Up until now, what I have seen of Hirakata is a good mixture of rural, residential and urban landscape.  It is conveniently located roughly between downtown Osaka and Kyoto, therefore it allows for a mixture of people.  Its current population is approximately 407,000 people and its one of the larger cities within Osaka prefecture.  I suppose the most known aspect of Hirakata is the amusement park Hirakata Park that was opened up in 1910 and was the first amusement park to be created in the Kansai area.  However from where I live, I would need to get on a train and pass through three stations to reach the amusement park, therefore I am going to focus on an area closer to where I currently live. 

Near the seminar houses there is a park that is a great place to observe both the scenery and people of Japan, and no I am not talking about “Beer Park” I am talking about Yamada-ike Koen.  The park is located near Ichi-go Sen highway and is roughly a seven minute bike ride from the seminar houses.  There is no particular difference from this park than the other parks of Japan however it is in my opinion a great spot in Hirakata.  The park consists of several winding paths connected by a large one that circles the lake in the center.   It is a great to relax and get away from the bustling roads and sidewalks that make up a lot of Hirakata. 

One of my favorite aspects of the park is that depending on the time of day you go, the type of people change.  Whenever I go and run the park I usually go in the morning, therefore you see lots of elderly people taking their morning walk.  In my opinion the entire elderly population of Hirakata walks Yamada-ike Koen in the morning.  If you go around noon you’ll usually find mothers taking their children to play and adventure along its many paths. In the evening you might see young people still in school uniforms hanging out or couples hand in hand sitting by the lake.

One unusual thing that I noticed about the park is the number of stray cats that roam the woods and thickets by the lake.  It almost gives off the vibe that the cats run the park and you’re intruding upon their space.  Upon further investigation, I discovered that a lot of Japanese people come to the park to release previous house cats that they cannot care for anymore.  It is quite a sad reality actually.  Also most of the cats are bob tailed.