Isehara city’s manhole covers are some of the busier ones I’ve seen. What I mean is that there are 3 symbols rather than just one. Featured prominently is a mountain, Oyama. It’s a great mountain to hike on, and offers some nice views. Also, the flower is Isehara’s city flower, the Chinese bellflower. The last symbol is the bird. It’s the city’s offical bird, the copper pheasant. Japan’s manhole covers continue to be very interesting.
This is a colourful manhole cover.
Yesterday was Kodomo no Hi (子供の日) or Children’s Day in Japan. It’s a holiday that celebrates children and their happiness. During this holiday, people string up carp flags/streamers, or koi nobori. Basically, they’re a kind of wind sock. I visited Shirahata Shrine (白幡神社) in Fujisawa, near Fujisawa-honmachi Station, and was treated to a large number of very big koi nobori. Have a look.
The shrine gate.
Those are some big streamers.
Caught in the wind.
White wisteria.
Looking up.
Going up to the main hall.
The main hall with glare from the sun.
Koi nobori from the main hall.
I hope all the children will be strong this year.
After nearly 40 straight hours of constant rain, the sky began to clear up in the afternoon. The air was absolutely clear. What does that mean? A very clear view of the Tanzawa Mountains and Mt. Fuji. I took this picture from work today, and it was incredible to see. Mt. Fuji was capped by clouds, but you can see that it’s still covered by snow. It’ll be a while until it’s snow-free.
I love being able to see Mt. Fuji regularly.
This picture shows just how beautiful it is right now. There are some trees that are nearly in full bloom, but most are still just starting out. Next week, the trees will be in full bloom. It’ll be great for pictures!
It’s sakura time!
Where did Yokohama Station go? It’s under some kind of cover. Is it getting a renovation like Tokyo Station? No way. Yokohama Station isn’t that historic. The original Yokohama Station is actually Sakuragicho Station now. What they’re most likely doing is cleaning the outside of the building. In Japan, when buildings are being cleaned, they put up scaffolding and hide the entire thing in a green or blue fabric.
Sorry about my finger getting in the way. It was a very windy day and hard to hold my phone.
A fuzzy blob is coming down to destroy Yokohama Station! Oh, that’s just my finger.
This morning, on my way to work, I encountered this little guy:
Holy crap! It’s huge!
It was a grasshopper, and boy was it ever big. It was about 4 or 5 cm long! I’d never seen a grasshopper that big before. I’ve mentioned before that Japan has a lot of large, creepy animals. I just hope I don’t run into a Huntsman spider.
Anyway, Exploring Gifu will be coming tomorrow night.
Filed under Nature
