Kobe

Kobe (神戸市, Kōbe-shi, Japanese pronunciation: [koːꜜbe]) is the sixth-largest city in Japan and is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture. It is located on the southern side of the main island of Honshū, on the north shore of Osaka Bay and about 30 km (19 mi) west of Osaka. With a population around 1.5 million, the city is part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kyoto.

The earliest written records regarding the region come from the Nihon Shoki, which describes the founding of the Ikuta Shrine by Empress Jingū in AD 201. For most of its history, the area was never a single political entity, even during the Tokugawa Period, when the port was controlled directly by the Tokugawa Shogunate. Kobe did not exist in its current form until its founding in 1889. Its name comes from "kanbe" (神戸), an archaic title for supporters of the city's Ikuta Shrine. Kobe became one of Japan's 17 designated cities in 1956.

Kobe was one of the cities to open for trade with the West following the 1853 end of the policy of seclusion and has since been known as a cosmopolitan port city. While the 1995 Great Hanshin earthquake diminished much of Kobe's prominence as a port city, it remains Japan's fourth busiest container port. Companies headquartered in Kobe include ASICS, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, and Kobe Steel, as well as over 100 international corporations with Asian or Japanese headquarters in the city such as Eli Lilly and Company, Procter & Gamble, Boehringer Ingelheim, and Nestlé. The city is the point of origin and namesake of Kobe beef, as well as the site of one of Japan's most famous hot spring resorts, Arima Onsen.

Kobe Bryant

Kobe Bean Bryant (born August 23, 1978) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He entered the NBA directly from high school, and he has played for the Lakers his entire career, winning five NBA championships. Bryant is an 18-time All-Star, 15-time member of the All-NBA Team, and 12-time member of the All-Defensive team. He has led the league in scoring twice, and he ranks third on both the league's all-time regular season scoring and all-time postseason scoring lists. After beginning his 20th season with the Lakers in 2015–16, which set an NBA record for the most seasons with the same team, Bryant announced that he would retire after the season.

The son of former NBA player Joe Bryant, Kobe Bryant enjoyed a successful high school basketball career at Lower Merion High School in Pennsylvania, where he was recognized as the top high school basketball player in the country. He declared for the NBA draft upon graduation, and was selected with the 13th overall pick in the 1996 NBA draft by the Charlotte Hornets, who traded him to the Los Angeles Lakers. As a rookie, Bryant earned himself a reputation as a high-flyer and a fan favorite by winning the 1997 Slam Dunk Contest, and he was named an All-Star by his second season. Despite a feud between them, Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal led the Lakers to three consecutive championships from 2000 to 2002.

Dahntay Jones

Dahntay Lavall Jones (born December 27, 1980) is an American professional basketball player for the Grand Rapids Drive of the NBA Development League. He played college basketball for Rutgers and Duke.

Early life

Jones grew up in Hamilton Square, New Jersey and starred at Steinert High School in Hamilton Township, Mercer County from 1995 to 1998. He earned McDonald's All-America honorable mention honors as a senior after averaging 24 points and 9 rebounds per game.

College career

After playing college basketball at Rutgers in his freshman and sophomore years, Jones transferred to Duke where he earned All-ACC Honorable Mention honors in 2002 after averaging 11.2 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.1 assists as a junior. In his senior season, he played 33 games, averaging 17.7 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game.

Professional career

Jones was selected by the Boston Celtics with the 20th overall pick in the 2003 NBA draft, and his rights were later traded, along with the rights to Troy Bell, to the Memphis Grizzlies for the rights to Kendrick Perkins and Marcus Banks. Jones played his first four professional seasons for the Grizzlies, averaging 5.0 points per game.

Agriculture Union

The Agriculture Union has more than 8,000 members who work for Canadian federal government departments and agencies such as the:

History

In 1960 the Canada Agriculture National Employees' Association (CANEA), a national organization, was created to represent Canada Agriculture employees across Canada. In 1967, the CANEA became the newly formed Agriculture Union of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC). The new Agriculture Union became one of the 16 founding staffing associations, representing almost 40 occupational groups, at the Presidents' Conference on Unity which negotiated a merger to form the PSAC.

Hyōgo Prefecture

Hyōgo Prefecture (兵庫県, Hyōgo-ken) is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region on Honshu island. The capital is Kobe.

History

Present-day Hyōgo Prefecture includes the former provinces of Harima, Tajima, Awaji, and parts of Tamba and Settsu.

In 1180, near the end of the Heian Period, Emperor Antoku, Taira no Kiyomori, and the Imperial court moved briefly to Fukuhara, in what is now the city of Kobe. There the capital remained for five months.

Himeji Castle, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is in the city of Himeji.

Southern Hyōgo Prefecture was severely devastated by the 6.9 Mw Great Hanshin earthquake of 1995, which destroyed major parts of Kobe and Awaji, as well as Takarazuka and neighboring Osaka Prefecture, killing nearly 6,500 people.

Geography

Hyōgo has coastlines on two seas: to the north, the Sea of Japan, to the south, the Seto Inland Sea. The northern portion is sparsely populated, except for the city of Toyooka, and the central highlands are only populated by tiny villages. Most of Hyōgo's population lives on the southern coast, which is part of the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto metropolitan area. Awaji Island is an island that separates the Inland Sea and Osaka Bay, lying between Honshu and Shikoku.