Cool beauty in a hot town

It is recognized to be the city with the hottest temperatures in the whole of Japan. And to get to this city, I woke at 5am to make the journey, although the journey to this city is only 1.5hours away. You might question my sanity as of why I am waking up this early to expire to a city with the crazy hot temperature in the middle of the hot summertime. As some of you may already guess, I will do anything for any flowers that worth a visit ^^

This time, the highlight is a lake of lotuses located in the city of Tatebayashi. There are two things that are special about this place. First of all, it is a lake full of lotus blossoms! Secondly, you get to ride a boat to go up close and personal with the blooms.

The name of the lake is Jyonuma Lake (城沼 Jyonuma Ike) located inside the Tsutsujigaoka Park (つつじが岡公園 Tsutsujigaoka Koen) which is also a very nice azalea park in the springtime.

Nice and cool greenery

Although I reach the station early enough at 9.15am, it was already 32 degrees Celsius! Phew, they are definitely not joking about the heat. From the station, the walk to the boat pier across the park is about 35mins. There is an hourly bus service from the east exit of the station, which takes about 10mins to get to the park, but since I missed the bus by 5mins, I decided to walk to the park instead.

As I made my way on foot to the park, I can see signboard and banners to tell you to drink a lot of liquid, avoid prolonged exposure under the sun and other health advisories to avoid heatstroke. I think this is the only city that actually advises you to take heatstroke as a very serious matter.

The walk was pleasant in the beginning, but as you get nearer to the lotuses, it gets hotter as some parts of the walk are not covered or shaded by trees. I strongly suggest that you carry an umbrella if you do not want to end up as a heatstroke victim.

This part of the walk is really hot!

But once you are on the boat, the ride became really pleasant with the cool air breezing onto your face that refreshes you after that walk under the blistering hot sun.

Excited about the dragonfly

I was informed by the boatman cum guide that there are two varieties of lotuses in this lake. One kind is the flowering lotus which usually only flowers, but its root is inedible. The other one is the lotus with an edible root. The flowering lotus are smaller in size compared the other lotus.

I think this is the flowering lotus

I am sure this one is the lotus with the edible lotus root

The boatman also showed us how in the olden days, people used the leaves of the lotus plant to drink sake from it. He made a hole in the lotus leaf where the stem meets. He showed us that the stem itself has air holes in them and acts like a spout when you pour sake onto the leaf and drink the sake from the other end of the stem. They used to imagine that this is how elephants drink in the olden times ^^

The lotuses bloom when the air is cool so if you are planning to visit, the best time is to go in the morning before 11am.

When I was there, many of the lotuses are still budding and the boat guide informed me that this year was slightly cooler than last year, so it will take another two weeks for the flowers to be fully bloom. And when it does, I imagined that the whole lake will be peppered with pink blooms among the green leaves.

The Jyonuma Lake is easily accessible from the Tatebayashi station (館林駅) on the Tobu Iseseki Line (東武伊勢崎線). The walk is about 35mins along the main road to get to the lotus lake inside the Tsutsujigaoka Park. To get to Tatebayashi station, you can board the train, the Limited Express Ryōmō (りょうもう号) heading toward Ota (太田) from the Asakusa station. The fare is about 1,920yen and the journey is approximately 60mins.

Or you can do the cheaper way on local trains for Section Express (区間急行) heading toward Ota (太田) from the Asakusa station. The fare is about 890yen and the journey is approximately 1hour and 35mins.

The address for the Tsutsujigaoka Park is Tatebayashi-shi, Hanayamacho 3278 (館林市花山町3278). It is really easy to get to the park. You just have to follow the main road till you get to the City Hall and in less than 3mins walk, you will see the car park and entrance to the park. Or you can see the map on how to get there at the end of this post.

Another note on the bus service, it runs less frequently on weekends, which I think is ridiculous considering that there are more weekend visitors. I have the bus schedule which I obtained online which I also included here, but you can inquire for the latest bus schedule from the tourist office located immediately opposite the train station.

From Tatebayashi City Official website

From Tatebayashi City Official website

The fare for the boat ride (花ハスクルーズ Hanahazu kuruzu) is 700yen for adults and 300yen for children. The whole boat ride lasts about 30mins. Please note that they will sometimes cancel the boat ride if it rains heavily or if it is too windy as these weather might make the boat unstable. You may call ahead to check at the Jyonuma Tourist Information Center at 0276-73-7800 (in Japanese).

I believe you can see the lotus from July 10th till August 15th and the park is open from 8:30am onwards till 4pm.

Again, I am captivated by small creatures

Although the boat ride only lasts 30mins, but it was a fun ride! I definitely recommend visiting this lake if you want to get close enough to the lotuses.

Ducky is catching a fish in the shallow waters

Will you visit this hot town to see these beauties?

* I just have to update this post with this cute map I found from the website of the Tatebayashi City (in Japanese).

You can the boat pier located inside the park and the tanuki (racoon dog) is the symbol for Tatebayashi city ^^
Map from the Tatebayashi City

The direction from Tatebayashi station to the boat pier:

Map from the Tatebayashi City

The red lanterns of the Asakusa Temple

Do you know what is the two classic symbols of July in Japan?

One of it is the hozuki plant (the Ground Cherry Pod).

And today, I am going to introduce to you a relatively low-key but the lively event which is the Hozuki-Ichi at the Asakusa Temple.

The Japanese people, since the ancient times, have believed that performing certain acts of merit on certain special days, will be blessed with a great number of blessings. One of a certain special days is July 10 which is dedicated to the Kannon deity.

July 10, the day of 46,000 days of acts of merit
On this day, if you visited the temple dedicated to the deity, Kannon, and performed an act of merit, this act is equivalent to 46,000 days of acts of merit. This is truly one-day-only offer for the busy but religious people to make it right for their absence. Therefore, July 10th has been a popular day of worship for many Japanese people and as the Asakusa Temple is one place in Tokyo where the Kannon deity resides, many came with the intention to perform this one day act of merit.

The Hozuki plant
At the same time, on July 10th, another special event takes place, the Hozuki-Ichi or also known as the Ground Cherry Pod Fair. The reasons for the start of Hozuki-Ichi is rather fuzzy. But it has been said that the Hozuki-Ichi begun to be over 200years ago in the 17th century. It all started with an attendant who found a pot of hozuki plant while cleaning the garden. He recalled his dream from the night before that Atago Gongen, the avatar of Bodhisattva Jizo came to him and told him about the curative properties of the plant. And he was so inspired by his dream that he made an announcement to encourage people to eat the green fruit of the hozuki on June 24 (it is one of the days for performing acts of merit) to cure themselves of any health problems. Eventually, some brave souls tried and found that for some miraculous reasons, it worked! Their story spread, but it was still not the start of the Hozuki-Ichi in Asakusa Temple's precincts.

The miracle plant!

Before the vendors at the Asakusa Temple start selling the hozuki plant, they used to sell red corn. The red colour of the red corn is believed to have magical powers to ward off lightning (They must have lots of lightning strike accidents in the past to be wanting something magical to ward them off). However, due to a poor harvest, the red corn became unavailable. The vendors, trying to cope with the demand came up with the idea of selling a triangle-shaped charms on a bamboo stick. These charms became popular and after a while, the number of corn vendors slowly dwindling and gone. Perhaps still unsatisfied by the fake triangle-shaped charms, the consumers found that the red heart-shaped fruit of hozuki captivating and its ability to cure health problems, is an attractive substitute for the red corn and the fake charms. With its steady popularity, the vendors start selling the hozuki plants on July 9 and 10 and that is the start of the Hozuki-Ichi in Asakusa Temple's precincts.

The small red heart-shaped fruit is the captivator of Japanese people's heart

Nowadays, the hozuki plant is used as a house decoration for the Obon day, a day where the spirits of their ancestors return home. The hozuki fruit represents the light that guides the soul on their journey back home. Many Japanese people buy the plant while it is still green with a few red ones to take home and grow them. After a couple of weeks, the green fruit on the plant will ripen in time for the Obon.

The Hozuki-Ichi (the Ground Cherry Pod Fair) on July 9 and 10
The Hozuki Ichi is held on every year, on July 9th and 10th, at the Senso-ji Temple in Asakusa. So if you go to Asakusa Temple on July 9 or 10, you will be entertained with lively cries of hozuki vendors, feast your eyes on the red heart-shaped fruit of hozuki and perhaps, even be tempted to buy a stick or a pot of hozuki plant.

A persuasive seller

A convinced buyer

At the time of writing this post, we in Tokyo, are facing the typhoon Neoguri that could possibly do lots of damage. But as you can see here in my photos, life goes on unconcerned to another impending threat of major disaster.

I had always admired the cool-headedness in the Japanese people. This is one country that you want to be in when there is a disaster as there is no safer country than Japan!

And oh, the other symbol of July is the wind chime. Enjoy your summer!

Japan's secret garden

We are now mid-way through the rainy Season in Japan. It started with a bang this year. I have never seen it rain like this before. Almost a whole week of rain non-stop as though that the rain wants to make not only an announcement, but an announcement with a big exclamation mark. (For those who are travelling to Japan, please note that the rainy season starts sometime from June to the middle of July every year).

To tell the truth, I am not a fan of rain and especially the hot and humid wetness that comes with the rainy season. Plus, it makes the flowers I am planning to photograph look less spectacular.

But there is one activity that I like to do whenever it rains, nap. This is a much needed luxury as for the past six months, my life is taking some small changes.

For a start, I had to get a new laptop. My old one got fried after my constant abuse that comes with my tech-norance. I am still in the stage of getting to know my laptop (it's Windows 8 and I am old-fashioned) and half-speed with it.

Then, I moved to a bigger apartment. Not just a bigger apartment but also, brighter and on higher floor. But the search for this place has been taxing. I have done house-hunting with many housing agents over 3 months before I decided this is the one and the work paid off. I loved it! The size is what I craved for after all those years living in a small apartment in Tokyo. And it comes with a balcony that allows me another small luxury - to plant some herbs and other plants.

After 2 months of tender, loving care (yes, I meant it with a pun!), I am happy to see some recent sprouts (I may have an avocado tree soon!!! *Happy shriek!!!*) and feeling proud that I didn't 'murder' any plants so far. I love gazing at them. Sometimes for hours. And I think they have been given some much attention that I am neglecting my other activities such as going out to photograph new flower spots and blogging. I will blog on my plants another time (Can't help but to share with you my proudest moment *beaming*)

Well, I am here to give you a very exclusive article on a relatively unknown flower spot in Japan. I know it is a 'secret' flower spot because the significant lack of foreigners and the people who visited this place are the old Japanese obasan and ojisan. I didn't even meet any Japanese or foreigner my age or younger. Not this time for this trip. And if you are staying in Tokyo, this place is easily accessible with a train that takes no longer than 2-hours ride *wink wink*.

Right... First, please enjoy the photos. May I present you, *drum roll* Ms Japonica Primula from Japan!!!

Ms Japonica Primula is also known as Ms Japanese Primrose or Kurinso (クリンソウ) in Japanese.

Her favourite colours ranging from white to red.

She loves being in a shady spot with lots of moisture, especially near a stream or river.

Best time to see her is from early June till mid-June.

To see this beautiful lady, make your way to Tobu-Nikko station or JR Nikko station visit her at Senjugahama  (千手ヶ浜).

As there are several ways to get to Senjugahama, I am going to list the most flexible, the most convenient and the fastest way.

The most flexible (if you are not rushing for time. It takes roughly about 1.5hours of transportation time excluding waiting time to get to Senjugahama).
Upon arrival at either train station, board the Tobu Bus (東武バス) heading to Yumoto Onsen (湯元温泉行) and stop at Akanuma (赤沼) bus stop for one hour or so. From Akanuma bus stop, you can either walk (I am guessing 1.5hours or so) or take the low-emission hybrid bus (低公害バス) from Akanuma Shako bus stop (赤沼車庫バス停) to Senjugahama bus stop (千手ヶ浜バス停) for another 30mins and then, from the Senjugahama bus stop, you walk 15mins to this place called Senjugahama (千手ヶ浜). It is also the last stop for the bus. Please remember to prepare the exact change (\300 per person per way) for the bus.

The most convenient (with the least transfers)
Alternatively, you can board the Tobu Bus (東武バス) heading to Yumoto Onsen (湯元温泉) and stop at Yuransen Hacyakusho (遊覧船発着所) bus stop. After that, walk towards the pier and board Chuzenji -ko Cruise that is heading towards Senjugahama (千手ヶ浜) for 40mins. Be careful with the timing for the cruise - there is only one departure from this pier and that is at 12:30pm.

The fastest (with the least transfers and more option for the cruise departures)
However, if you are able to make it to the Shobugahama pier (菖蒲ケ浜) then, there three departures from there at 13:00, 14:00 and 15:00. From Shobugahama pier, it is only 15mins cruise to Senjugahama.

You can get the timetable for the bus at Tobu-Nikko website, the low-emission hybrid bus website and the Chuzenji-ko cruise website (all of it in Japanese).

If you do visit them, please share with me your beautiful photos. I love to hear from you ❤ Meantime, enjoy these photos!