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.

Carps Blowing in the Wind

 We have arrived at Mibu Recreational park in Japan. Teresa has planned a surprise by visiting this park.  I am anxious to see what is going on here?

Many beautiful cherry trees are in the park 

Walking along and we saw many big plastic bags on the ground and several men.  A smile comes on my face when I see they are taking big windsock carp fish from the bags. The carp socks were all various sizes.  We watched as the men hung the carp fish on cable hoping to see them raise the big line of carp fish.  It started to look like they were having trouble getting the winch started to pull the cable of fish up. We decided to walk about the park for a while and see what else is in the park. :-)

Thought I should tell you why they hang carp fish. On May 5 it is a tradition to hang carp fish shaped streamers outside to represent the number of boys in their family.  They also set out a warrior doll or other heroes inside their homes. The carp was chosen because it symbolizes strength and success, according to legend, a carp swam upstream to become a dragon.  

As we walked around we saw the typical things you would expect to see in a park, but we kept walking as Teresa said there is a beautiful garden here we must see.

We came across an amusement park where big stuffed animals were outside that you could ride.  You had to feed them 100 yen to ride.  Inside the big building were lots of electronic games they could play.

Large stuffed animals for children to ride at a cost.This one is oh so cute.

This little fellow was heading over to one of the riding animals.

Well, we have reached the location of the beautiful gardens. I can see hundreds of tulips so I'm going to get some shots of the beauty that is before me.

I see a group of ladies that were taking a break and having a snack and some hot tea. I said Ohayōgozaimasu to them.   They smiled thinking I could speak Japanese.  As soon as they started talking they knew I  could not speak their language.  Teresa came to save me, the group offered us some sweets and tea.  After some communication, we found out the group volunteers to take care of the gardens here at the park.  Wow, what a big job and these gardens are so beautiful. Teresa and I enjoying our morning break with the group.

I wanted a group picture before they all started off back to work.  So happy we have met this great group of people.

More pictures of flowers from the gardens

 

Time to head back to see if the park people have the carp fish flying yet.  Well, not yet it looks like.

Awe, there they go Up, UP and AWAY............

The carp fish are flying high..

Marlon and I by the biggest carp fish hanging.....they are huge !!!

 
Beatiful view of the Japanese garden

Me and my BFF Teresa 

 

After park and Tochigi City museum we went to get cup of coffee at a small cafe in the country.  Teresa has been friends with him for a long time.  To our surprise the owner told us to follow him and to our surprise we got to listen to a group of ladies who played Tiako drums.  They were so good, after they played for us, Teresa got to try out the drums with the sensi of the group.  To my amazement so did I.  What a happy day.

Filling out information about us