Alex Quinn's Japan Journal

Today, Akemi and I made a short trip to Daisan Park in the Mozu area of Sakai City, in Osaka Prefecture. Maybe 45 minutes from Akemi's house. Like yesterday, we had the good fortune of seeing beautiful scenery. Unlike yesterday, it was warm, sunny, and wonderful. Due to the gorgeous surroundings, I took way too many pictures. It's just too tempting. You feel like you're painting with finger paints. You can take such gorgeous pictures with so little effort when you're in such a beautiful place. Anyway, here are the pictures.

Walking into the park.

This area has lots of open green grass as well as this little waterway that flows through.

Everybody here is relaxing and having fun.

Akemi and I sat on this little bank and had lunch.

After a while, we took a walk. We found this big pond (or a small lake).

People were sailing radio controlled model sailboats around the pond.

Like everywhere I went in Daisan Park, I was taken by the atmosphere.

Miniature sailboats on the pond.

These guys are holding the controls to their boats.

Miniature sailboats on the pond.

This guy is fishing. Not sure exactly what he hoped to catch, but it looks like a fine way to spend an afternoon, nonetheless.

I was surprised to find this totem pole in Japan. I thought Native American culture had not really reached Japan.

According to the sign, it was placed here in commemoration of the World Performing Arts Festival of 2000. It was "produced by Mr. Guujaaw, an artist of Haida natives, aborigines of the Queen Charlotte Islands on the West Coast of Canada." It is made of Canadian red cedar. It is 6 meters tall, 70 centimeters in diameter, and weighs 1450 kilograms (3194 pounds).

Japanese garden within Daisan Park

After strolling around and relaxing in the green part of the park, we found a wonderful traditional Japanese garden, within the park. The fee is only ¥200 (≈$2), surprisingly cheap for a large garden like this.

Looking at a white heron in the garden.

Zooming out to see more of the garden.

Looking around the garden.

Ume blossoms in the garden.

I like this tree because it reminds me of a data structure in computer science.

Ume blossoms in the garden.

Akemi in the garden.

Looking around the garden.

Ume blossoms in the garden.

Looking around the garden.

Ume blossoms in the garden.

Looking around the garden.

Ume blossoms in the garden.

Looking around the garden.

Ume blossoms in the garden.

Looking around the garden.

At one point, we decided as long as I was going to take a zillion pictures of the flowers, maybe we'd try to get in the act and find someone to take our picture. We found a couple that wasn't doing much. I asked them to take our picture. At first, the man took one for us. When we asked for another one in a vertical position, the woman took over. She really liked taking our picture. It turns out they live in Sakai City and love the place at least as much as we do. I think she could tell how much we were enjoying their garden. Anyway, after she took the second picture, she started suggesting other places where she could take our picture. She took quite a few for us.

Akemi and me in the garden.

The lady pointed out this tiny bird off in the distance. Can you see it?

How about now?

How about now? I had to zoom in as far as my camera would go, including the digital zoom which makes the picture a blurry.

These photographers are all taking pictures of the same bird. They have giant cameras that look like telescopes.

I zoomed in on the photographers, too. Nobody is exempt, not birds, not photographers.

Akemi and me in the garden. (Taken by the same lady who took the rest. We just happened to run into her a few more times during our stroll.)

Looking around the garden.

After some walking, we stopped to have some traditional green tea (matcha).

We were served the tea in this little covered area.

Looking around the garden from the place where we had the tea.

...more.

Looking around the garden.

An elevator car garage (totally unrelated to the park)

When we got back to Akemi's, I noticed that the construction project across the street had been completed. They built an elevator car garage. (I don't know the real name for these things. That's my own made-up name.) You drive your car in at the ground level and the thing picks up your car and puts it on a little shelf. This is the first one I've ever seen where you could see the cars from the outside. These things are neat. They're space efficient, convenient, and more secure than a regular parking lot.

Elevated parking garage in Osaka.

Alex Quinn's Japan Journal

3/5/2006, Daisan Park, pretty ume (plum) blossoms

Japanese garden within Daisan Park

An elevator car garage (totally unrelated to the park)