Why and When To Visit Japan:for rugby, kobe beef, sake and shopping

Japanese flag.

Hyper Japan is on in London this month (Nov 2018). I noticed a link to the Rugby World cup in Kobe in 2019.
Even though I am not very interested in Rugby, that is interesting to me as a traveller for several reasons.
1 The city of Kobe will be spruced up to cope with anticipated visitors.
2 If your family and friends and colleagues like Rugby they will be interested. They might plan a trip as an individual or group and take you along.
3 On the bright side, you might get special travel offers, more hotels and flights and tours.
4 On the other hand, you might find flights and hotels and tours are fully booked if you don't book up early.

Kobe City
Kobe is famous for kobe beef. The city is a manageable size, big enough to be interesting, over a million people, small enough to be not overwhelming.

I feel a little nervous about the 1995 earthquake. But just about every city has had a dreadful disaster or is under threat. You wonder why people don't move away. Two reasons. The city has a great benefit of new buildings mixed with old traditions. The Japanese are particularly good at rebuilding.

The robot they used to help rebuild is now one of their attractions.

What else can you see which is unique to Kobe or Japan?

Sake museums and factories.

If your budget does not run to the expensive Kobe beef, expensive even here where it comes from, the local alternative is rice and noodle mix. Yes, rice and noodles.

Shopping
Daimaru department store.
Misui Outlet shopping malls are in Kobe, several places in Japan and also Sepang, Malaysia..

You will, of course, want to see Tokyo.

For a taste of Japan in London,
16-18 Nov 2018 at Olympia.

Useful Websites
https://tickets.rugbyworldcup.com
.duolingo.com (learn Japanese free)
https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Kobe
seejapan.co.uk
us.jnto.go.jp
http://www.japan-hotels.ws/kobe/shopping.htm

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. See my other posts about Japanese shop, food, and learning Japanese.

Visiting Russia for the World Cup? What to see in St Petersburg and Moscow: statues and stations

Kievskaya-Koltsevaya station, Moscow underground, photo by Antares 610 shared in Wikipedia.

Problem
 World Cup Russia™ opened on 1 September. It is a unique place where fans can get all kinds of information related to football's premier international competition, which will take place in 11 cities across Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018.

Which stations to see in St Petersburg and Moscow.

St Petersburg:
Sportivnaya
Avtovod

Where are the nine dogs in Moscow?

Answers

Some are statues inside stations, others outside.

The most memorable is the knee high statue of a little dog on a plinth. I first read about this when I was researching stations in Moscow and around Russia.

The Dog Malchik

This dog was a popular little dog in a Moscow station. Until unfortunately a lady stabbed the dear little dog to death. Passengers were so upset they started fundraising for a memorial statue. People bring flowers to place on the statue.

The dog's name was Malchik.

The Station Mendeleyevskaya

The station was Mendeleyevskaya.

How do I remember the name of the station? I start with the name Mendel. Then eye. Finally v-skaya.

Mosco's Begging Dogs In General

Moscow metro has many stray dogs, some of which beg for food. I was surprised.

On the London underground dogs are usually on leads. Some dogs lead blind people. Others accompany owners patiently, sitting patiently at their feet. Sometimes a dog is led through the carriage, accompanying a beggar. Few people wish to engage with a beggar or a dog.

But the Moscow stations have unaccompanied dogs which beg for food and ride on trains and sleep.

Four Dogs On Ploshchad Revoluyutsee Metro station

Let’s start from the undoubtedly most famous dogs in Moscow: they are the four bronze ones inside the Ploshchad Revolyutsii metro station (станция метро Площадь Революции). 

Victory Park station is below the Victory Park where you can see a monument showing an army dog which was used to locate injured soldiers. (Photo in Tripadvisor about the Victory Park.)

Specific Dog

My second favourite is the small dog on the huge monument.

Moscow's Cemetery Dog

Moscow has a dog statue on a grave in a cemetery. The devoted dog on the grave. Haven't we heard that story before?

Yes, in Edinburgh, Scotland. Moscow's dog is not the only one.

So, you can get free amusement just by admiring the statues of the Moscow's dogs and learning about them. They say that the British are a national of animal lovers. But it seems that the people of Moscow are equally keen on dogs.

I could not find copyright free pictures of dogs. But you can see the images by typing in the words images and Moscow dogs and trains.

You can read a whole article on the different types of dogs and their strategies.

https://lidenz.ru/hidden-dogs-moscow/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mendeleyevskaya

Trips To Russia

https://www.visitrussia.org.uk

Author

Angela Lansbury, writer and photographer, author and speaker.

Also see my previous posts on statues such as Gagarin, statues, and Russian Stations