Furouen 2

This is the second part of my post about Furouen. Since the first time I came there the plum blossom haven't full bloomed yet, I came to Furouen again this morning. Since it is almost the end of February, more of the plum blossom have bloomed. It is so beautiful now compare to the past week. There are a lot of pink, red, yellow, and white flowers which have fully bloomed today. It has a more Spring atmosphere compare to last time. If you are planning to come here, this is the best time to go. 

This is the picture I took 2 weeks ago

This is the picture I took this morning 

Tomorrow, there will be a plum festival or Ume matsuri here in Furouen. The festival is to welcome spring. As I said in my previous post, plum blossom is the sign of the start of spring in Japan.

Today I also learn a lot about Ume bonsai. For you who don't know what bonsai is, bonsai is a Japanese art from using trees grown in containers. Bonsai is like mini tree in a pot. The staff here said that plum blossom is part of the rose family. It has small thorn in it's twig and it could be plant by using stem system plantation. You can buy ume bonsai here for 900 yen to 30.000 yen.

I also got the chance to taste a plum tea or umekobucha. I'm surprised that the color of the tea is actually pink. But the taste of the tea is really delicious. Though it tasted more like a soup than a tea. It has a sour smell, but it doesn't taste sour at all. It also has some sprinkles of gold powder. 

Another interesting thing that I found today is a caged raccoon or tanuki statue. The staff said it is to prevent the raccoon to do destruction in the park. I think it is an interesting Japanese culture and superstitious. 

I really learn a lot on my second trip here. If you go to Furouen, I hope you also have a really good time here as I am. 

For more information visit their home page on http://www.furouen.jp

Furouen (Garden Park of Eternal Life)

Hello!!! It is almost spring in Japan now, and that means it's near the time for flower viewing or "Hanami". So, this time I'm going to introduce you to a great place for flower viewing here, in Yamanashi. 

This time I am going to introduce you about a plum blossom park. This park called Furouen. Furouen is located in Yamanashi prefecture, Kofu city, Sakaori 4-3. You can get there by walking for about 10 minutes from Sakaori station. 

Furouen has more than 3000 plum trees with 20 different varieties of plum trees in a 50 km² area. The park is more like a hiking place so it has some hills and slope. Here you can enjoy some colorful plum blossoms while hiking. When you get to the highest place in the park, you can see amazing views of Mount Fuji and the Southern Alps. This is a really good place to take plum flowers with Mount Fuji.  Furouen has food concessions and gift shops inside the park so that you can enjoy your picnic there. 

And for you who loves taking pictures, there is a photo contest of the park in Furouen. The winning pictures will be put in on display inside the park. I think this place has a really nice photo shoot spot because it not only a plum blossom park it also has some traditional Japanese building such as the house of the park owner, Mr. Okumura since 1897, though now they do not live there anymore. 

These are some interesting facts about plum blossom. Plum blossom is one of the most popular trees for flower viewing in Japan besides cherry blossom. Plumtree blooms faster than cherry blossom. While cherry blossom blooms around April to May, Plum blooms around February to March. Hence Plum blossom is the sign of the end of winter and the beginning of spring in Japan. There is also some plum festival around the time when the plum trees starting to bloom in Japan. So, if you want to experience Japan's spring 

The park is open from February 1 until March 31. It is open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., 7 days a week. The entrance fee is ￥500 for adults and ￥200 for children under 12 years old. But recently the park is also open in autumn when the color of the leaves are changing or "Kōyō". 

For more information about the park visit their homepage at http://www.furouen.jp

Vending Machines

　It’s been a while, this time I am going to tell you about the thing that surprised me the most when I first come to Japan. It is vending machine!!

　I know, maybe you have vending machines in your own country but the vending machines here is amazing. Here, in Japan, they have so many variety of vending machine, in facts they mostly vending machined all of things. Besides drinks and snacks, Japan has machines that sell manga, newspapers, tickets, even lunch boxes, alcohol, and cigarettes. What surprised me the most is the cigarettes and alcohol vending machines. Now, you may think that it is dangerous and irresponsible if the underage buy those from the vending machines freely. But don’t worry, the cigarettes and alcohol vending machines have a special security system that won’t allow underage to buy the cigarettes and alcohol from the machines. To buy these cigarettes, you need a special card that says that you are old enough to buy cigarettes and alcohol in Japan.

　You might also wonder why Japan has so many vending machines. The reason is because it is more convenient than buying it in a convenient store. With vending machines, you don’t have to talk to the shopkeeper to buy drinks.
　Japan is also called home to many interesting vending machines. Here in Japan you could see vending machines in every corner of the city. Most of them are drinks and cigarettes, but if you are lucky, you could found some interesting vending machines too. I found one in Ootsuki station. It is a lunch box vending machine. It took around 3 minutes to get a warm lunch box. And the taste is not really bad. If you are really lucky, you might found noodles, bananas, even rice vending machine!

So, if you go to Japan and you are interested in Japan’s vending machines, I think it is a good idea to take an adventure to search and try all these interesting vending machines.

Mitama no Yu Onsen

It's been a while..

Today I am going to tell you about my first Onsen adventure.
For those who don't know what onsen is, Onsen is a japanese hot spring and Spa.

This time I went to a place called Mitama no yu.
It has indoor and open air bath. From the open air bath you can enjoy the hot bath with a great scenery of Yamanashi.
beside the pool, it also has a great services that will make sure you enjoy your time such as sauna, massage and souvenir shop.
The souvenir shop sells Yamanashi Wine and local confection. You can buy great souvenirs there. it has a lot of varieties and great quality goods.

This is what make onsen special. If you enter an Onsen you have to be completely naked.  You are not allowed to wear swim suit or trunks. You have to be naked. But don't worry, the men and women bath are separated and you are not allowed to peek to the other gender's bath. So you don't have to be embarrassed.

There are some special ways to enter an Onsen.
First, you have to take of your shoes or slippers or sandal at the front door and put the shoes in the locker. You will need a 100 yen to lock the locker, but don't worry you can get your money back when you take your shoes back.
Second, before you enter the bath, you have to take of your clothes and tie your hair at the locker room inside the bathroom. So there are 2 locker rooms, first is for shoes and the second is for clothes. so don't get confused. This locker also required 100 yen to lock the locker.

Third, after you are naked, take the little towel into the bath area. Remember you ONLY take the little towel in with you to the bath area. You can use it to partially cover yourself while walking around between baths, put it on your head when in the bath.
After you enter the bathroom, DO NOT ENTER the bathtub! You have to clean yourself first before entering the pool. There is a washing place for per person to clean themselves. Do not worry if you don't bring your own soap or shampoo, they have the soap, shampoo, and condisioner for you to use freely.
After that, you get in the bathtub and soak.


These are the rules of Onsen.
No swimming.
No Tattoo.
Do not drink or eat in the tub.
Do not wash inside the tub.
No towel allowed inside the pool, you can put the towel on top of your head or at the corner of the tub.
And wipe yourself before leaving the bath area to keep the locker room dry and clean.

Onsen is a public bath, so we have to keep the bath clean so that every one could enjoy the bath too. In Mitama no yu, they play some relaxing music inside the bath area that makes you more relax in the bath, which you rarely experience in other onsen.
After the bath make sure to drink something so that you won't get dehydrated. After you finished taking bath, don't forget to take your money from the locker. You may try the massage course or buy something at the souvenir shop before you leave.

My first bath is a blast! If you are planning to go to Japan this is the experience that you don't want to miss. Even though it is quiet embarrrassing to bath naked with other people, the scenery from the Rotenburo (open air bath) is priceless.

For more information visits http://www.mitamanoyu.jp/

See you next time

Hello

Hi, my name is Ririn, I will be staying in Yamanashi Japan for almost a year. With my post I will tell you all about my experience Yamanashi, from it's culture, history, tourism, and interesting things that you can do in Yamanashi.

Do you know yamanashi?

Yamanashi is a really great palce to live, it is located near Japan's famous mountain, Mount Fuji, and it is famous for its winery. If you like to drink Wine or alcohol, this is a place you must visit.
d(>\\o\\<)b
If you are interested in agriculture, you can experience grape or momo (peach) picking in the nearest farm. \(>v<)/
And since it is close to Mount Fuji, you can see mount Fuji pretty clearly from Yamanahi and it has a really nice photografic places. (ノ^o^)ノ

Let's learn more about Japan and Yamanashi together.. (^v^)b