This is my 4th month in Japan. From Sep. 8th to 9th, I visited the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) in Niigata. This was also my second visit to a NPP in Japan. The last time was 8 years ago when I visited the Fukushima Daiichi NPP.
The Kashiwazaki-Kariwa NPP is known to be the largest in the world in terms of generating power. Its exact location in shown below.
At the first day (Sep. 8th) afternoon, we met at the front of the Institute of Fluid Science (IFS) building on the Katahira campus and took a bus to our destination. The total number of visitors was 19 from different labs. It took almost 5 hours to get to the hotel (Hotel New Green Kashiwazaki). The accommodations were still very nice, and although the room is rather small, it was still quite comfortable for me. We stayed on the 10th floor. The side I stayed on had a view of the Sea of Japan. As shown in the figure below.
After a short break, we traveled to the welcome dinner. Sorry I had forgotten the name of the restaurant. We enjoyed traditional Japanese food. The food was great except for the raw octopus, as shown in the glass bowl below. A tiring and enjoyable day ended with a welcome party.
Snatch a little leisure form a busy life. The next morning, about 5:10am I was up, 30 minutes later, I set off for the Minatomachi Seaside Park, as indicated by the signage below. Indeed, waking up early is a great thing to do, not only to get some fresh air, but also to enjoy the quiet.
Unlike the seaside parks in China that I’ve been to before, this one is smaller, and one can see the ocean while standing on the side of the road. There are 3 trails that lead directly to the beach, and due to time constraints, I chose the one not too far away. Maybe no one has been to the beach for a long time and the path is covered with weeds. As you can see, the Sea of Japan is at the end of the road in the picture below. Not far to the right of the photo is the NPP that will be visited later.
In Japan, besides Sagami Bay and Tokyo Bay, I saw the Sea of Japan again this time. Every time, when I stand on the beach, looking at the rough sea, I was filled with awe. Nonetheless, an inexplicable peace and freedom welled up in my heart as I looked at the endless waves. Perhaps, in my next life, I would like to be a bird and be free to fly over the sea.
For some reason, I apologize for not being able to put up pictures of the NPP. Anyway, the trip to the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa NPP was very memorable. I really enjoyed it.
Xiaojuan Xu
2024.9.12