When the sunflower becomes rainflower

I believe the weather god has been listening to my request for cooler temperatures. He/She has blessed me with a typhoon and plenty of rain. I am happy for the drop in the temperature but not so happy because whenever I planned to go out to an event or to meet someone, it rained. And it ALWAYS rained hard. 

Yesterday, I was in Tokyo station to meet up someone for lunch and after that, we are planning to go to the nearby Hibiya Park (日比谷公園, Hibiya Kōen). Normally, the walk from the Tokyo station to Hibiya Park normally would take only about 20mins. Because of the wonderful rain we had yesterday, it took us almost 40mins to get there. Maybe because my companion was also excited about Tokyo city that she stopped to take pictures at every 5mins. We also ducked into a clothing shop because the rain got so heavy and I don't want us looking like poor drenched kitty cats in the rain. And all that took us a while more than the usual walking time. 

When we reached the Hibiya Park, the rain has finally lightened up and we could walk around a bit. The roses are gone, but I believe the park authorities have been pruning and getting them ready for their annual autumn rose festival. 

Here I am getting worried and thinking to myself that, 'oh shit, I have brought her to an empty garden!', and then, we saw this almost out of sight row of sunflower near the tennis court. 

It turns out that she is also an avid flower lover like me ^^. As many times as I have been to Hibiya Park, I have never noticed these two rows of sunflowers before until now. We ended up taking lots of pictures of sunflower in the rain. Too bad that the rain made the sunflower droop. They didn't look so happy in the rain, but we were happy to see them. I guess you call them SUNFLOWER for a reason. But overall, they still look amazing.

If you are going to be around the city, catch them on a sunny day while they last (which I believe for another week or so). 

Poor sunflower - it looked a little unhappy

For sure, I will be going back there again this year in the autumn to see their roses.

All droppy :(

How to get there

It is only 2 mins walk from the exits of A10 or A14 of the Hibiya Station, serviced by Metro Hibiya Line and Chiyoda Line.

Alternatively, you can walk 2 mins from Exit B2 of Kasumigaseki Station, serviced by Metro Marunouchi Line and Chiyoda Line.

Or, an 8 mins walk from the Yurakucho Station on JR Yamanote Line. 

Lastly, you can also walk 8 mins from the Yurakucho Station on Metro Yurakucho Line JR Yamanote Line. Go to the Exit B2, go left and walk for 150m (500 ft). If you see some green trees, that should be it. 

Address and Website

1-6, Chiyoda-ku, 100-0012 Tokyo 

Tel: 03-3501-6428 (Hibiya Park Administration Office)

http://www.tokyo-park.or.jp/park/format/index037.html (in Japanese)