Yakult factory

Yakult is a Japanese probiotics company. I inspected the Yakult factory in Miki City, Hyogo Prefecture with members of a study group. We got there in 2 hours by car.

I didn't know that people of 23 countries drink Yakult, and especially that Korean people drink more than anywhere else in the world.

There were a lot of belt conveyors, big tanks, and robots in the factory. The products were made almost automatically and hygienically.
The displays were written in Japanese and English, and the animation of the explanation can be viewed in English, Korean, and Chinese as well as Japanese.

The founder of Yakult is Dr. Minoru Shirota. He entered Kyoto Imperial University's School of Medicine in 1921. He proposed that people become healthy and long-lived by the health of the bowel. Lactic acid bacterium of Yakult attracts attention because of the prophylaxis of cancer and infection.

I'm glad to know that the study in Kyoto is helpful for people of the world.

Introduction of my parents

My father is over eighty. His work is housework and tending our garden. He likes eating and talking. He is going to weight training twice a week, so he is fine.

My mother can do various things, such as Ikebana (arrange flowers), Way of Tea (Japanese tea ceremony), dressmaking, cooking, Kitsuke (how to wear kimono).

Both of them like inviting friends over, so please drop in for a cup of coffee when you stay at our guesthouse.

Our guesthouse

My favorite work

There is a favorite work of mine in the entrance of my house. I wrote this with a ball-point pen more than five years ago. This work is made up of several poems of the seasons and love of Ogura Hyakunin Isshu(a hundred poems by a hundred poets). I was able to write it more comfortably with the ball-point pen than with a writing brush. I thought that it was too big when it was completed, but I could display it in the entrance hall. What will I write next time?

Relax salon "Bodyimpact"

I went to get a relax salon "Bodyimpact" in Otesuji shopping street yesterday. I get a massage once a month. The therapist in charge of me is always Ms. Ito. She is the highest technical therapist I have ever met. My stoop became an erect posture. She can do therapy in English. If you are acquainted with me, she will give discounts. Why don't you get her therapy too?

Guardian deity of children

There were many guardian deities of children around my house about 200m at the rate of one. Local residents are taking care of the guardian deity of children with a display of flowers and keeping it clean. In summer, a Jizo Bon festival (guardian deity of children's festival) is held by local residents every year. My children look forward to playing festival games and passing of the prayer beads ceremony and eating a watermelon at the Jizo Bon festival.

Acupuncture therapy

An acupuncturist came to my house on our day off. She treats with acupuncture therapy to my family and me.

She stuck acupuncture needles into acupuncture points of my back and foot in the skin. She said that Japanese style acupuncture uses the needle which is about as thin as a hair.

My son is afraid of needle sticks in my skin, but I hardly have any pain from it. It felt good for the blood circulation in the shoulders to improve after treatment.

For my sons, she touched and stroke lightly with a bigger needle. Probably they were comfortable, so they kept still.

My father was relaxed and slept during the treatment. After the treatment, he said "I feel better!" , and he went out shopping on foot.

The acupuncturist gives me Moxibustion to use at home, and she taught usage of the Moxibustion for me.

If you get tired from walking too much while sightseeing or you want to experience acupuncture treatment in our guesthouse , she will come there and do acupuncture treatment.

Fushimi Momoyama-jo Castle

I went to the Fushimi Momoyama-jo Castle with my son and neighboring friends. It takes about 5 minutes by car from my house to get there. There were a few people, and we could hear bird song. Children ran around and played there.

When I was a child, there was an amusement park as Fushimi Momoyama Castle Land, but the park closed in 2003. Fushimi Momoyama-jo Castle escaped destruction by the people of Kyoto to preserve it as a symbol of Fushimi. I was relieved that the place of the memory in the days of the child was preserved.