I'm actually trying to go to Hyogo-ken too
I can't find it anymore on the JET programme website, but they had this table of all the prefectures in Japan, and how many people from each country went to them. If I remember correctly, the prefecture they sent the most people to was...Hyogo-ken!
While Osaka is my favorite city (bet you never guessed that from my username
), I know better then to apply for it. But, I love the Kansai area, and I think I found my "happy-medium" place: Nishinomiya-shi. It's a town between the cities of Kobe and Osaka in Hyogo-ken, and it really has everything I want:
- close proximity and easy access to Osaka and Kobe
- significantly smaller and less populated city, so it's not such a crazy place to live
- it's near the sea, which for me is really important
- there's a lot to do and see in the area
- Koshien Stadium, where my favorite baseball team, the Hanshin Tigers play, is in the same city! Win ;3
So yeah, I'm really hoping I can get that. If not, my second choice is Kobe, which is a sister city to my home city of Philadelphia. My third choice I'm really up in the air about whether I should pick another place in Kansai, or put down somewhere else. Still have a lot to think about XD