Japanese House

This is one of the Japanese house in Urasa. I took this on my way walking to Urasa station from IUJ. The house is surrounded by countryside field.

Nice view from inside the wine shop

Wine Shop

This is the wine shop in Urasa. It sells both Japanese wine and international wine as well. Read more about Japanese wine history here.

The wine store is one of the few places that stores ice in the winter and uses the ice as air-conditioner in the summer. It is really energy-saving! Isn't it cool?

Japanese Wine

Have you ever tasted Japanese wine? This is a picture of the wine field in Urasa. Niigata is one of the wine producing area in Japan. Read it more here...

Winery Park

This is the view taken from the winery park in Urasa.

Colourful Lines

Guess what this is!

It is actually a series of lines on the hospital floor (Yamato Hospital) guiding to different places in the hospital.

These lines are really helpful for foreigners. Hospital staff can just direct the foreign patients to follow a line in certain colour to go to a particular section in hospital.

Worm

I took this picture in front of Yamato Hospital. Anyone knows the name of this small cute caterpillar? Look carefully at its body. It has a beautiful skin pattern. Do you agree with me?

Yamato Hospital

Yamato hospital is the only hospital located in Urasa area. It is about 10 minutes drive from Urasa station. Many of the doctors do not go to the hospital every day of the week. Some serve several different hospitals including hospitals in Tokyo. Therefore, they may not be able to see you on certain days of the week. They usually have a calendar near their desk that shows the days they are available. However, there are some medical students who are practicing there.

Burnable vs Unburnable

This is a typical garbage bin in Japan. All garbage is divided into burnable: food, paper, etc., which is collected two or three times a week; and non-burnable but not 'bulky': plastic, glass, metal, etc., which is collected once a week. If you mix your garbage, then your neighbours might return the bag to your doorstep for you to sort through.

Garbage must be put out before 8:00 a.m. and some neighbours go berserk if you put it out the night before. It’s best to watch what your neighbours do in order to determine how strict your neighbourhood is about putting garbage out the night before. Also look out for special days when bottles, cans, and paper (including newspapers) are collected separately. Don't put anything out on a non-garbage day—leave it to rot in your kitchen rather than put it out on a non-garbage day.

You must put garbage out in special bags you can buy in convenience stores or in a large plastic bin with the lid removed. You must bring in the bin immediately after the garbage has been collected, so, unless you want to spend four hours waiting for the garbage to be removed, use the bags.

(source: MKC Properties)

Musashi Center

This is a shop located opposite Urasa station that sells household needs. You can find things like broom, pail, stationeries, laundry basket, toiletries, cookery, cutlery, anything that you need in a house.

If I remember correctly, they don't sell electric appliances. This is the biggest shop in Urasa that sells such household items. There are about 2-3 similar small shops in the area, but this is the most complete one. Most people go to JUSCO in Muikamachi (Urasa's neighbourhood town).

Opening hours: 9:00 AM. I only remember the opening hours because I once went there early in the morning at about 8.15 AM and it was closed!