Taka writes about the area around the university

Our university sits in Kariya city, an hour away from Nagoya, the capital city of Aichi prefecture. You may know TOYOTA, the leading motor company in Japan, which is based on Toyota city just 30 minutes away from the university. Thanks to TOYOTA, the neighbouring cities such as Kariya, Chiryu and so forth are full of people and full of factories related to the company. For the first glimpse, you will find a big wheel at a refreshment area on the motorway. The area is called ‘Kariya Highway Oasis’ which has varieties of shops selling local products and famous things of Aichi. Supermarkets and convenience stores to get your daily commodities are in walking distance, and there is a big shopping centre you can go by bus. If you are so crazy for shopping, one of the largest cities in Japan will meet your satisfaction. There are frequent bus services running between the university and the closest station ,which takes about 20-30 minutes, and there are also a lot of trains from the station to Nagoya. In Nagoya, the huge station buildings will welcome you to the metropolis, and the convenient underground will take you to the huge city centre.
The area in which the university is located is peace, calm and pleasant area and allows you to have a pleasant walk, for example, in a big park called ‘Suhara Park’ right next to the university.  The park has a pond and you can find many people walking and jogging around it in the early morning or evening. In Spring, not only most of the university students but people all over the area come to enjoy parties under the beautiful cherry blossom trees. In the early summer, May and June, the area is famous for the blossoms of Iris flowers and many people come and enjoy walking through it.