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...

After the rain, I took a walk around Kumamoto Castle. Grasses on the Sunayakushi-zaka slope looked very heavy with water drops on their heads. Location:  https://maps.app.goo.gl/mLH7LrC7LZtrBw6B7 Walking to the Plum Gerden, the plum trees were covered with fresh greenery and had changed their appearance! Please compare it with the photos from around April 7th in this link . Plum fruits have grown considerably. I looked around the garden, but I didn't see many plums. Location:  https://maps.app.goo.gl/LRtHxNDqNYuLVS1W8 Kumamoto Castle seen from Miyuki-Zaka slope. Kumamoto Castle can barely be seen through the greenery. Location:  https://maps.app.goo.gl/7oEeCAeByGmA9zqn6 A tourist was taking pictures of Kumamoto Castle at the same place as I was. Descending the slope from the plum garden and reaching the intersection with the Kumamoto City Tram street, you will find a rowan tree on the corner. Around this time of year, it blooms with beautiful flowers. Location: https://ma...

The other day, I had the opportunity to see the dawn scenery at Senomoto Plateau (920m above sea level), so I took some photos. Shortly before 6:00 a.m. on April 11, 2025, a contrail drew a straight line in the blue sky. The act of drawing lines on empty space seems to express "challenges to new things" and "hopes for the future." It's a simple scene, but it's one of my favorite scenes. Location:  https://maps.app.goo.gl/UvgXn2UZo17xXpRS8 If you look slightly to the side, you can see the Aso mountains in front of the swing at Senomoto Kogen Hotel. Sunrise on the plateau around 6:20am. The Aso mountains are illuminated by the morning sun. The side lighting shades the mountainside, creating a unique appearance. This photo of the Aso mountains was taken from the Kuju Kogen Observatory along the road, about 5km from Senomoto Kogen Hotel. This photo was taken around 9:30 a.m. The sky was cloudy. Location:  https://maps.app.goo.gl/Bx1r8HkCGGE4oXhL8

It has been 30 years since we lived in Kumamoto. We had always wanted to go to the Carp Streamer Festival (Koinobori matsuri in Japanese) in Tsubetate Onsen someday. However, we had heard that the festival was terribly congested with cars on holidays, so we avoided it, but this time we finally got to see it in person. It was about noon on a weekday when we arrived. There was no traffic jam and we were able to park smoothly in the free parking lot. It was well worth the trip. When we got out of the car and saw the countless carp streamers swimming, it was such a spectacular sight that my wife and I both exclaimed, "Wow!" Date: April 11, 2025 Location:  https://maps.app.goo.gl/J9cRWzcSfRXq3m5g9 Other photos: This is a short 4K video I took at that time. I hope it conveys a little bit of what the carp streamer festival is like. I think it's best to see it with your own eyes rather than watching a video. This year's festival will run until April 24th, 2025.