Hideo Ohashi, Prof. Emeritus

University of Tokyo & Kogakuin University
The Window to Society after Retirement from Engineering Education


 This top page is to transmit the proof that I am still alive and enjoying retired life, mainly to my relatives, friends and former students. A story or an event is selected from daily life and my thoughts and experience are introduced.

From Daily Life - 69: Kitami Community Square

 Walks have become almost a daily routine. Occasionally, I drive to places like Jindai Botanical Garden or Kinuta Park and take a stroll through the large gardens. However, the basics are walks around the area. My home in Seijo is sandwiched between two rivers, Nokawa and Sengawa. The promenade along the rivers has become a standard walking route.
 The Nogawa originates from Kokubunji, flows down for about 20 kilometers along the Kokubunji cliff line, and joins the Tama River at Futakotamagawa. There are many cherry trees along the riverbank. Five years ago, I introduced a travelogue entitled “Welcomed by cherry blossom” when I walked upstream during the cherry blossom season.
 When I don't have a particular desire, my feet naturally head towards the Nogawa. After walking about 600 meters, I reach the riverbank. My routine is to walk along the riverside promenade for a while and take a break at Kitami Community Square. There, I look at the seasonal trees and flowers, observe children playing on the lawn, and then head back home. It's an hour-and-a-half-long walk with about 6,000 steps.
 This time, let's introduce the Kitami Community Square. The area is outlined with a white line in the photo above and is maintained by Setagaya Ward. The square borders the right bank of the Nogawa and stretches approximately 300 meters in length and 100 meters in width. With trees growing thickly and play fields scattered throughout, it is more apt to be called a park. This square, which looks natural at first glance, is actually a man-made piece of land created on the roof of the Odakyu Railway depot. The railroad tracks visible at the right end of the square convey its true identity.
 Now, 30 years after its opening, the sides of the 10-meter-high depot building are almost shielded by trees. People would easily believe that the square was on a natural hill. The thickness of the mound on the roof is 1.2 m, and there are small hills here and there. The transplanted young zelkova and cherry have grown into giant trees with roots spreading in the thin soil layer. Looking at the photo above, the trees in the square look completely comparable to the natural trees that line the river. Trees have amazing adaptability and vitality.
 Flowering trees change with the seasons, from cherry blossoms in spring to camellias in winter, and the garden's flower beds are filled always with colorful flowers. Ever since I started composing Haiku, I have tried to come up with a new Haiku whenever I am struck by beautiful scenery. I’m sorry, however, to end up with a similar mediocre Haiku. Few people visit on weekdays, but in the afternoon there are quite a lot of parents and small children enjoying playtime. Observing children running around is also soothing.
 The community square is well maintained. I spend some time there and then start returning. It is a place that I am grateful for because it gives me a sense of vitality and peace throughout the four seasons..



→ Past Top Pages

   
"From Daily Life"
        
1: Tracing family roots
        
2: The second last car
        
3: August 15. my memorial day
        
4: Battlefield rations
        
5: Begginer at the gym
        
6: Fuji View Hotel
        
7: Lesson in Hiragana writing by brush
        
8: Moving from old to new smartphone
        
9: Living alone in my second year
        
10: Welcomed by cherry blossom
        
11: Eden of peach blossom
        
12: Tama River Walk
        
13: Chichibu Pilgrimage
        
14: Bonds with local community
        
15: About my homepage
        
16: Annual report of athletic gym
        
17: Pilgrimage to Mt. Tsukuba
        
18: Reunion of alumni and classmates
        
19: Braking by left foot
        
20: Battlefield rations in the sequel
        
21: Granddaughter has come!
        
22: Visit to Kobayashi Residence
        
23: Wake-up exercise
        
24: Digital photo album
        
25: Seven tools for brushing teeth
        
26: Ambulance
        
27: Quick report on drive monitoring
        
28: Hearing aid
        
29: Jindai Botanical Park
        
30: 2020, a historic year
        
31: Topics of eye
        
32: Final report on drive monitoring
        
33: Cognitive ability test
        
34: PCI to prevent heart infarction
        
35: Ashikaga Flower Park
        
36: 90 years old supported by medication
        
37: 3 years with Subaru
        
38: 45 years living in Seijo
        
39: Caspian Sea yogurt
        
40: Home Museum of Aunt Zschäbitz
        
41: Reunion of university classmates
        
42: Okutama spar tour
        
43: New Year's greeting card
        
44: Implant
        
45: Fuchu Forest Park
        
46: Grave closing
        
47: Walking group of local community
        
48: How-to books for the elderly
        
49: Home altar
        
50: Such a life
        
51: Knee of the elderly
        
52: Metropolitan Kinuta Park
        
53: Shirakaba Art Museum of Kiyoharu
        
54: Haiku; Metasequoia
        
55: Three years with COVID-19
        
56: Battlefield rations in the 6th year
        
57: Hearing impairment
        
58: Shinjuku Station
        
59: Haiku with photograph
        
60: Moving to 5G smartphone
        
61: History of private cars
        
62: Setagaya Art Museum
        
63: FreeCell
        
64: Turbo
        
65: Hinata Temple of Yakushi
        
66: Moving of home computer
        
67: Amakusa tour
        
68: Hand craft as a hobby
     
   
"Memorable Scenes"
          Series 1: Parade with Doctor hat on the head
          
Series 2: Calligraphy in a frame
       
Series 3: A young man from the Orient
        Series 4: Sumo-stamping
        Series 5: Waiting room of Shanghai Station
        Series 6: Let's Walk Festival
       
Series 7: Last long-distance drive
          Series 8: My Car No. 3
          
Series 9: Ski camp
          
Series 10: Safari experience
        
Series 11: First encounter with dogwood
        Series 12: Mt. Fuji

   
"Treasure Box of Words"
          Series 1: Virtue brings profit
          Series 2: Wait for a ripe moment
          Series 3: Catch the symptoms
          Series 4: Words are selected metaphors
          Series 5: Start with two humans
          Series 6: Optimism is a will, pessimism a mood
          Series 7: Atop a summit, and another becomes visible
          Series 8: We see only what we want to see
        Series 9: Chanllenge is the privilage of the young
        Series 10: Today is the first day of my life

   
Engineer Series 1: Who's engineer, juveniles' answer
          Series 2: Corus of "We raise engineers!"
          Series 3: From Nobel Prize to Gold Medal
          Series 4: Professionals in three categories
          Series 5: Various tasks in engineering
          Series 6: Classification of EPs by IEA
          Series 7: Science, technology and related professionals
          Series 8: Proposal for the classification of engineers
          Series 9: Revised proposal for the classification of engineers
          Series 1 - 10: Whole Series including summary and remarks

    Cartoon Series 1: Mechanism of viscosity
          Series 2: Mechanism of loss generation
          Series 3: Commuter packer and enthalpy
          Series 4: Skinny grasshopper and fat pupa
          Series 5: From hand-drawn picture to ready-made clip art
          Series 6: Why do you learn? - 1
         
Series 7: Why do you learn? - 2
          Series 8: Two Sciences
         
Series 9: Scientist and Engineer
          Series 10: Science and Non-science
        Series 11: Structure of human relations
        Series 12: Oriental subconsciousness

   
Nostalgia Series 1: The first own car
          Series 2: The first driver's license
          Series 3: Comparison of German and Japanese Diploma
          Series 4: The first air travel
          Series 5: Tachometer used 60 years ago
          Series 6: The three sacred calculators
          Series 7: The first home computer
          Series 8: Sentimental journey to Nordkapp
          Series 9: Change of photograph
          Series 10: Story of passport

   
The others

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Let's find facts!  Final version revised in August, 2016.

Japanese universities found in statistics

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Brief Self Introduction
Mail address: PGA02322@nifty.com
Place of residence: Tokyo, Japan

Major Past Activities

Membership of Academic/Professional Societies

Curriculum Vitae

Recent Publications

The center of gravity of recent publications has been shifting from those with the topics in fluids engineering to those in engineering education. Please refer to Publications List of the recent papers written in English.