Hirakata

Hirakata is the city I lived in late 1960s until I was a second grader. By chance, my business trip took me there today.

Luckily, after my appointment, I had a couple of hours before I had to take the train back home.
So, I took a stroll to see if I could find where I lived 40 years ago! I somehow recalled my address from my childhood memory, and from a help from my iPhone GPS, I found the area I lived when I was a little boy.

This is the hill I walked up to go to my elementary school. The distance felt shorter than I remember. I guess I had much shorter legs then.

And here is the entrance of the school I attended for 1 year and a semester.

The area was much more built up than I remembered - the farm that had a tree I could catch stag beetles was no longer a farm, but had apartments. The little playground at which I learned how to ride a bicycle had houses built on it, etc.

The bamboo trees, I recognized seeing them in my childhood.

At the shrine that was a bit scary to me when I was little was not so at all. Here's the picture of the animal of this year.

I don't remember this Jizo temple, but it must have been there.

There sure are many hills there. It was such a warm day, I got very hot walking around my old neighborhood.
Here are some nice plum blossoms on my way back to the station.
I remembered much more than I thought I would. A lot was stored in my brain, I recognized.