Before setting off on my Okinawan adventures, I visited two famous flower parks in late Spring: Hitachi Seaside Park & Hitsujiyama Park. Hitachi Seaside Park is located in Ibaraki and is known for its beautiful blue nemophila that match the color of the ocean and sky. Hitsujiyama Park is known for its pink moss field and is also the real life location of the Anohana anime! If you are in Japan for an extended period of time then I really recommend checking out both places. They will blow you away with their beauty and also introduce you to more rural prefectures that surround Tokyo. Though the pandemic has eliminated my international travel, I was fortunately able to travel safely to a lot of places domestically.
Hitachi Seaside Park
Hitachi Seaside Park faces the Pacific Ocean in Ibaraki Prefecture and is very famous for its blue nemophila that bloom every Spring. These flowers look like they have a star shape when you see them up close and I was amazed by how well they matched the sky and ocean! There is a winding trail that you can climb up to the top to see a grand view of the entire park. From there you can see a ferris wheel and ships setting sail from the harbor so this is truly is an experience that you can’t get in the city. They even have blueberry nemophila yogurt smoothies for sale which I thoroughly enjoyed because they cured my hangover from the night before. Besides the nemophila area, there are other large gardens with seasonal flowers such as tulips, poppies, roses, and sunflowers. There are also illuminations depending on the time to the year.
From Ueno Station, I took the Hitachi and Tokiwa Limited Express to Katsura Station, the called a taxi there. You can also take a local bus that goes directly there. The trip takes about 2 hours and 40 mins and costs around 5000 yen one way. It is a bit far for a day trip but I had an amazing time seeing the ocean and all of the local scenery.
Hitsujiyama Park & Jorin-ji Temple
If you have ever watched the anime Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day, then you may recognize Hitsujiyama Park for its distinctive pink flora! Though this park is smaller than Hitachi, in my opinion it is just as lovely. The beautiful rows of pink and white mosses will surely make your heart soar and there is a beautiful mountain with unique architecture off in the distance. Additionally, you can visit the Jorin-ji Temple that has custom Anohana ema with all of the main cast! I bought the adorable Menma one as a souvenir so I would always remember this day.
Best time to visit: Late April / Early May for the pinkest flowers
From Ikebukuro Station, you can take the Seibu Ikebukuro Line Limited Express directly to Seibu-Chichibu Station and walk 17 minutes to the park. This takes about an hour and a half and costs 1500 yen.
Conveniently the shrine is located very close to the park! I took a 10 min taxi ride there.
Whatever your taste is, you can surely find a flower park in Japan that suits it! In my next article I will be writing about my recent trip to the mansion from Umineko, so please look forward to it~
After finally making it past the rain to our lovely ryokan in Yoshinoyama, we decided to spend the final day of our great bike trip leisurely exploring its hiking trails before heading back to Tokyo. The summit of Mt. Yoshino is quite easy to reach from the hotel area, only taking around 20 mins of climbing. From here you can get a great view of Nara and there are a number of old shrines you can visit too. Obviously the best time of year to visit is during spring when the sakura trees are in bloom, but coming during summer was probably the second best choice. Staying here made me feel refreshed and closer with nature. I never would have known about this place have it not been for my driver! With a positive attitude, we set off to the summit to begin the last day of our grand adventure…
The 4th day began on August 4th at 7:00am. I woke up at 6:30 to go for a run around the mountain paths of Yoshinoyama and also wander through the garden in the backyard of our ryokan. Our original plan was to depart early explore places around Takayama, but since I already did a pilgrimage to the town from Your Name, I wanted to see more of the mountains of Nara. I have actually only been to Nara during my study abroad trip to Japan in 2013. Seeing the rare areas by motorbike was a grand opportunity I didn’t want to pass up. We planned to return to Tokyo at dusk and I was to ride the shinkansen home from Nagoya so my driver’s load would be lighter on the busiest highways.
Our updated map travel map looked like this (of course we were stopping at many places in between the 3 hour ride):
Chikurin-in Gumpeon Road
One reason I’m happy we took our time at our ryokan is because there’s so much to see around it! Additionally our reservation included a hearty breakfast that consisted of fish, salad, vegetables, egg, rice, tea and water mochi for dessert. This set was so filling and delicious:
After checking out, we strolled down the road to the summit. Along the way we saw a restaurant with a Shiba Inu, a workshop labeled “Mad Garage”, and a shrine guarded by tengu statues called Sakuramotobou. This street is extremely narrow but has a lot of interesting things to see. Due to the pandemic some stores were closing early, but everyone here was friendly and did their best to make us feel welcome.
Yoshinoyama Shrines
The main shrine of Yoshinoyama is called Yoshino Jingu and is located to the north of the hotel area, but there are dozens of others that you can see on the way. Some of my favorites were Kinpusenji due to its old wooden architecture, and the smaller inner shrines of the because they had variety in their design. What I liked most about Yoshino Jingu was it was adorned with wind chimes during this time of year:
After walking around for a while and soaking up the atmosphere, we decided to pay to have our fortune told… but there was only one fortune remaining! So we did what two responsible adults would do and shared it. And in return the fortune rewarded us with the best luck possible! I really hope this helps me with future trips and job interviews!!
Here is a video we took of the wind chimes dancing in the breeze. Up in the mountains there are few other noises to drown them out so their sound resonates beautifully:
When we reached the summit of Mt. Yoshino I had my first encounter with a Japanese Murder Hornet. I could guess what it was immediately due to its immense size. My driver confirmed my suspicions and told me to stand still and act as naturally as possible. Their behavior is quite similar to that of normal bees so it’s best to not run from them as that will make them more defensive. Fortunately these creatures are not vehement and even then it’s hard to die unless you’re stung by a group of them. I managed to take one super-zoomed in photo to commemorate my survival:
The not-so-murderous murder hornet.
After we saw the shrines and took pictures at the summit, we road back towards Tokyo while stopping at some viewpoints in the hills along the way.
Soni Highlands
While riding through Nara, we decided to take a pit-stop and try the famous blueberry ice cream made with Hokkaido Milk here. I was not expecting that much, but the taste was actually creamy and delicious. Plus seeing the deer/human mascot of this area was hilarious! My driver thought it was an atrocity though.
Since the Soni Highlands were on our way back, we decided to ride up the plateau and see the pampas grass. Though there wasn’t much to see at the top, the breeze sure did feel nice. If we would have had more time and preparation, I would have loved to have a picnic here!
The Sonikogenonsen Okame Hot Spring is conveniently located next to the highlands, so we stopped there on our way back. Due to being in the hills this onsen is extremely sunny. What I liked the most is that there were straw hats in the outdoor onsen area you could wear to keep the sun out of your face. The entrance fee is only 750 yen so it’s a good deal.
Returning Home
Feeling completely satisfied by this enthralling experience, I was finally ready to head home. We drove from Nara to Nagoya where my driver dropped me off on the Meitetsu Line so I could take the shinkansen back to Tokyo. Since I was sunburned and feeling quite tired, I could sleep off the exhaustion versus ride back on the highway. This also gave me some time to reflect on trip and made the baggage on the bike lighter (I carried my helmet and clothes back with me) so it was a smart move. We had succeeded in the great bike trip. I’ll never forget this feeling for the rest of my life!
Day 4 Itinerary: 80% Completion
Though our original plan changed when we reached Yoshinoyama because decided to explore the mountains more, I’m happy things turned out this way. Our ryokan stay would have been rushed if we drove to another prefecture so quickly and we would have missed out on the breakfast and lovely hikes that we took. After getting to know the area of Yoshinoyama, I would really like to come back here during sakura season and see how beautiful it is! This day was definitely slower-paced compared to the rest, but the hikes gave me a good workout. 4 days of biking was the perfect amount and I was lucky to be accompanied with such an experienced driver. If you ever have the chance to go motorbiking through Japan (both as a driver or passenger) please do it! It will open up a whole new world and take you to places that you can’t reach by public transportation. Many people have been road tripping and camping during the pandemic to avoid public places and it is a much safer way to travel.
Future Opportunities
My sponsor and I both agreed that this trip went extremely well and we would like to plan more in the future. Though we both normally travel solo, we learned a lot of new things through one another and agreed the trip was more fun together. For example, they enjoyed guiding me through ancient places like Koyasan and I was grateful for their history lecture and taste in ryokan. The only con was they don’t nearly enjoy the beach as much as I do, and I don’t like to camp when rain is forecasted. Fortunately we were able to compromise on these things and got along quite well. That is a vital skill we need to learn to live a happy life.
Cheers to a successful trip!
Future Destinations
Some of our potential destinations this year include camping sites in Nagano and Shikoku. We would also like to travel around Tohoku because I haven’t explored much of it yet. Our departure date will depend on my work schedule, but I am doing my best to balance work and play!
Please look forward to future road trip articles from me or share your own experience in the comments~
Over the weekend I decided to re-visit Gifu Prefecture and see if it’s famous water lily pond in Seki was worth the hype. This originally nameless pond has been nicknamed “Monet’s Pond” (モネの池) by the locals because it closely resembles the Water Lilies art series painted by Claude Monet in the late 1800s. Depending on the season and the weather, the scenery of the pond can vastly change. Some online reviews have said that Monet’s Pond is a vibrant place that is a spitting image of the artwork, while others have dismissed it for appearing as murky and overrated. It’s somewhat humorous to see the variety of scrutiny this place gets (both in English and Japanese).
My favorite review comes from “Kevin B” on Google:
“It is nice, but professional photograph[s] ruined it for me. My expectations were too high, don’t trust the pictures on the Internet.” – Kevin B
This could be true of any place, anywhere—don’t trust the pictures on the internet. Kevin B’s review implies if you set your expectations too high, you will be undoubtedly disappointed. Especially since the pond is located in a considerably remote location with infrequent transportation. But as an adventurer, reading that description just made me want to travel here even more so I could see it for myself.
Fortunately I was not disappointed because the photos I captured look complementary to the artwork:
Fun Fact: I didn’t actually look at any of the Water Lilies paintings until after I went to the pond because I didn’t want my expectations to be warped. I only looked at them for reference in order to accurately write this article.
Here is a gallery of photos that I took. The pond is quite small in size, but depending on where you stand you can see an entirely different reflection in the water:
I was lucky because I got the chance to see Monet’s Pond in both sunny and cloudy weather in the hour that I was there. During sunny weather the pond perfectly reflects the clouds in the sky giving it that dream-like oil painting aesthetic. During cloudy weather it looks a lot darker, but with the floating water lilies it still appears beautiful. Perhaps in the colder months it looks more bare and devoid of color, thus provoking the negative reviews. Coming in June gave me the perfect experience though. I was extremely satisfied with what I saw.
In this video the Koi look like they’re swimming through the clouds:
If you search for pictures of the pond online, you will see mixed results. Some photos have been purposely edited with filters and textures to look more like the paintings. However, the photos on the Official Gifu Tourism Website look pretty natural. I used both my iPhone’s camera and my GoPro so I could closely compare the detail. I only edited the lighting and shadows slightly in the photos I posted here because the sunlight was already optimal. It is recommended to come in the summer and fall months for the best viewing but the pond is open year-round.
Even if we can’t trust the internet, one thing we all can agree on is that this cheesecake replica of Monet’s Pond is awesome:
Monet’s Pond Cheesecake created by an anonymous pastry chef (posted on Grapee).
Not gonna lie, seeing this cake was another huge inspiration for my journey here. Perhaps Gifu Prefecture will some day replicate this idea and create a cafe with food and souvenirs based on the pond like many other places in Japan. Until then, enjoy this capitalist-free piece of nature.
Access
From Gifu Station take the N83 bus towards ほらどキウイプラザ行き (Horado Kiwi Plaza) and get off at the last stop. I was a bit disappointed to see that there were no kiwis here (this is simply a parking lot on the side of a highway). From the bus stop at the parking lot you will see a small van waiting adjacent to the bus. The van’s time tables are aligned with the local buses so you can take it for free to Monet’s Pond. The bus ride takes about 1.5 hours, and the van ride takes 15 mins, so the total travel time is around 1 hour and 45 mins. Though this is a bit of a journey, the ride only costs 670 yen and the pond has no entrance fee making it one of the cheapest attractions in Gifu.
If you like seeing the country side of Japan and don’t mind riding the bus, then I would recommend this trip to you. Just be sure to watch the weather and get there early so you have enough time to take pictures and return to the station. Besides the pond, there’s really not a lot to do in Seki. There’s a local shrine and a few places to eat, but most of the area is used for farming. After seeing the pond I went to Nagoya to spend time with my friends because there’s much more to do there. This was a great escape from reality though. I was happy to confirm that the pond does indeed resemble the real artwork and is not just a hoax.
If you are interested in seeing more attractions in Gifu Prefecture, please check out my Your Name and Gero Onsen articles!
After seeing the capybara zoo and the capybara illuminations of Izu, I decided to make my way to the coastal city of Atami and do some exploring around the beach and local area. I chose to stay at this district during my backpacking trip through Shizuoka because it is centrally located and has a lot of nice seafood restaurants and floral parks you can visit. My accommodation was at Megumi Guesthouse because it has an onsen and was only 3500 yen per night when I booked it. Not bad at all!
Here are some of my favorite discoveries that I found during my two-day stay in Atami:
Idematsu Sun Beach
One of the best things about Atami is that the beach is only 5 minutes walking from the station! When I woke up and went for my morning run, this was the very first place that I visited. It was very serene and quiet, which is rare for a beach near the city. Despite it being February, the temperature was extremely mild too. It almost felt like a private beach to me. In the summer, Atami holds a fireworks festival that many people attend. I would like to come back during that time and see how the atmosphere changes!
BonBon Berry House & Maruya Terrace
If you love strawberries… well you’re absolutely going to love BonBon Berry! This confectionery is full of fruits and desserts of high quality. I first tried the original strawberry stick with manjuu and a small piece of strawberry cake. It was so delicious, I came back the following day to try more~ I next ordered the strawberry shu cream that looks like a giant glazed strawberry but is actually a giant creampuff. I traveled here in February, yet the strawberries were so fresh I felt like it was summer!
For lunch I decided to stop at Maruya Terrace near the central shopping street. This restaurant will let you choose your favorite fish from the seafood store across the street and grill it for you on a seasoned sandwich. I chose their famous mackerel sandwhich:
This is one of the best fish sandwiches I have ever eaten!!
I couldn’t believe this sandwich was only 700 yen! Seafood in Hokkaido and Kanazawa are much more expensive. Atami is definitely one of the cheapest places to eat quality fish and I would like to try many kinds in the future!
Atami Ropeway & Kinomiya Shrine
Atami Ropeway definitely gives you access to one of the best views in the city! For only 600 yen (roundtrip), you can take a cable car to the top of a mountain and see the city and surrounding seaside area. As expected, the view was breathtaking~ I was happy that I brought my GoPro here.
Next I walked to the nearby Kinomiya Shrine because it’s one of the most famous in Atami. I loved the green foilage and the leaves that were made into the shape of a heart:
If you’re looking for a hotspring, I recommend going to the nearby Nikkoutei Ooyu. It is only around 1000 yen to go for the day and has a beautiful view of the surrounding nature.
Atami Plum Garden & Akao Herb and Rose Garden
Though February is usually not the prime season for flowers, I decided to check these gardens out anyway since I was in the area. I was surprised to find beautiful buds when I first went running through the Atami Plum Garden. According to the official website, this area has the fastest blooming plums in Japan:
This garden is divided into several areas; they have a Japanese garden, a Korean garden, an art museum, and dozens of plum trees that you can photograph pretty much year round. I was surprised to find a miniature cave and waterfall here too. This is much prettier than a lot of gardens that I’ve been to so I’m happy I came. The entrance fee is only 300 yen.
Finally, I went to Akao Herb and Rose Garden, which actually is a garden up in the mountains! From the bus stop, a free van will take you to the top (or you can choose to walk to the entrance). When this garden is in full bloom, it truly looks like heaven. Unfortunately I could not capture many flowers in bloom, but I got an awesome picture of me in my Orient T-Shirt on the swing. I did manage to capture the photo below:
February flowers of Akao Herb and Rose Garden.
What I liked about this garden is that there were hammocks and benches where you could relax and see the seaside. In addition to the swing, they also had a trampoline! There were many fragrances you could try for free as well. This was one of the best views I have ever seen from a flower park, and I regret that I could not take more pictures of the roses. All the more reason to come back here in the summer!
Entrance here is only 1000 yen.
Final Remarks
I love Atami because everything you need is either walking distance or just a short bus ride away: the ocean, mountain, hotsprings, restaurants, and beautiful gardens. It’s very easy to relax and find inner peace here. In addition to the capybaras, I loved the nature and food. I’m so glad I discovered yet another floral beach paradise in Asia and I recommend that everyone else come and experience it for themselves.
Getting to Atami
From Tokyo Station, take the Tokaido-Sanyo Shinkansen towards Shin Osaka. Atami Station is only 37 minutes away, which is closer than getting from one end of Tokyo to the other! The cost is 4300 yen which is about the same as going to Nikko or Hakone. It’s definitely worth the cost.
