One Saturday during hanami, it rained all night Friday then stopped around 8:30am. The sun gradually came out and warmed up enough we could take our jackets off and play in short-sleeved shirts. But that all changed around 1pm. From that point, the air cooled and the clouds began coming in. Soon it began to rain; only a short shower. Then it got sunny again and warmed up. Mind you, it wasn’t as warm as it was earlier in the day. Then clouds came in again and the air cooled. This time, it got chilly. The wind also picked up. Soon it began to rain. But then something surprising happened. It began to hail. Shortly after that, would you believe, it got sunny again!

At this time, it was about 3pm. So the sun was starting to get lower on the horizon. Many people doing their cherry blossom viewing began to go home around 1pm when the first rain came. Those who stayed for the second heavier shower soon began leaving for home in round 2. But then came round 3.

The third wave of clouds brought even colder air and this time ice and snow. It first started sleeting and then snowed. At this point, we finally decided to pack up because it didn’t look like it would clear up this time around.

Thirty minutes later, as we were walking across the bridge to the station, the sun came out again. But then came round 4! By that time, many of us were either in our cars or on the train back home!

Weekend weather during spring is not always like this, but it is unpredictable most on Saturday for some reason. Sundays are a little less dramatic.

As for this weekend, the current forecast is saying sunny Friday night, cloudy Saturday morning.

According to them, radiation coming from the Fukushima plant will be passing over the Kansai region starting tonight and throughout the rest of the day tomorrow.

Click this site for the air pattern and map. Radiated Air-flow Map

KIX uses the screen to display videos introducing visitors to the airport giving them guidance how to get around the airport along with information on sightseeing spots in the Kansai area.

The first online classified website in the Kansai region or for that matter in Japan was KansaiConnect. Since then, the website has focused on other areas and other classified websites have popped up. However, last week, KansaiConnect bought a new domain and opened Kansai Classifieds on that domain, appropriately called KansaiClassifieds.com.

People who post ads to this site usually are associated with Osaka, Kobe, Kyoto, Nara, Wakayama and Shiga. There are categories to post ads for electronics, household things, English and Japanese, housing and more. If you have a suggestion, send them a request and they will consider adding it to the site.

If you are an English or Japanese teacher, there is also a section to post an ad about yourself to promote your service!

There are only a few ads listed right now, but traffic to the site has begun to increase now that the domain has been listed in Google.

If you have something to buy or sell, go to KansaiClassifieds, register and post your classified ad now! It is easy to do, fast and of course free!

If you wish to experience the Kobe Luminarie, it is best to take the train. Traveling there by car will take much more time out of your day because of heavy traffic. Also, if you visit the area earlier in the month, you will experience less foot traffic, as the event goes on more and more people gather to enjoy it. But if you like crowds, then later in the month is for you.

To get to the Luminarie take the Hanshin Railway line to any of the stations between Motomachi and Sannomiya stations.

NOTE: Illumination area times may change due to weather changes.

Heavy thunderstorms in Tokyo caused flooding in rural Shinjuku and surrounding areas. People were stranded in their cars and some even had to abandon their cars otherwise they would possibly have drowned. One woman showed cameramen her car in an underground tunnel. Her car had water up to the roof.

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In Kobe, heavy rains caused several city workers who were in manholes to be washed away downstream. One man survived escaping death by grasping a handle near another manhole as he was being washed downstream.

Koshien stadium paused high school baseball games going on during the annual high school baseball tournament because of heavy rains and lightning. The games later continued.

People say it is the most lightning they’ve ever seen in the Osaka, Kobe and Kyoto. People on the streets stop and stare into the dark thunderclouds to watch the light displays crackling through the sky in fear and awe.

The Keihan and Hankyu railways have had many delayed trains, something that is unusual in Japanese train systems, because of heavy rain and power outages in Osaka and Kyoto. Train passengers were caught in the storms standing on platforms with no place to go as they waited for the next train. It took me an extra thirty minutes on my train ride home from Nara because of train delays.

Cold and warm air masses have been looming over Japan for the past week causing the turbulent weather, and more heavy rain and thunderstorms are predicted. If you are traveling to Japan, you may want to buy an umbrella when you arrive along with some rainboots.

A river rose in less than a minute in Kobe and washed several children and adults away to their death. So be careful not to be around any rivers or valleys during rainstorms because flash flooding happens in an instant and even the most prepared can be caught offguard.

The roads during Golden Week are more crowded than anyother time of the year. Someone once told me it took 12 hours to drive from Osaka to Okayama because of the traffic that jams up at the bottleneck just outside Osaka between Takarazuka and Sanda. The normal driving time is two and a half hours from Minoh City.

A better way to travel, if you have no other alternative vacation plans in the area, is to travel at night when most people choose to sleep. Traffic is usually a lot less and many traffic lights are activated to flashing yellow lights. A friend and I traveled at night from Kyoto to Wakayama in record time this way going backroads. We drove it in just under 3 hours.

Hopefully, some good advice is to travel a few days before or after Golden Week. That way you can beat the traffic and the higher costs that come with the holiday period.

For those of you who don’t have a good idea of what to do, here are a few suggestions of things you probably shouldn’t do.

Don’t…

• …visit Universal Studios Japan – It doesn’t matter how many people leave the Kansai area because many people outside the Kansai area will probably come to the Kansai area to USJ.
• …drive through Takarazuka or Sanda area on the Chugoku Expressway during rush hour traffic, on the first day or last day of a long weekend or holiday. Traffic is at its worst then.
• …go out to popular family restauarants during Golden Week because too many people in Japan go there with the family and relatives during this time. Visit a restaurant that is not family style or is ethnic food. You have a better chance of finding parking and a seat.
• …expect a large majority of shops and/or banks to be open. Most close down during Golden Week, or at least they usually do. Things are changing all the time in Japan, so it wouldn’t be surprising if more shops begin to stay open during the holidays. Most are closed on Mondays though, even without the holidays.
• …buy an airplane ticket, abroad or domestic. It’s the secondmost expensive time of the year to travel other than summer during Obon. Most airfare is double if not triple the average cost.

Hopefully these few tips will help you make wise decisions for your Golden Week. Choose something outside these Don’ts and you may do well with the little time Golden Week vacation truly offers since it isn’t really a full week of vacation time.

Here in the Kansai area of Japan, the cherry blossoms are expected to begin popping out next week. They should be in full bloom by the first week of April. Cherry blossoms, or sakura as they are called in Japanese, can be viewed throughout Japan at parks, shrines and temples and just about anywhere. Cherry blossom trees line mountainsides and parks, roadways and gardens. They are a symbol of Japan, and will soon be out symbolizing spring has come. Get outside while they last because they’re only visible for a little over a week!

Here are some buds for now!

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