Sweet Plums(Ume Matsuri in Mito)

It was bad windy rain for sakura today.
They've just bloomed.
Some sakura tree is in full blossom and another tree is in bud.
I hope wind does not blow cute pink sakura petals.

I didn't to go to see sakura today, since the weather was not good to go to park.
Maybe next weekend.
I think it's not too late to see sakura.

Anyway, many people get busy during spring to catch the best timing to see blossoms.
So, I post some pictures I took in Mito Ume Matsuri in the middle of March.

It was so beautiful.
White, pink and red blossoms.
Light sweet smell.
I could feel spring has really come.

ume trees in Mito Kairakuen
which are known the best garden to see ume.
3,000 trees in the garden.

Early Spring in Tsukuba

Japan is enjoying beautiful spring right now.
Spring always comes with flowers... no doubt the most famous spring flower is Sakura,
but Ume(plum) is also so beautiful.

Ume starts to bloom from February, before Sakura blooms from late in March or early in April.
So, we can enjoy Ume blossoms first and then go to see Japan's symbolic flower "Sakura".

I visited mount Tsukuba again in early March to see Ume during Ume Matsuri(plum festival).
There are many famous Ume watching spot such as Japanese garden and mountain.
In Mt.Tsukuba, white, pink and red pretty Ume flowers are scattered beautifully.

plums in Tsukuba mountain.
it was so beautiful in nature.

Takayama-5 (Last Day in Takayama)

It was the last day in Takayama, so sad to leave this beautiful small town.
The bus was scheduled to leave to Tokyo at 3 pm.
I still have time. So I decided to go to folk village area again.

I walked from teddy bear eco village(museum).
beautiful view of the Northern Japan Alps from yukonooka park.
3,000m class mountains appeared.

Takayama Vending Machine

I found local vending machine at Takayama bus center.

shin hodaka ropeway is
one of the most popular sightseeing spot in takayama.
great view of the northern japan alps is fascinating.

★Shin-Hotaka Ropeways by japan-guide.com

Takayama-4 (Shirakawa-go)

"Long, long ago, in a certain place, there were a granddad and grandmom.... "

In Japanese old story, a certain place is always a small village.
A thatched roof, a sunken fire place, laundry in a creek.
People work at a paddy field, man goes to a mountain for firewood gathering,
woman goes to a creek for laundry.

My mom read me a book every night when I was a little girl.
There were also animals in a story, such as monkey, fox, bird, dog, tanuki(Japanese raccoon dog).
Goddess and some kind of sprits or fairies appeared too.
It is amazing for little kids.

Shirakawa-go is a small, traditional village known as a UNESCO world heritage site.
It is so beautiful, spotted "gassyo-zukuri" farmhouses covered by snow remind me such a small village in a story.

from view point, 10minutes by shuttle bus
you can see the same view as postcard.

Lucas has Found Spring

It was Sunday.
Lucas went for a walk again!
Lucas took a train this time. (But he was in my bag).

"Today's destination is Gyoda park in Funabashi."
Lucas said to me.
Gyoda park is a 11.9ha local park near.....
Well, this park is not near the station.
Lucas walked(technically I walked) about 30 minutes from Higashi Kaijin station of Toyo Rapid Railway.
(If Lucas take this train, Lucas can go to Tokyo within an hour.)


He was so tired to walk, but  he found that ume(Japanese apricot) on bloom!

lucas found a blooming ume tree.

Takayama-3 (Hida Furukawa)

It was New Year's Day.

Many stores and restaurants, museums were closed.
People have traditional food at home, some people go back to their hometown to spend a couple days with family.
Some people go to shrines.

I was worried about dinner, I didn't want to miss my first dinner in 2014.... so I made a reservation for dinner at pension where I stayed.
OK, one problem was solved.
But another problem was... where should I go?

I went to the shrine on New Year's Eve.
Museums might not be open for today.
Train? No holidays for train!

I decided to go to Hida Furukawa by local train.

local JR train, takayama honsen.

Takayama- 2(Higashiyama Walking Course)

I had snow everyday when I was in Takayama.
Snow was cleaned up in Town, but piled about 30cm or more in a rural suburb.

I started to walk from morning market in front of Takayama Jinya.
Because next day was New Year, local farmer was selling traditional New Year's ornaments at the market.
From morning market, I walked to "Sanmachi" old town and then went to the ruins of Takayama's former castle in Shiroyama park via the Higashiyama Walking Course.

morning market

Lucas Goes for A Walk

Lucas is a small, white and cute teddy bear.
He came to my place last year as Christmas gift.

Lucas saw many pictures that people took their "Duffy" The Disney Bear to Tokyo Disney Sea on blog yesterday, and he thought...

"I'm teddy bear too!(Even though I'm so small bear....) I want to go out like Duffy...!
I want to go to a park!"

"it's sunday!
may I go with you?"

Well, OK!
Let's go for a walk!
Today is Sunday, it's fun to go out with Lucas.

Takayama- 1(Takayama Jinya)

Hida-Takayama is a mountainous city in Gifu Prefecture. In the central Chubu region in Japan.
People call "Small Kyoto"... Takayama is a beautiful, small city with living traditional culture.

Access to Takayama is not easy, I mean there is no direct express train from Tokyo.
First we should to go to Nagoya(1 hour 40minutes by Shinkansen Nozomi), and then change to JR limited express to Takayama(2 hours 30minutes).
So, at least 4 hours in a train!
Another option is taking a highway bus.
I should be packed more than 4 hours in a bus...

But it's worth going!

at parking area near takayama.
I took bus to takayama.
snowed mountains in front of me.
I was so nervous to walk on icy ground like her.

Snowed Tokyo- 2

Snow accumulation reached 27 centimeters, the heaviest snow in the Japanese capital since March1969, the Asahi shimbun said.

" 都心４５年振り大雪、仙台でも史上３番目　東北なお警戒"（朝日新聞）

Finally Tokyo people was relieved.
It was fine weather this morning.

a train in snow!

Snowed Tokyo

This is unusual.
Tokyo has been covered snow since this morning.

It's winter in Japan, so you might be confused.
Why? Snow in Winter, it's not surprising.

Please read this,
"Japan snowfall disrupts air, rail and road transport"(BBC News)

The truth is, Tokyo barely has snow even in winter.

heavy snow wind blew my umbrella off.
a woman who was hurried to the station stopped and said,
"are you ok, miss?"

Tsukuba Mountain

Tsukuba mountain has two peaks, Mt.Nantai(871m) and Mt.Nyotai(877m).
The mountain is located in Ibaraki and easy access from Tokyo.
You can take Tsukuba express from Akihabara to Tsukuba station. It takes only 45 minutes.
And then take local bus to Tsukuba shrine bus stop(40 minutes).

a view from mt.nantai

Funabashi Andersen Park

Andersen Park is a huge park that located in Funabashi city, 30 minutes from Tokyo by train.
The symbol of this park is a classic windmill.

a cute classic windmill

Funabashi Andersen Park(Japanese Page)
(English page)

Funabashi city is a sister city of Odense(Denmark) where Hans Christian Andersen was born, so this park was named famous writer of children's story.

Inbanuma

I went to Inba numa just because I want to enjoy walking on Sunday.
Inba marsh is located near Narita city. The marsh is known for windmill and beautiful sunset.

It's not easy to access to the marsh if we take train not a car, because we should to walk to the marsh about 20 minutes(at least) from the nearest station. (Sakura or Usui station/Keisei line). Another option is taking bus from the station.

people enjoy walking/ jogging around the marsh.