Shizugawa-cho, my new home starting July 27, 2005

So, I finally found out where I will be living in Miyagi-ken. Once again fate has cheated me (might turn out to be a blessing if I like the town) of my hopes of getting placed in Sendai, which is conveniently located 2 hours north of Tokyo via shinkansen and even has an airport.

My new home starting July 27, 2005 will be a town called Shizugawa, 2 hours north of Sendai via train with a declining population of about 14050. Below is a close-up map of Motoyoshi-gun/Kesennuma-shi area on the left and entire map of Miyagi-ken on the right. If you look at the map on the right, Sendai is the biggest block of area in the second bold section from the bottom.


Motoyoshi-gun/Kesennuma-shi area northeast of Sendai

In Japan, land is divided into 43 prefectures (there are 4 exceptions, including Tokyo and Hokkaido), and many prefectures are divided into areas called shi and gun. Gun is in turn are divided into cho (machi) or mura. So, I will be in Shizugawa-cho, Motoyoshi-gun, Miyagi-ken, Japan.

I will be teaching English 4 times a week at Shizugawa High School, the only high school in town with about 465 students.


Shizugawa High School

My predecessor is teaching once a week at Kesennuma Nishi High School which is 1 hour north of Shizugawa via train. She said I might be teaching there once a week as well, or I might get a different school. If I do indeed get to teach at Kesennuma Nish, I have to worry about doing a 1-hour commute via train to and from the school until I get a car. Unlike most predecessors, mine is staying in Japan, so she probably won't sell me her furniture, much less her car which is a 94 Skyline GTS-25T type M.


94 Skyline GTS-25T type M

I hope to find more about my visiting school soon. In the meantime, I will be busy being a victim of red tape with all the paperwork I need to complete, things like visa application and Japanese income tax exemption. I will update as new information about my future rolls in.

Cheers.