{"id":2472,"date":"2014-10-16T20:58:14","date_gmt":"2014-10-16T11:58:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2014-10-16\/2472"},"modified":"2014-10-16T20:58:14","modified_gmt":"2014-10-16T11:58:14","slug":"odd-things-in-western-kyoto","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2014-10-16\/2472","title":{"rendered":"Odd Things in Western Kyoto"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f\/2.8 @ 200mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>400 sec, f<\/span>\/9, ISO 400 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nHuh?<\/span>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

The other day while scootering around western Kyoto, I paid a<\/span> visit to something that\nlooked odd in Google Maps<\/a>, to see what it actually was.<\/p>\n\n

It seemed to be a building of cube rooms...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f\/2.8 @ 70mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>200 sec, f<\/span>\/9, ISO 100 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f\/2.8 @ 170mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>400 sec, f<\/span>\/6.3, ISO 220 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f\/2.8 @ 102mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>250 sec, f<\/span>\/6.3, ISO 160 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f\/2.8 @ 70mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>160 sec, f<\/span>\/6.3, ISO 100 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

It turns out to be an assisted-living nursing home named “<\/span>Life in Kyoto”<\/span>\n(\u30e9\u30a4\u30d5\u30fb\u30a4\u30f3\u4eac\u90fd<\/span><\/a>) with 226 units ranging\nfrom 350 ft² to 920 ft². It seems<\/span> a bit<\/span> pricey to move in... of the four units\ncurrently available, the largest is a scant<\/span> 445 ft², but costs $350,000 for a single<\/span> person\nto move in, or $470,000 for a couple.<\/span> As far as<\/span> I can<\/span> tell, that's just a fee.<\/span>.. you're not getting\nany equity.<\/p>\n\n

On top of that, there's a monthly fee of about $1,000\/month for a couple,<\/span> and $650\/month per person\nfor meal service (about $21\/day for three meals, which seems like a good<\/span> deal).<\/p>\n\n

You have to be 55 or older to move in. If you're like my grandmother-in-law<\/a>\nwho passed away this summer at 99, the $350,000 fee to move in at 55 prorates to $8,000 a year.<\/span> If you move<\/span> in at 65 and live to\n83 (the average life expediency in Japan), that works out to almost $20,000\/year. I guess,<\/span> like everything in life, it's a gamble.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

The view is nice... here's a shot from the neighboring building, with Kyoto Tower about 7km (4¼ miles) away:<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f\/2.8 @ 200mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>400 sec, f<\/span>\/6.3, ISO 160 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

Not far away, while slowly puttering through a very<\/span> residential area on the western edge of the city, I came across<\/span> a tiny<\/span> park,\nlarge enough to accommodate only a few<\/span> cars were it a parking<\/span> lot. But it was<\/span> a park,<\/span> and it accommodated exactly one 1911-era\nsteam locomotive:<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f\/2.8 @ 70mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>160 sec, f<\/span>\/5, ISO 1250 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nCirca 1911 O&K<\/a> Type C1 Steam Locomotive<\/span>\nat “<\/span>SL Park”<\/span> (SL\u516c\u5712),<\/span> Kyoto Japan\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f\/2.8 @ 70mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>160 sec, f<\/span>\/10, ISO 450 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nInformation Display<\/span>\nwhat's left of it\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f\/2.8 @ 70mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>160 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 1250 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nInside<\/span>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

This is the unsurprising answer to last week's A Black<\/span>-on-Black \u201cWhat am I?\u201d Quiz<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f\/2.8 @ 70mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>160 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 180 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nChoo-Choo<\/span>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f\/2.8 @ 70mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>160 sec, f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 280 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

Odd to find this tucked away in a fringe<\/span> residential area. It calls<\/span> to mind the one-man kamikaze submarine that used to be on display not\nfar away in Arashiyama. Here's a photo<\/span> of a marble<\/span> monument that I took<\/span> seven years ago:<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f\/2.8 at an effective 72mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>20 sec, f<\/span>\/5.6, ISO 800 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nType 10 Kaiten<\/a> One-Man Kamikaze Sub<\/span>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

The sub (torpedo really) itself used to actually be on display\nhere in this pretty little garden off on one side of a\nrestaurant,<\/span> but it was moved to Hiroshima. There was also a crudely<\/span>-carved painted wooden sign:<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55mm f\/2.8 at an effective 25mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>80 sec, f<\/span>\/5.6, ISO 800 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

I noted in a blog<\/span> post in 2011<\/a> that the marble plaque had been removed as well.<\/p>\n\n

Anyway, one can certainly come across some odd things in western Kyoto.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The other day while scootering around western Kyoto, I paid a visit to something that looked odd in Google Maps, to see what it actually was.<\/p>

It seemed to be a building of cube rooms...<\/p>

It turns out to be an assisted-living nursing home named \"Life in Kyoto\" (\u30e9\u30a4\u30d5\u30fb\u30a4\u30f3\u4eac\u90fd) with 226 units ranging from 350 ft² to 920 ft². It seems a bit pricey to move in... of the four units currently available, the largest is a scant 445 ft², but costs $350,000 for a single person to move in, or $470,000 for a couple. As far as I can [...]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2472"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2472"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2472\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2472"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2472"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2472"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}