Kobe in colonial period

a 19th century style house. it shows a typical architecuture during the colonial period (1868-1899) of downtown Kobe. it was first built in 1880 and completely destroyed by the great earthquake in 1995, but reconstructed to the original form by collecting every pieces of the ruins.

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an old house to revive

  Ōgo Honjin  淡河宿本陣 神戸市北区

from 17th century to mid 19th century, every daimyo (feudal lords in Japan) was frequently on the roads traveling back and forth between his domain and the capital with his army unit from scores to thousands of men.

The accomodations for daimyo were prepared throughout the nation. few of them survived as prestigeous traditional japanese inns.

there was a narrow mountain path for daimyos at the northern part of kobe city. Yunoyama road for those to stay at Arima hotsprings. a house constructed as a hotel for daimyos on the road had been used by the landlord family of the region. it is now open for public on weekends.



south house



south room, one of the eight parts of the entire complex. elevated floor terrace made of precious woods signifies the prestige.

the official name of this house is the ruin of oh-go honjin. it was ruins since the site had been devastated for many years. clearning and repair was completed last year, but the name is still in use. the building was originally from 18th century with reforms for several times.

この建物の正式名称は「本陣跡」　半世紀以上、住む人もなく放置され「本陣跡」と呼ばれてきた頃の名前が残っています。財団法人 淡河宿本陣跡保存会の活動により、ここ数年 美化が進められてきました

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Bravo Nao-Chi

Naomi Osaka is young. 20 years old now, but she has been a prominent female tennis player of WTA (Women's Tennis Association) for years. She is described as an angel with satanic power and passion on her games. She belongs to Japan Tennis Association (JTA)

She is now a winner of US Open 2018. It was so surprising. No one born in Japan achieved that title before. Her father Leonard François is a Haitian and her mother is from Hokkaido. She was born in Osaka city and grew up in Long Island, NY with her Haitian grand parents. So she is a native english speaker. She can assume triple nationalities, US Japan and Haiti, but will represent Japan on Tokyo 2020. She understands Japanese, but prefers to speak English. It would be a strange experience for many reporters when they ask in Japanese and hear English in response. She is getting very popular and revered.

なおみの母方の家は北海道の漁師の親方。とはいえ、海で魚を獲る人たちというより漁場を支配する領主に近い。封建的な雰囲気があったとも思われる。　母 環（たまき）は札幌の大学に進学して自由を満喫し、そこで なおみの父 フランソワと出会う。　北海道には数名の黒人しかいなかった時代で、彼らへの偏見も強い時代であり、大坂家の家風であった。　二人は駆け落ちするように大阪に移住する。　大阪でも古い建物が残る空堀（からほり）地区に住み、そこで二人の娘が生まれる。そして、靭(うつぼ)テニスセンターでのレッスンが始まる。


空堀商店街の代表的な古い家のたたずまい　2011年10月 撮影　大坂なおみの家族が住んだ家というわけではない。

環の父（なおみから見ると母方の祖父）は長い間、テニスなど道楽に過ぎないと考えていた人だった。　その彼も最近は、なおみを非常に尊敬し始めているようである。　



Nao-Chi on her childfood days. Utsubo tennis center in Osaka city? where she started to play tennis and Japan women's tennis opens were used to held. a photo uploaded on her 21th birthday to instagram

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21. The picture that started it all.

Naomi Osaka 大坂なおみさん(@naomiosakatennis)がシェアした投稿 - 2018年10月月16日午前6時16分PDT

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