The action takes place in Kobe, just in front of Sannomiya station:

Click here to view the embedded video.

The event is annual but only this year they introduced the cheerleader dance.

The performance is by Hyogo ward police orchestra.

I think the idea is great especially if Kobe police is looking for some new recruits (both males and females). And let nobody ever say again that the Japanese policemen (or rather policewomen) are not cute 

The blocks on their own could be a little bit boring though. So why not to insert some flowers in them?

Now – this is really cool. But why not to go one step further? What about embedding a bunch of small toys inside the ice? This really seems to make the trick as every ice block is surrounded by dozens of kids (and adults):

The craters (you see in the ice) are result of meticulous work of kids (and often their parents) trying to make their way toward the embedded toys.

It is really surprising how long it takes to melt a several centimeters hole within the solid ice block. Often one kid will give up and another one will take over his/her work. Sometimes I saw them even using tools (a 10 yen coin for example). This is a cheating though and usually happens very late in the afternoon when there is no time left for the more conventional melting methods.

Some of the ice blocks are frozen see bottoms but you still can take every fish or water plant as far as you can “melt it out” first:

All the pictures are from the main shopping gallery of Kobe from today 01.08.2010 but I saw similar ice blocks during other summer events also. I presume they have their own Japanese name but I couldn’t find it yet.

In any case it is a nice entertainment for the kids and completely free of charge (for the parents ).

The building of the park started almost 2 years ago but only now it looks more or less complete. The location is quite particular as it is situated between two main multilevel highways – rout 2 and Kowan Kansen road just before the bridge for Kobe Port Island.

I took the movie this morning from Kobe Port Liner:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Toward the end of the movie you can see a group of people apparently inspecting the construction work. Considering the soon to be held 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake memorial event (Higashi Yuenchi Park,  Chuo Ward, Kobe, early Sunday morning) it is plausible to suspect that the park will be officially opened on 17th of January (even though there was no official confirmation of the event on Kobe city web-page).

Toward the end of the park (direction HAT Kobe) there is a greenhouse like structure (not on the photo) as well some other facilities (possibly a future small bar).

The new park will be a nice acquisition for all Kobe citizens. It will create almost uninterrupted green connection (parks and gardens) from the center of Kobe (Sannomiya) to HAT Kobe (one of the biggest and most beautiful Kobe housing complexes build on the ruins of 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake).

May be you wonder who are the Beach Boys and what is there connection with Kobe (apart from the fact they are visiting Osaka which everybody knows is a neighborhood of Kobe ). The Beach Boys is an American band formed in 1961 and quite popular during the 70′s and 80′s. But what really connect them with Kobe is their song “Sumahama” released in 1979 (which includes even Japanese verse in it). Suma beach (as you also know) is Kobe’s most famous beach and that is why every Kobean must go and see them on 21st of January in Osaka (I am searching now for more details as to “where” and “when” exactly).

Here is a link to “Sumahama” song on YouTube.

I learned for a first time for “The Beach Boys” and their connection with Kobe from Zichi Lorentz another Kobean, artist and publisher. Go see his great blog the –

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The last picture (with the roses) is from the garden in front of/next to the entrance of Kobe Port Liner – it looks a little bit like the lost Eden (re-found in the center of modern Japanese city).

Until recently though any faster run of the hyperactive offspring was giving an adrenalin rush to their parents as the walking area was separated from the sea by virtually nothing. Chottomatte team was delighted to observe (and document) the beginning of construction of a fence between the walking area and the sea:

On the second photo you can see (behind the fence) the previous “fence”. Chottomatte team is afraid that the building of the fence was initiated as a result of some accident but we do not have any reliable information about it.

Chottomatte’s team will follow the renovation activity with weekly photo updates.