The Komuroyama Tsutsuji flower Festival in Kawana (Shizuoka Prefecture) tends to coincide with the Japanese Golden Week holiday each year and at full bloom it’s a splendid pink carpet.

In previous years the weather in this holiday season has been glorious but this time the first few days were pretty poor with lots of cloud and rain. On one morning though it was nice enough, so with the family (my brother-in-law and nephew were also visiting) we went to Komuroyama Park. I did actually feature this place briefly in a post titled ‘Local Life In Ito‘ a couple of years ago but I didn’t really give it a click-bait title so it went largely unnoticed!

On previous visits to Komuroyama (and there have been many!) I’ve always walked up but with my mother-in-law, young nephew and Momiji in tow the cable car was the best option. It proved to be really good fun actually and offered a different insight into a place I know well. Admittedly, it was still a bit cloudy on that day but the views were still impressive in many directions with the North Pacific Ocean on one side, the beautifully shaped Mount Omuro in the distance on the other side and the pink azaleas beneath.

There is an area called Dinosaur Space near the top of the mountain and this was the first time to see it all completed (rather than part construction!) with all the swings, slides and climbing frames in use amidst all the huge dinosaurs.

There really was no need to take the chairlift back down the 321 metre mountain but my wife had brought us all return tickets so we actually climbed back up the mountain a little just to ride the lift. This being Japan, there are even instructions (in English too!) about how to ride the chairlift. Does anyone really need them when there are assistants on hand too to ensure you board the chair safely. It was lucky we had got an early start that day as when we got back down to the bottom there was a long queue for the cable car.

We returned the following day but this time when it was dark. Usually I’m not a fan of seeing such gardens lit up at night but on this occasion, amidst drizzling rain, it proved to be a wonderful alternative to the day-time views.

The mikan (Japanese satsuma) vending machine quite near my parents-in-law’s house has featured on Tokyo Fox in the past a couple of times. That was completely empty (not too surprising as it’s out of season) but then I noticed another interesting machine just a few metres away. Next to the ubiquitous drinks machine was a really dirty machine selling eggs. Despite the shabbiness of the machine, they were very much new fresh eggs available in different sizes.

Izu Taga Station is back up the coast closer to Atami and on my way back from Nagoya later in the trip I thought I’d stop off there for a quick look around as I’d never been there. It’s a 10 minute walk down to the beach but as it was cloudy it wasn’t too appealing.

It was more appealing than Kawana Beach though which we took Momiji too later that same day. It’s a nice place to walk her though!

Here are a few more shots of our beloved family dog just chilling at home. The first picture with the old microwave looks like she’s patiently waiting for her dinner to warm up!

This post started with flowers and it will finish with them too. There were more azaleas on show at a nearby park and it was also the wisteria season too. There was a nice display of the latter outside Usami Station of all places.

Click here to read ‘The Musical Instrument Museum In Hamamatsu My Wife Has Long Wanted To Visit’