Season’s topic

Spot report – Gongendo Park (2024-07-22)

Webmaster visited Gongendo Park of Saitama Prefecture last week.   Access: Tokyo (local train 1:00) Satte (bus 0:08) Gongendo (walk 0:01) @ This park is famous for cherry blossom in spring. (Source: https://gongendo.jp/)   Although cherry blossom had finished already, the park offers the visitors comfortable walking trail under the tree shade of cherry.       And now, the… Read more →

Season’s topic – Cherry blossoms finally have come (2024-04-07)

Cherry blossoms have finally come! Due to the low temperature in March, they have come about two weeks later than last year.   Today, Webmaster had a walk to a park nearby to appreciate the flowers.   As this park is locally famous for cherry blossom, it was not crowded. In fact there are many other such local places in… Read more →

Season’s topics – Tanabata Festival (2023-07-16)

The Tanabata Festival (the Star Festival) is celebrated on 7th July in Japan and other East Asian countries.   The Star Festival is based on a Chinese legend on two stars, Vega and Altair. The two stars were in love but lived on different shores of the Milky Way. Their master, the heaven’s lord, allows them to meet just once… Read more →

Season’s topic – Chinowa kuguri (2022-07-10)

A huge wreath made of pampas grasses called “chinowa” is set in the precincts of many Shinto shrines in June by the lunar calendar, which approximately corresponds to July by the solar calendar.   In our tradition, we believe chinowa has magical power. If we pass through for three times as shown in the photo, we can get rid of… Read more →

Season’s topic- Cherry blossom in citrus grove (2021-03-13)

Spring is coming. Early-blossom varieties of cherry have started to bloom.   One day in this week, Webmaster had a walk to citrus groves in the hillside of his home town. Most of the deciduous trees do not bud yet.   The season of mandarin oranges, which is the most popular and most produced, has finished already, but some other… Read more →

Season’s topic – The memorial day of Horishima (2020-08-06)

6th August is the memorial day of Hiroshima on which the atomic bomb was exploded 75 years ago, at 8:15AM of 6th August 1945. (Wikipedia)   Some 350 thousands people lived in Hiroshima City at that time. 80 thousands were killed directly by the explosion, and 140 thousands had died until the end of the year by the acute symptom… Read more →

Season’s topic – Amagaeru Frogs (2020-07-21)

It’s still in rainy season in the central part of Japan. Rice plants are growing up well.     When having a walk after the rain this morning, Webmaster encountered many frogs resting on leaves at the riverside of a stream.     Those are amagaeru frogs (Hylinae japonica), the commonest frog in Japan.   Well grown individuals become more… Read more →

Season’s topic – Children’s day and kashiwamochi rice cake (2020-04-26)

  5th May is the Children’s Day in Japan. It’s national holiday. A family with children (boys) puts up koinobori – carp-shaped streamers – in their garden this day wishing the boys can be strong and courageous as carp. (Traditionally in Japan, carp is the symbol of vigor and vitality.) Of course, today, we celebrate this day for both boys… Read more →