.
Among the customers, many high-school girls are seen to be sitting at the counter to make purchase.
Here is the excel data version of the map of the station east area with the links to
their home pages. When accessing the file server, you may be prompted to enter ID and
passwords. Just press the "Cancel" button, and downloading will start.
Hotels, hospitals, sports clubs, etc. are listed in the telephone directory,
which would be updated from time to time.
The latest data and information on Utsunomiya will be introduced
on this site, in English. To start with, the fact and figures
about the city, announced by Utsunomiya City Hall, are covered.
Now, the latest figures of alien registration, 200
3 is available. In 2000, the total alien populationof 6,979 was an increase of 18.7 percent from 5,880 in 1999, while the total population of
450,615 represented a slight increase of 0.7 percent from 447,306 in 1999. So it is no
exaggeration to say that Utsunomiya experienced an alien population explosion
at the turn of the century. The alien population in 1998 was 5,717.
Ref. alien registration, 1995-1999.
It is interesting that the statistics show very few people living in Utsunomiya,
from such countries with sister cities of Utsunomiya as New Zealand, with Manukau
and from France, with Orleans City. Utsunomiya City Hall has a network of registration
certificate services for the citizens and the foreigners with addresses in the city.
And
land prices in Utsunomiya never stops falling, especially in the
commercial
sector. The figures as of 1999 are available by a link listed
below.
Meanwhile,
in a move to publicize their region, which Utsunomiya City
is the capital town of, following the appointment of Nikko Toshogu
and Futaarasan shrines and Rin'ohji temple in Nikko City as the world
heritage,
Tochgi (pronounced to-chi-ghi) Prefecture have announced
that english
pages have been added to their official Web site to introduce
their sightseeing spots, agriculture and industries. (Nikkei, Jan. 6,
2000)
Marriage/Divorce/Average Age of First Marriage 1988-2002
The Aged Living without Spouse and Family 1980-1995
Number of Passenger Cars Owned
Number of Mini Cars/Motorcycles Owned
Monthly Average Temperatures 1991-1998
Monthly Average Precipitations/Snowfall/Thunder/Wind/Clouds/Mist/Earthquake 1998
Population 1985-2000, as of Jan 1 each year
Tochigi excelfan.com
About
Japan and Utsunomiya:
Currency
Converter by OANDA.com, The
Currency Site
The Japan Times
Listing useful sites, TownNet
