Festival Celebrate Boys Day

2471-7 Kashiwagura-machi, Maebashi, Gunma 371-0246 Japan

On the way to Ganuma Park, Japan I saw the cutest road barrier, Hello Kitty. :-)  This made me smile as we drove by. 

When we pulled into the parking lot the first thing we see is a field of flowers and a beautiful double blossom cherry tree.  Now that would put a smile on anybody's face.
 

Several rows of carp fish were hanging across a field.  The carp fish were blowing in the wind making this a beautiful sight to see.  Children's Day is a holiday dedicated to the health and happiness of children in Japan. 
The symbols and traditions of Children's Day stem from samurai culture and date back to the 1200s. The Samurai clans prepared boys from an early age for their role as Samurai with rituals, celebrations, and symbols. One such symbol, Koinobori are carp-shaped windsocks that have become a Children's day decoration. They are put up in great numbers all over Japan.  Families with children put up at least one Koinobori per child. The meaning of Koinobori stems from an old Chinese legend about a carp who swims upstream against a strong current to become a dragon. The vigorous movement of Koinobori in the wind is thought to represent a healthy childhood.

The park was located at the top of a hill making this a great view of the Gunma prefecture.

As we walked back down the hill there was a bright yellow field of poppy flowers. I have never in my life seen so many flowers like this in one place.  Totally breathtaking   I wanted to take off my shoes and run through the pasture of flowers or sit and have a picnic.  Never got to do either,  but I did get to stand in the flowers with my BFF Teresa.

All of us stopped to look at the field full of clover.  We have never seen clover get this big before and it sure was unique.

Thanks, Ric and Teresa for taking us today to enjoy the celebration of boys' day at this beautiful park.

Before we left the park all of us enjoyed some sakura icecream. Now on to the rest of today's adventures.