Exploring Kumamoto, Japan

Yesterday(May 28,2025), I went to Tamana City, Kumamoto Prefecture. It's the season when Japanese irises bloom, so I stopped by Takase Green Park to see them. The 33rd Iris Festival is being held at Takase Green Park from May 23rd to June 7th. Location:  https://maps.app.goo.gl/NZeiUcythYvr1mT59 Iris flowers belong to the Iridaceae family. The flower language is "elegance."  As I looked at the flowers closely, I felt that this word really suited this flower. In addition to "elegance," irises also have the flower language of "happy news." If something happy happens to us, it would be good to use irises to express it. The main event of the festival is scheduled to take place this weekend, but the flowers are not even half in bloom yet. Although it wasn't yet the peak season for the irises, I encountered many people strolling through the park admiring the irises. I frequently went to Tamana City for work from 2010 to 2023. I also visited the Iris Fest...

We heard that the nemophila flowers were in full bloom, so we headed to Kuju Flower Park on May 12th. Location: https://maps.app.goo.gl/Eg5nUT3TT1KdtBzH8 Many kinds of flowers were blooming all over the spacious garden. We went to see the nemophila flowers, but what impressed us the most were the Livingstone daisy fields. We also went to this park on April 11th during cherry blossom season. The following photo was taken then, and just a month ago the Livingstone daisies were still lush and green in the seedlings. Photo  2025/4/11 We were amazed to see how it had transformed into a beautiful flower garden in just one month. The nemophila was just about to reach full bloom. The sight of the nemophila flowers swaying in the wind was wonderful. At that time, I learned for the first time that there was a white nemophila. We celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary in May. It was a good opportunity to take a photo in a field of nemophila. We went on a weekday, but it was still very crowd...

When a couple's children grow up, it's natural that they stop going to the zoo. After we had grandchildren, they begged us to go, so we went to the Kumamoto City Zoological and Botanical Gardens on Children's Day (May 5th) for the first time in a long time. Locaiton:  https://maps.app.goo.gl/1c6d6XFHroLLcVVL7 The Gardens opens at 9:00 a.m., but there is already a long line by 8:30 a.m. Once inside the Gardems, there was a long line in front of the attractions in the amusement park zone. Attractions seem to be much more appealing to children than animals or plants. In fact, we had visited the Gardens three days earlier with our four-year-old grandson. I thought there would be few people there because it was a weekday, but I was wrong. There were a surprising number of elementary school children there. I think they were on a welcoming school trip. The Gardens is large, safe, and a suitable place for an elementary school trip. The plant zone around the clock tower is a great p...