Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No such luck. It's just another humongous dark-gray cloud and it's spitting at me. "Hey!" I scream, waving my fist in the air at the darkening sky. "Leave me alone, you big gray bully!"

I came to Takarazuka to write nice things about one of Hyogo Prefecture's most famous cities, but unfortunately the place is dead. Even the Takarazuka Revue is taking the month off. What I would give for a superhero to whisk me away right now.

It's a freezing day in December and the streets are empty, and the odd soul I do pass looks like they've just stepped out of a George A. Romero zombie flick as they shuffle about faces blank. All day, I see not one smile, and not even two people having a conversation. Takarazuka might act as a sleeper town for Kobe and Osaka, but I wish it would at least snore a bit . . . make some noise.