Wakayama Farm Strolling through Bamboo in Japan -Romantic Village -Hide

Special thanks to Hide & Kumi Nagao for taking us on this lovely trip.  

 A huge chestnut grove started off our walk through the Wakayama Farms.  The spines on the outside of the chestnut are sharp.

 The first bamboo we see is the Madake bamboo. Madake bamboo is the oldest in Japan.  

 Loved the tunnel the Moso bamboo made. A light sprinkling of rain is starting. The bamboo plants are keeping the rain off of us.

Madake bamboo has grown in Japan for centuries. It can reach heights of 66 feet and about 5 inches in diameter. The joints between the sections of madake are soft which makes it easy to cut. This type of bamboo is suitable for basket weaving and the production of fans.

Moso bamboo reaches about 66 feet and its diameter is about 8 inches. Moso bamboo is generally cultivated for its edible shoots, which are generally eaten in the spring. This bamboo is the tallest and most popular.

Kikko means tortoise-shell. This type of bamboos nodes is alternately close together.  This is known as a mutation type.  This bamboo tree on the bottom part looks like a tortoiseshell but the top part of it is in normal form.

Kinimei Moso Bamboo is yellow gold.  We could see the bright yellow as we got closer to this huge grove of bamboo trees. There have been several films done here. Can you find Kumi hiding in the bamboo?  

They illuminate the bamboo on weekends,  this is one of the lights.

We turned the corner and there were 2 huge swings made of bamboo. So much fun to sit and swing.  We each took a turn swinging, Marlon gave Hide an extra push to make him go higher.

Bamboo sculpture

Time to end the fun at the Bamboo garden.  Going to go check out the gift shop.

The next destination is Romantic Village.

 

Craft brewery located in this area.  Donna and Kumi are window shopping.

 

Dinner tonight was 2 different kinds of food at one location, Chinese or Indian. :-)

Donna's meal, Indian butter chicken curry.

Mito Kairakuen Gardens in Japan March 26, 2012

Today I finally get to meet Valarie and her son Kencho.  The minute we arrived at their home they were both waiting outside for us.  We introduced ourselves and right away I knew we were going to become great long-time friends.  Kencho is 7 years old and became my friend immediately. During our ride we sorta let Sally (name of Teresa's GPS) try to get us to Mito Kairakuen but she did not know that there was a new highway that had been put in.  We tried to follow her but Teresa said we are turning around and going back we had already been taken 20 minutes out of our way.  We stopped and Teresa found out where to get on the new highway.  We should arrive in about 15 more minutes at our destination.  We parked and when we got out the weather was getting very cold and looked like rain.  We went ahead and found a bench to enjoy the lunch that Valarie had made.  Yummo she can pack a great picnic lunch. :-)  We all stood there freezing but refused to give up and leave because of the weather. 

At the entrance to the Kairakuen is a statue of Nariaki Tokugawa who is the person who gave the gardens to everyone to enjoy.  Kairakuen is one of the 3 most famous parks in Japan.
















Senba Lake was located in front of us as we started off to view the beauty of the park.  There was a place on the water to rent paddle boats.  Many people were out in these boats today.  There also were some ducks to feed and Kencho seemed to enjoy them allot.

I can literally smell the fragrant plum blossoms, I'm so excited to cross over the bridge of water and over to view the 100 different types of plum trees, a cedar forest, bamboo trees, cherry blossom, azaleas, and camellia trees.  When we started the cross over the bridge a few men enjoying the sunshine and playing checkers. What a great thing to be doing in this beautiful place.

 The view from the bridge was so nice.

We also got a look at some of what was in store for us to see on the other side.  Wow is all I can say, the beauty of the pink and white plum blossoms about takes my breath away from its beauty.

























The minute we got to the other side the aroma was pretty strong of the sweet smell of plum trees. I got very excited and anxious to see this huge display of plum trees and of curious to see what was in store for me.  
There were several vendors selling all kinds of things including food and items that promoted the park.

We walked about some of the gardens and took many pictures of the trees and their beauty and blossoms.  Several trees are very old as there were crutches to help their branches from breaking.

Going to go get tickets to enter the Kobuntei 3 story wooden building. It is made up of the main house, and a one-story annex, the nobility's private quarters. The word Kobun is another name for the Japanese Plum which originated from China. During our walk to Kobuntei, I stopped and got my picture taken with a group of portraying Nariaki and some Japanese ladies.

 I took lots of pictures of the trees in bloom before reaching Kobuntei home.  

 Teresasan standing among the plum and cherry blossom trees.

 We have purchased our tickets and are removing our shoes to enter this beautiful home.

I am going to post a lot of the rooms within the house because they are beautiful and I want to share the details that went into the building of this home.

 

 

 Kencho is a very good little boy. :-)

We are now going where the bamboo trees are located.  I love bamboo and all the items the Japanese make with the wood. We stopped and shopped at one small shop that was on our way to see the bamboo trees.  

 Kencho liked playing on the roots of the big cedar trees if I didn't think I would trip and fall I would have joined him.





 We have reached the destination of the bamboo trees in the park.  I am so impressed with how many there are and how tall they are.

Posing for a picture in front of the bamboo trees with my great friends Teresa, Valarie, and Kencho.  I am having such a wonderful time with my new friends.

IT started to look like it was going to rain so we started out towards the exit gates.  It started to rain hard so all of us ducked into one of the little shops.  

 When it stopped raining the sun came back out and we walked to the bridge to cross over the water.  As we were crossing there was  a big beautiful swan swimming downstream.  

 Before we got to the car we saw a black swan and one swan sitting on her nest. He was being very protective of her.

 Kencho was promised we would go to the park before we left so we walked across the street and let kensho play.  He had a great time and so did we.  Thank you, Teresa, for showing us this wonderful place.  Valarie and Kencho I truly value our friendship, you are wonderful people.

 I am now back to Kazue's house and Susumo's house.  What wonderful loving people they are.  Susumo had brought home a bottle of Japanese wine and together we ate dinner then talked and drank our bottle of wine.  I am loving my stay with them both.  I am so lucky to have made such wonderful friends.