New Parks and Activities

On Sunday, my wife and I had a nice local run.  It was a lot of fun.

A rugby game was going on at a local school field.

The new addition to Musashino Chuo Park.

Amazing to know that the largest aircraft engine factory occupied this area before the end of the war.

Another new community park south of Chuo Park.

Fun activities were happening.

An art event by Mitaka Station.

A tree climbing club was promoting their activity in Inokashira Park.

Mitakesan Hike

My wife and I had a wonderful time in Mitakesan yesterday.  The weather was fantastic and autumn colors were so beautiful.

We drove to Takimoto Station and took Mitake Tozan Railway to the top.

The cable car at the station.

At the midpoint of the 1.107km length - altitude difference 423.6m line the train crosses crosses the one that goes the other way.

We were rewarded by a beautiful view.

Twin cedar trees named "Fufu Sugi" (Husband and Wife Cedars).

The trail was through many trees.

The entrance to the main shrine - Musashi Mitake Jinja.

There were many, many steps to the shrine.

On the way to the main area was a stage for a special show.

 The last stretch to the main area.

The view at the top was great!

The decoration of the main building.

The protectors of the shrine were wolves.

This little shrine was also protected by wolves.

A side view of one of the buildings.

The last part of the shrine (Okuno-in) sits at a far-away triangular mountain.

Ema features the protector - the wolf.

More beautiful autumn colors.

A surprise to fined hydrangea flowers.

Beautiful Weekend Runs

What a pleasure to be able to run again after over two weeks!  And it was such a beautiful weekend.

Yesterday, my wife and I ran down east a bit.

A spacious park south of Fujimigaoka Station.

Nishi-En Track of Inokashira Park.

A nice walkway close from Inokashirakoen Station.

A persimmon fruits on our neighbor's yard.

This morning, I ran alone to north-eastward.

Okitsunesama (sacred foxes) at a shrine.

A nice playground.

Tall Torii of a shrine.

Ducks at Zenpukuji River.

A citrus tree in front of a house that is drying persimmons.

The beautiful pond of Zenpukuji Park.

A fun play was going on in the park.

An art display.

Beautiful coloring leaves at Inokashira Pond.

Visiting Naoshima and Teshima

Over last weekend, I had a lovely trip to Naoshima and Teshima Islands.  There, I spent two days enjoying art and relaxing.

At Naoshima, I spent the entire Saturday there.  Unfortunately, most of art exhibits are prohibited from photographs.

This is a bicycle parking structure.

It is nice to know the distances to important locations.

An interesting art exhibit by a beach close from Benesse House.

Cute camel planters.

The famous pumpkin exhibit by Kusama.

We enjoyed a beautiful sunset.

On Sunday, we took a ferry to Teshima.  I did not have much expectations of this less famous island, but it turned out to be a fabulous day.

This is the outside of the amazing museum there.

Seto Naikai (Seto Inland Sea) seen from the hill right by the museum.

A local festival featured children drummers.

Cotton - ready to be picked.

An exhibit called "Particles in the Air."

A map of the world showed where customers came from.

Surprisingly, there were many olive trees.

This is the little ferry boat we took back to Takamatsu.