Thursday, April 29, 2010

Doho park in April

It is really getting warm these days, but since it was often rainy in April, I didn't have many chances to take a walk in a nearby park. I usually don't have a time to walk around in a park, but when it happens to be sunny I feel the urge to bask in the sunshine and take pics. Anyways, please take a look at how green the plants in my city are now. 

This park is called "Doho Park", and it is run by my prefecture. The other parks that I've introduced since the last year are all managed by my city, but this one is an exception. We can play tennis, enjoy swimming in the hot pool that has a roof, and have a coffee in this park.

There is a section where we can see Japanese-styled small gardens. I think a garden like this was made in response to an increase in foreign population in my city. My city has more foreign people than other cities because of the laboratories where they work.

Do bamboos remind you of something Japanese? I just wish this was much bigger enough to impress you.

Most people in Japan would think of a tulip as one of the flowers seen in spring. When I was small, my friends and I drew pictures of tulips in spring.

From April to May, the trees are greenest and bear really fresh leaves. The building you see beyond is a gymnasium where you can play sports like basketball. The surface of the roof is covered with solar-powered batteries. It has had those batteries for more than 3 decades.

This is called "Yae-zakura" or eight-fold Sakura. You can see multiple petals, and this is the reason why those blossoms are called "eight-fold". We often call multiple things as eight-fold. This Sakura can be seen from the middle of April to the first week of May.

We often see this kind of duck called "Bariken" in Japanese. This purports to have come from Mexico, or Central and South America.

I thought it would be comfortable to read under those trees. Preferably a book by Haruki Murakami
The little brown house facing the pond is a cafe. Those who play tennis often take a rest at the cafe after sweating a lot.

This is a kind of camellia called "Yabu-tsubaki". It is said this flower looks so red in contrast to the green leaves. 

How green or yellow the leaves in your countries are now? I personally want to experience autumn with soft breeze in the Southern hemisphere in April. =)