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Original Post: The 2007 Year in Oita

It was an eventful uneventful year in Oita. Here to see a few of what we thought were some of the top stories.

January: On January 25th the Oita City Canon Materials Manufacturing plant was officially finished. This marks the third Canon factory in Oita Prefecture. The other two factories are in Kunisaki and Kitsuki.

February: On February 15th and 16th the Czech Republic President (Václav Klaus) comes to Oita. Although plane troubles almost halted the president’s visit, Japanese public transportation came through in the end. During his tour of Oita he not only visited the legendary Onsens of Oita, but also made a guest lecture at APU University. 7-Eleven also announced plans to expand throughout the prefecture adding 100 stores in the next few years.

March: March 16th brought home fashion that is Nitori Home Fashion to Oita City. Not the greatest news, but maybe this is a big hit for fashion, at least home fashion. 344 other businesses started lending a helping hand during disasters. If you are in trouble look for this mark in any of the nearby convenience stores of supermarkets.

April: This year may have been a rocky one for the Oita Trinita, but the Oita Heat Devils had a little smoother path. In only the second year of the BJ league the Heat Devils showed some heat and came in third place. This may have been a huge step for Oita Sports or it may have just been a fluke, we will have to wait till next year to find out. And it snowed! On April 18th snow was recorded in April for the first time in 120 years in Oita City. Global warming came in September.

May: A letter and 9 10,000 yen bills were found in a bathroom at the Oita City Office building. Not a bad find. It was one of a rash of such finds in public buildings as they were found from Sapporo to Oita covering a number of prefectures in between.

June: June and saw hundreds of small earthquakes in a 48 hour period reminding us that we do live in a country of natural disasters and need to be prepared at all times for a disaster to strike.

July: July is the start of the Summer High School Baseball Tournament as prefectures decide who will represent them in the National Tournament in August. The Oita Preliminary Tournament started on July 10th and ended on July 25th. There were many hard fought battles, but the bats of Yoshikan proved to be the biggest as they powered their way through the preliminaries earning their first ever trip to the National Tournament where they represented well in August. As April ended flights to Okinawa hope of exchange to the tropical paradise resumed in July as talks of new flights began. The talks have led to nothing, but hope for eager travelers.

August: August in Japan is the month of baseball, high school baseball. It was no different for Oita this year, as the Oita representative, Yoshikan, went to the final eight in the national tournament. It was actually a great year for Kyushu in the national tournament as the champion was from Saga, and Kyushu had 3 representatives in the top eight.

September: September was hot, record setting hot. Hita set a record as consecutive days in September saw temperatures rise above 36 degrees Celsius (97°F). It was hot all through the country and the cooler temperatures of October were very welcome.

October: October was a month of speed as the annual Oita International Wheelchair Marathon saw competitors racing through Oita City. It was another great year that saw Ernst Van Dyk take the trophy from Oita. (Last year Sasahara Hiroki was the first native of Oita to win the race.) October also saw the Nakatsu Castle go up for sale, not to often that you see such buildings being sold.

November: The massive 86,400 square meter Youme Town opened on November 29th in Beppu. Youme Town is Beppu’s version of Wasada Town or Park Place. It is also the just the second of the large shopping mall chain in Oita Prefecture (the other store is located in Nakatsu).

December: Beppu played host to the First Asia Pacific Water Summit, historical event in water at no better place than the onsen capital of Asia and maybe the world. Much was accomplished in helping the Asia region solve some of its water problems as environmental issues continue to be a worry in the region. The dreadful season for the Trinita safely ended as they narrowly avoided a playoff for the final spots in the championship league.