Riddle of Tokyo's Sunflower Maze

When I was a kid, I love to play with word puzzles, picture puzzles and maze games. I have this boy-friend (he is a boy and he is my good friend) used to do our own puzzle games for each other. But unfortunately, he was being teased terribly at school by other boys for hanging out with a girl and her friends. Kids can be so mean at times. But we didn't care because we shared something in common, solving puzzles and creating maze games.

Because I had a good time with my friend, I grew up fascinated about being in an actual maze. Whenever I read the Greek myth of Theseus and the Minotaur, I feel like I can transport myself in the maze, feeling the excitement and as well as the fear of being in a maze. So, it has been a long-time dream for me to go and visit one. Some of the famous maze gardens I want to visit are the hedge maze of Hampton Court (I miss my chance of visiting this one and I am still regretting it years after, sob!), the yew tree maze of Longleat, and the one I really, really want to go to is the maze at Reignac-sur-Indre in France. Hopefully, all of them before I am too old and creaky.

So, when I heard that there is a sunflower field maze in Nishi-Tokyo, I knew I had to go and take a look. Since it is not open during the weekend and Monday (too?), I had to go on a weekday which is not a bad thing because it will definitely have lesser people.

It was a very hot afternoon and I nearly didn't make it to the door to go out and see this maze. But once you reach the sunflower field, you forgot about how hot day is.

The sunflower maze was created on 1,000sqm land. They planted a total of 3,000 sunflowers in this plot of land to create this maze. The creation of the sunflower maze is an idea of the Institute for Sustainable Agro-ecosystem Services, an institute affiliated with the University of Tokyo. They created it for their 'Sunflower Project DE OIL 2014', a project that focuses on learning about food and sustainable farming practices.

The staffs are really friendly. They quickly approach me when they saw me coming and encourage me to try out their maze. They also handed me their little maze map so that in case, you are lost, you can draw your way out. 

The sunflower towers around 2 meters and while in the maze, you could see just enough through the sunflowers to other areas of the maze and perhaps to make out silhouettes of other people who are there at the same time, but not entirely. It is also easy to find yourself hopelessly lost in that sunflower maze, although it wasn't that big of a maze.

Back to the sunflower maze, so, the maze itself is not very big, but once you are inside, it definitely feels far bigger. Like I-have-shrunk-to-an-ant-size magic. I feel that this maze has just that enough level of fun and confusion, especially for a first-timer! It was awesome. It is easy to get lost, but you can also easily find your way back on the interconnecting paths.

These girls went for several rounds in the sunflower maze.
I am sure they already know their way around with their eyes closed.

Okay, which way to go - left or right?

I am almost there! But that wasn't the way.

Finally, found it!

I was told that the maze route changes every year, so you can return year after year to try out their different maze route creation. I also heard that last year's maze route was harder than this year's. But still, I had good fun! The sunflower maze didn't disappoint me at all.

I definitely encourage you to go there with a friend and try it out yourself. I can assure you that you will enjoy getting lost in the sunflower maze. And don't forget your sunscreen and hat. And always drink enough liquid.

Well, if you are lost, you will still be in the company of the sunny sunflowers!

How to get there

There are two ways to get to the main gate of the Institute.

The easiest way is an 8-mins walk from the North exit (北口) of Tanashi station 田無駅) on the Seibu Shinjuku Line (西武新宿線). See map below.

The other way is to take a bus from the South exit (南口) of Hibarigaoka station (ひばりヶ丘駅) on the Seibu-Ikebukuro Line (西武池袋線).

Go to the bus stop of the South exit (南口バス停, Minami-guchi Basu-tei) and look for bus boarding stop No.2 「2番のりば」. Look out for the Seibu Bus (西武バス).

From bus boarding stop No.2  (2番のりば, Ni-Ban Noriba), take the bus Kyo No. 04（境04) which goes to Danchi Musashi Sakai-eki Yuki (団地経由武蔵境駅行) or Ta No.43 (田43) which is going to Danchi Keiyu Tanashi-eki Yuki (団地経由田無駅行). The journey on the bus should be roughly around 15mins. Get off at the Kami-Juku Jyutaku (上宿住宅) bus stop and walk 3mins.

Address and website

Institute for Sustainable Agro-ecosystem Services

1 Chome-1-1 Midorichō, Nishitōkyō-shi, Tōkyō-to 〒188-0003, Japan

〒188-0002　東京都西東京市緑町一丁目1番1号

http://www.isas.a.u-tokyo.ac.jp/detail/index.php?id=116

Best visit between: 13th - 29th Aug

Opening hours: 09:30hrs to 16:00hrs (last entrance is at 15:50hrs)

Closed on Saturday, Sunday and Monday (and also on rainy days or a thunderstorm or typhoon)

The admission is free.

Tanashi station (north exit)

Just walk straight for 550m!

Blue, blue sky...

Further up, there's a traffic light stop, just cross and walk straight ahead

You can see the sunflower maze from the opposite side of the street

A close-up

After this little sunflower maze, I am even more determined to make it to the other mazes that I have been dreaming about. Will you go and experience this amazing maze of the sunflower?

My favourite photo

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)

Sunflowers and sunny day

What else is good about summer apart from festivals and beer gardens, sunflowers!!! Here in Japan, we have sunflower festival and although I did not join the festival, I was lucky to photograph these sunny beauties in the sunflower fields of Zama.

The place is easily reachable around 1hour on Odakyu line Zama station (小田急線座間駅). After reaching the station, you still need to take a bus 台05 going towards Zama Yotsuya (座間四ッ谷) direction and stop at Jinjamae (神社前). There are several ways to get there and the info in Japanese language here.

Actually, I went a week earlier from the actual date of the festival, but the sunflower is already blooming at its most beautiful that I wondered if it will be too late to see the wonderful blooms when the festival actually starts. Well, if time permits next year, I will try and join the festival. Meantime, today’s spoils are the pictures of sunflower with blue, blue skies!

Don't forget your wide-brimmed hat, strong sunblock and your big, big smile!! xoxo

Hottest summer in Japan and the smiling flower

Before Japan, I live and work in Europe for an extended time. And some of my best memories of Europe happened to be in the summertime. While it was hot, but, it always has been with a nice sunshine.

So, with that kind of happy and sunny memories, I thought that the summer in Japan would be exactly the kind of weather I had experienced in Europe. Unfortunately, I found out the hard way that the summer in Japan is definitely sunny but not necessarily happy.

Usually the temperature in the summer in Tokyo averages around 30°C-ish. Although, the temperature is almost like in Malaysia or Singapore, but when the heat is combined with high humidity, it can turn into a very unpleasant climate. At night, the temperature doesn't go down too. The heat continues to blanket the city, making you sweat in your sleep at night and uncomfortable. You will wake up tired. The Japanese has a term for this condition, necyusho (熱中症) or heat exhaustion.

I know that my electricity bills usually rockets up at this time of the year. Yes, I don't care. The air-conditioner is my new best friend. Together with shadow-shade of tall objects (building, traffic light pole, tall people, etc...) whenever I am out. In fact, any air-conditioner and any shady area are my two best friends in summer.

So, it is no-brainer that I want to tell you that it is a terrible idea to travel to Tokyo in the summertime. Unless you are planning to be indoors most of the time, stepping outside of any building to go for sight-seeing in Tokyo means you risk melting yourself until you get re-animated again by the cool breeze of an air-conditioner. You can sometimes see Japanese people walking around with towels around their necks, ready to mop up their sweat. 

This year, with the mercury actually hitting 38°C, making it one of Tokyo's highest temperature records, it has definitely become a very miserable summer for me. However, determined not to be beaten by the heat, I randomly tell a friend about having a picnic in a sunflower field. She is keen on the idea and we decided that going to the nearby park to have a picnic and to enjoy some sunflowers. After filling up a small backpack with food and drinks, we set off, risking ourselves in this fever-induced heat and headed towards the Showa Kinen Koen.

Although, we missed the peak flowering season for the sunflowers, we are still treated with a few beauties. 

If there is a competition to vote for the happiest summer flower, my guess would be the winner would be the sunflower. To me, the more blazing the sun is, the happier they look. Or maybe it is their yellow colour that convinces me so. Or maybe it is how they always seem to glow under the bright light of the sun. Well, they sure cheer me up on this miserable hot day! 

Smiling under the sun

The best time to see the sunflowers is at the height of summer, anywhere from the end of July till end of August. You can find the direction for the Showa Kinen Koen in my previous posts:

Spring is in the air.... in Showa Kinen Koen

Enjoy the sunny beauties and enjoy a lot of water!