If you are in the Kyoto area, please come back to this site, KansaiNews, and get updates. We will post pictures of flowers in the Kyoto area to help you know when the best time to view them is.

Currently, this is what the sakura blossoms look like in southern Kyoto.

Sakura cherry blossom buds

People around the world are complaining left and right about missing and messed up map components. Now Japanese as jumping on the complaint wagon.

This morning the news on local TV stations broadcast stories of people bemoaning the use of the Apple maps on their recently updated iPhones. Many wish they had never updated their phones and are afraid of using the new Apple map because they are noticing problems all on their own without the help of online or televised news stories.

Some of the complaints are:

Many want Apple to succeed in creating a good mapping service, but they are frustrated that Apple brought out the mapping service and it is so flawed. Many people have worked hard getting their businesses listed in Google Maps so others can easily find them. Not being able to find their hard work listed in the new Apple Maps makes people feel like they are back to square one. Apple had better get to work on fixing this or it will spoil the sweet flavor many have come to know and enjoy!

Many Chinese come to Japan on vacation. Yet, you don’t hear of any Japanese attacking the Chinese visitors because of their stance on issues. They come, they travel and do their sightseeing around Japan and then go back to China unharmed or ridiculed.

Of course, most people around the world realize that the media makes little issues out to be bigger than they really are. Japanese living and working in China are getting treated terribly and don’t deserve any of it.

The earthquake registered magnitude 3 along the eastern coastlines of Honshu and Hokkaido in Japan.

So what’s the difference?

It’s Obon period.

For those of you who don’t know what Obon is, you can read more about Obon from this article: Japanese Obon.

If you need to drive anywhere in Japan during Obon, avoid the major highways and toll roads. They will be most traveled.

To get anywhere you want to go faster, drive on smaller highways. While the speeds may not be the fastest, you will most likely get to your destination much quicker nonetheless…even with all the stoplights!

During Obon, traffic on major highways and toll roads can take hours to travel as short a distance as 20 kilometers because of congestion.

Drive safely, or as they say in Japanese English, Safety Drive!

Schools in Osaka are letting children out early today, while schools in Kyoto are still in session.

A warning over the loud speaker system here in Kyoto just came on a few minutes ago warning people that there will be heavy rain and high winds later on around 7pm as the typhoon begins to hit Kyoto.

Right now, current conditions in Kyoto are calm with little to no wind. It’s kinda like the calm before the storm.

Tsuyu is Japanese for rainy season. The rainy season is caused by cold northerly and warm southerly air masses that collide resulting in consistently bad weather for several weeks on end.

June is known for being rainier than other months.

Those wishing to travel inside Japan should be prepared for rainy, windy elements. Bring a raincoat if you have one. Don’t worry if you forget your umbrella from home. Umbrellas can be bought on almost every street corner for next to nothing. Convenient stores carry them for under ¥500. Some places sell the clear see-through umbrellas for just over a few hundred yen.

Don’t forget that typhoon season has also begun. They add a bit more rain to the rainy season!

Most news channels in Japan are broadcasting other news or TV shows. Only two channels are broadcasting the missile news as a top story as most people in Japan feel this news is not a major concern.

Leading up to the launch, most people were never really concerned with the missile launch. Most people in Japan believe the governments of South Korea, Japan and the United States have their safety ensured.

• Runny nose and nasal congestion
• Watery or itchy eyes
• Sneezing
• Cough
• Itchy nose, roof of mouth or throat
• Sinus pressure and facial pain
• Swollen, blue-colored skin under the eyes (allergic shiners)
• Decreased sense of smell or taste

Hay fever symptoms usually last for longer periods of time or appear only after exposure to a specific allergen.

In Japan, 1 in 6 people are effected by hay fever. Japan has over 40 sources of allergic pollen alone. Two of the most abundant types of pollen are the sugi and hinoki trees. These two trees produce the pollens that are the main sources of kafunsho (hay fever) in Japan.

For those who are visiting Japan for the first time, you will probably not experience any hay fever symptoms, unless you are sensitive to pollen. Those who visit Japan frequently during the same season when pollen is at its peak may begin experiencing hay fever over time.

If you have hay fever and you plan a trip to Japan, make sure you visit the doctor before you leave so you can bring along some allergy medicine. The end of March through May is prime hay fever season.

I live in Kyoto and have taught at private schools as well as at universities.  I started this in order to give professionals within a particular field a means to contribute.  We must think of education as a long term need.

In regards to the schools and organizations listed in our directory, they are located in a number of different regions in Japan.  Refugees from the Tohoku area are moving to different locales throughout Japan and thus we strive to help them in their new environments.  The schools listed have agreed to give tuition assistance for affected children.  In this way, we hope to create a model that addresses the issues resulting from the triple disasters of March 11, 2011 on a national level.  As for the lessons using Skype we have at this time one volunteer based in Australia and thus, there is the possibility for the international community becoming involved.  Surely, people are suffering financially and we hope that through these offers their burdens may be lightened ever so slightly.

After School Lessons for Tohoku Children Homepage