Seeking Suburban Tranquillity

Discover the charms of Izumi, a city south of Osaka that combines modern comforts with ancient cultural treasures.
 

The soul of any civilization inhabits the small towns and cities, not the magnificent high-rises or big, multi-levelled stations of larger urban areas, which to me are the blood-pumping heart. Kansai is blessed with an abundance of both: heart and soul. Its soul can be found in smaller cities like Izumi, a city of 180,000 in southern Osaka.
 

Izumi provides a more-than-perfect environment for an exchange student, nestled in the heart of Japan. Ideal for experiencing a wholesome Japanese existence, it offers a suburban lifestyle and proximity to Osaka, which is less than 40 minutes away and well connected by the last station on the Semboku Rapid Railway, Izumi-Chuo, and the JR Hanwa Line station of Izumi-Fuchu. The city of Izumi, dotted with gentle slopes, natural beauty and wooden family houses, is taken straight from the quintessential definition of a beautiful Japanese suburban city. A normal day sees cars gently passing by, people going to work and senior citizens strolling around town, with many taking up interesting classes at the university or engaging in the various activities happening all around. School students walk along playing little games on the way to class, and couples both young and old adore the butterflies fluttering past the tulips on front lawns.
 

Izumi, with its modern outlook, has a very deep past, going back two millennia to the Yayoi era. In fact, the city’s Ikegami-Sone Historic Park features a Yayoi-period reconstructed building, the original dating from the year 52 BCE. The remains of this structure, as well as the nearby Prefectural Museum of Yayoi Culture, provide insights into the lives and times of the people of prehistoric Japan, whose cultural influences one can see in the country even today. Kuboso Memorial Museum of Arts, housing two National Treasures and various Important Cultural Properties, as well as thousands of pieces of art, is enough to quench the thirst of any art lover. The temple of Matsuoji and a 700-year-old camphor tree, a little higher in the mountains, offer beautiful autumn scenery and the peace of mind experienced at a truly pious place blessed by the Gods, making it a go-to spot when one wants some spiritual intervention.
 

A quaint town with picture-perfect roads and a laid-back atmosphere is not all that Izumi is. Izumi entices one into the serene way of life it offers, perfect for studying and experiencing the real Japan; with the comforts of a city life, yet managing to exist amidst natural beauty.
 

---

By Karan Vora

---

 

Ikegami-Sone Park and Prefectural Museum
Walking distance from Shinodayama Station on JR Hanwa Line or Matsunohama Station on Nankai Line.
 

Kuboso Memorial Museum of Arts
From Izumi-Chuo Station on Semboku Rapid Railway: Bus towards Harukigawa, Wakakashi or Bijutsukan-mae. From Izumi-Fuchu Station on JR Hanwa Line: Bus from Izumi-Fuchu Shako-mae towards Harukigawa or Wakakashi. Get off at Bijutsukan-mae.
 

Matsuoji
Bus from Izumi-Chuo Station on Semboku Rapid Railway to Matsuoji.