Showa Kinen Park, Nishi Tachikawa (September 15th)

Cosmos (, which is named "Happy Ring".)

Today we went to Showa Kinen Park at Nishi Tachikawa to see if any cosmos flowers are blooming yet. That park has pretty big area for cosmos flowers, which we knew when we went to there before. At the main area for cosmos they aren't blooming yet, but one kind called "Happy Ring" was already in peak. When we saw the flowers there we could sense the season switching from summer to autumn. Some sunflowers still remained blossoming, and red dragonflies were flying at the same time...

西立川から国営昭和記念公園へ出かけてきました。咲いている花や昆虫たちの様子を見ていると夏の終わりから秋のはじまりのこの時期を、そのまま体感するこ とが出来ます。セミが最期の声をふりしぼって鳴いているかと思えば、赤とんぼがもう飛び始めています。名残のひまわりが青空にまぶしく咲いているかと思え ば、コスモスが風に揺れています。まだ、ここのコスモスは一種類だけが見頃を迎えているといった状況でした。また来月の初めあたりに来れたらと思います。


Small waterlily


Horse chestnut (Tochi no mi)


Cosmos


Sleeping cat


Bonsai garden


Lycoris traubii (Shouki Zuisen)


Habenaria radiata (Sagi sou)


Cortaderia selloana (Panpasu gurasu)


Sunflower


Red dragonfly

Sawai, Mitake, Okutama (September 8th)

We went to Sawai to taste some Sake and walk down by the Tama river to Mitake. However, because of the big typhoon which had given the extremely lots of rainfall in Okutama area in a few days, the trail beside the river was closed. After tasting some Sake, we found out the trail was fine to walk, so we kept going to Mitake. We can see how big damage the typhoon had given this area. The level of river water was way too high. Some part of the trail were broken down. From Mitake, we took the train to Okutama, and went to the hot spring to soak ourselves for a few hours.

台風の影響は予想以上で、沢井から御嶽へと通じる多摩川沿いの道は封鎖されていました。
完全に復旧するには相当な時間がかかるだろうと思います。




水量がいつもよりも相当増しています。川岸を見るとこれでもかなり水かさが減ったと思われるのですから、近くにお住まいの方は気が気でなかったことでしょう…


Begonia grandis (Shuukaidou)


Chestnut at a farmer's yard...We bought some there and cooked them at home.
近くの農家の方が販売されてました。家に帰ってから早速、下処理をして、翌日、栗ご飯にしていただきました。


Tasting cups for Sake at Sawai.
沢井の小澤酒造さんでお決まりの日本酒の試飲。

Mt. Mitake (August 12th)

Anemonopsis macrophylla (Renge shouma)

We went to Mt. Mitake, where you can see quite big patch of area keeping the Anemonopsis macrophylla (Renge shouma) flowers. At the top of the mountain it was pretty cooler than the cityside of Tokyo and the breeze felt so great there. After enjoying the flowers we went down to the Tama river and soaked our feet in the cold water and just relaxed with beer.

御岳山にレンゲショウマを見に行ってきました。もうかなり咲いているもののピークはまだまだこれからというところでした。


Anemonopsis macrophylla (Renge shouma)
It looks like an artificial flower using some transparent wax.
蝋細工のように透きとおっています。


Baby greenhouse = deserted milk bottle.
捨てられたミルク瓶の中に緑が…


Ainsliaea acerfolia var. subapoda (Okumomiji Haguma)


Tricyrtis affinis (Yamaji no Hototogisu)


Cable car.


Conandron ramondioides (Iwa Tabako)


Kayaker at the Tama river.

Tokyo Pride Parade 2007 (August 11th)

We went to participate in the Tokyo Pride Parade 2007. It was so hot and sunny day and there were lots and lots of peoples including gay men, lesbians, transgenders, and anyone who wanted to walk together. It is pretty exciting to know that there are lots of people existing, who have the same sexual orientation as us. We got big positive power from this parade.

Tochiyorizawa, Okutama (June 17th)

Rubus palmatus var. coptophyllus (Momiji Ichigo)

Today's course:
JR Okutama Sta. - by bus - Sakaibashi busstop - walked up Tochiyorizawa creek - Tochiyori-no-Ootaki waterfall -Sakaibashi busstop - Okutama Sta.

We went to see if any Conandron ramondioides (Iwa Tabako) flowers were coming out yet at the creek on the way to Mt. Gozen in Okutama. It was sunny and clear day, but it was much cooler there than in the cities. We found lots of leaves of Conandron ramondioides (Iwa Tabako), but it was a little too early for their flowers yet. However, we found lots of nice Rubus palmatus var. coptophyllus (Momiji Ichigo) berries on the way to the waterfall. It looks like some kind of salmon berry and it tasted pretty good. After coming back to the station, we went down to the Tama river, soaked our feet in the cold water and drank some beer.

奥多摩は境橋バス停から栃寄沢沿いを歩いてきました。イワタバコの葉が沢山見られましたが、花はまだのようです。モミジイチゴがそこここに実をつけていました。


Rubus palmatus var. coptophyllus (Momiji Ichigo)


Ancistrocarya japonica (Sawa Rurisou)


Ancistrocarya japonica (Sawa Rurisou)


Veronica miqueliana (Kuwagata-sou)


Impatiens noli-tangere (Ki Tsurifune)


Morus bombycis (Yamaguwa)


Aquilegia buergeriana (Yama Odamaki)

Jindaiji, Chofu (June 13th)

We went to Jindaji to have lunch at the Soba restaurant. The irises were beautiful there and lotus leaves started to come out from the marsh.

深大寺へ昼食をとりに行ってきました。水生植物園のハナショウブは見頃を迎えていました。蕎麦を食べた後は、お決まりになっている鬼太郎茶屋の梨ミルクソフトをいただきました。さっぱりしていてお腹がいっぱいの時でも食べられてしまう逸品です。

Mt. Takao (June 2nd)

Dendrobium moniliforme (Sekkoku)

Today's course:
Keio Takao-san-guchi sta. - No. 6 Trail - Top of Mt. Takao - No. 4 Trail - No. 1 Trail - Takao-san-guchi sta.

We went to Mt. Takao again today. Dendrobium moniliforme (Sekkoku) flowers were nearly in the peak of flowering. And finally we found Pseudopyxis depressa (Inamorisou) flowers on No. 6, No. 4 and No. 1 trails.

高尾山のセッコクは見頃を迎えていました。念願のイナモリソウも咲き始めています。咲いているポイントを３ヵ所ほど見つけることができたのでまたしばらくしたら確認しに行きたいと思います。


Dendrobium moniliforme (Sekkoku)
Close-up picture by my friend.


Cremastra appendiculata (Saihai Ran)
シャガの群落に混じって、サイハイランも咲き始めています。


Pseudopyxis depressa (Inamorisou)
This one has patterned leaves.


Pseudopyxis depressa (Inamorisou)
The flowers are smaller than I thought.
思ったよりも小ぶりで可憐な花でした。