Hiroshima Jyōhō a-Netto:
An Online Treasure Trove of Community Information

By KARLEE KEYSER

[pdf,240KB,1page]

A quick search for “Hiroshima Community” on a major search engine yields a regional Craigslist page. Not quite what you imagine when hearing the word, “community,” right? If you’re looking for sports groups and classes, social clubs, like-minded hobbyist meetings, and more, take a look at the Hiroshima Jyōhō a-Netto (“Hiroshima Information ‘a-Net’”) website: http://www.a-net.shimin.city.hiroshima.jp

Though the a-Net website is only offered in Japanese, basic knowledge of katakana and hiragana is more than enough to break the surface of all the opportunities on view. If you’d still like some tips on how to navigate the site, read on for a basic run-down!

The options menu at the top of the website is basically the same as the menu on the left- hand side. Clicking on any of the menu tabs, such as the イベント (“Events”) tab, loads a page of more specific options (see image below) so that you can narrow down your search. For the purposes of this rundown, let’s say the summer weather has you wanting to see what’s on offer at public pools.

After clicking on the 水泳・ウォータースポーツ (“Swimming & Water Sports”) link under the “Sports, Recreation” tab, you’ll be taken to a full list of related events. Above this list is a map of the different wards within Hiroshima City; clicking on your geographical area of interest will narrow down the events list to only include activities taking place in that ward. For example, selecting Naka-ku Ward will bring up a list of over ten activities, one of which is ホットヨガ (“Hot Yoga”). Let’s take a gander! One click takes you to the activity details. Though there may be slight changes between the information available on different activities, you can generally find a short description of the event, its date(s) and time(s), its location, the target age of participants, cost of participation, and contact information. In the case of this hot yoga activity, it seems you would have to wait a good month until the next scheduled session on August 31st. Whether that inspires disappointment or not depends on your interests, but what’s certain is that even if hot yoga’s not for you, the Hiroshima Information ‘a-Net’ has you covered for fun things to enjoy in the city!