Showing posts with label Festa. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Festa. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

FIREWORK FESTIVALS

Speaking of Japanese Summer, I think of fireworks. In Yamanashi, a lot of firework festivals are held every year. I would like to introduce to some of them.

■ Yamanakako Hōkosai 山中湖報湖祭 (Firework festival of Lake Yamanaka) August 1 (19:30~21:00)
Firework festival of Lake Yamanaka on YouTube

■ Lake Kawaguchi on-the-lake festival 河口湖湖上祭 (Kawaguchiko-kojōsai) August 4 (20:00~20:30) &5 (19:30~21:00)
Lake Kawaguchi on-the-lake festival 河口湖湖上祭 on YouTube
EDIT :
Lake Kawaguchiko's "Kojōsai" fireworks festival (FUJIKAWAGUCHIKO Sightseeing information site)
Access Guide (FUJIKAWAGUCHIKO Sightseeing information site)

■ Shinmei no Hanabi Taikai 神明の花火大会 (Firework festival of Shinmei) August 7 (19:30~21:00)
神明の花火大会(2008) HD1280x720p版 by AQUA Geo Graphic on YouTube
EDIT :
神明の花火大会 Shinmei-no-hanabi-taikai The Fireworks of Shinmei on '日本吉 nippon-kichi'

■ Nanbu no Himatsuri 南部の火祭り (Firework festival of Nanbu) August 15 (20:00~21:00)
Firework festival of Nanbu on YouTube

■ Isawa Onsen Hanabi Taikai 石和温泉花火大会 (Isawa Hot Springs Firework festival) August 21 (19:30~21:30)
Isawa Hot Springs Firework festival on YouTube

■View FIREWORK FESTIVALS 花火大会 on Google My Maps

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

AJISAI flower


Shot at my garden

Ajisai あじさい 紫陽花(hydrangeas) are flowers, which please our eyes, in rainy season. And just today, the Meteorological Agency announced that rainy season had started in Yamanashi prefecture.

I'll introduce some beauty spots in Yamanashi.

***** Nanbu Hydrangea Festival 南部あじさい祭り *****
The festa is held at Utsubuna Kōen (Park) うつぶな公園 in middle & late June every year in Nanbu-chō 南部町. This year it'll be held from June 13 to 22 . We'll see 70 species & about 25 thousand blooms, brought up by volunteers. The admission fee is 200 yen (Showing the ticket, you can be admitted as many times as you wish during the festa. / Middle school age and under are free of charge). Shuttle buses will run between Utsubuna Station and the park from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Sat & Sun only(June 13,14,20,21).
View 南部あじさい祭り Hydrangea Festival in Nanbu-cho on YOUTUBE, shot by Yamanashi "Home of Mt.Fuji" Sightseeing Net 富士の国やまなし観光ネット
The blog : Minobu Hatsu 身延発 by Taku Taichō 拓隊長 (Japanese version only) shows various kinds of Hydrangea at Utsubuna Park. According to Taku Taichō, the flowers are in the early half-bloom stage right now.

***** Myōhōji temple 妙法寺 (in Masuho-chō 増穂町) *****
The temple has been called "Ajisai Dera (hydrangea temple)" as a term of endearment and we'll be able to see 20 thousand blooms at the peak of their beauty in the temple grounds. Every year, Ajisai Festa is held at the temple. This year, it'll be scheduled for from June 27 to July 5. Something like an admission fee, which is called "Ajisai administrative & raising cost", is 200 yen.
View Ajisai Festival at Komurosan-Myōhōji 小室山妙法寺あじさい祭り on YOUTUBE, shot by Yamanashi "Home of Mt.Fuji" Sightseeing Net 富士の国やまなし観光ネット

***** Hōkōji temple 放光寺 *****
The temple is in Enzan, Kōshū city and famous as the temple of flower. This year the best time to see the flowers will be from middle June. The admission fee is Adult : 300 yen / Child (elementary school student) : 100 yen.
The site of visitor center in the city

***** Keitokuin temple 景徳院 *****
The temple is in Yamato-cho, Kōshū city. This year the best time to see the flowers will be from early July.
The site of visitor center in the city

View Ajisai map on Google My Maps

EDIT
***** Tenjōyama Ajisai Kōen 天上山あじさい公園 *****
About 100 thousand ajisai flowers will bloom along walking trails at the top of Tenjōyama(otherwise known as Mt. Kachi Kachi) from middle July to middle August. You can reach the mountain's top by riding a ropeway from the east shores of Lake Kawaguchi. One way cost of the ropeway for adult is 400yen, for children is 200 yen. The round-trip cost for adult is 700 yen, for children is 350 yen. The operating hours : 9:00~17:20 (in summer season)*Operating hours vary seasonally. On a sunny day, you may be able to see Mt.Fuji from there.
The brochure of Lake Kawaguchiko Mt. Tenjo Ropeway (PDF)
View Hydrangea of heavens mountain (Tenjōyama) promenade 天上山遊歩道のアジサイ on YOUTUBE, shot by Yamanashi "Home of Mt.Fuji" Sightseeing Net 富士の国やまなし観光ネット

- PHOTOS on the web -
・"Mt.Fuji, Yamanashi kachi-kachiyama ropeway" taken by miwa**, on Flickr
・"Frozen Fuji" taken by thoth037, on Flickr
・"Fuji-yama with Clouds, an Infrared View" taken by aeschylus18917, on Flickr
・"Kawaguchiko" taken by art.reyu, on Flickr

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Be with You (Ima, Ai ni Yukimasu)

"Be with You (Ima, Ai ni Yukimasu いま、会いにゆきます)" is a Japanese movie, which was released in 2004. This movie in which Yūko Takeuchi 竹内結子 and Nakamura Shidō II 中村獅童 played the leading roles was mostly shot in Yamanashi & Nagano Prefectures.

■You can buy the DVD from the below link.
Ima, Ai ni Yukimasu / Japanese Movie


Specifically, the scenes in the sunflower (himawari ひまわり,向日葵) -field in full bloom which was shot in Akeno, Hokuto city, provide spectacular beauty(refer to the site of PHOTO CONTEST in Akeno/Hokuto city in 2008).
View Akeno Sunflower Festival on YOUTUBE, shot by Yamanashi "Home of Mt.Fuji" Sightseeing Net 富士の国やまなし観光ネット The festa is held from late July to late August every year. This year it'll be held from July 25 to August 31. We'll be able to see more than 300 thousand sunflowers.
Edit4 :
明野のひまわり畑 Akeno Sunflower festival. (HD) by AQUA Geo Graphic on YouTube

Akeno, Sunflower 明野、ひまわり on Flickr

Edit3 :
Hokuto city's official site (Japanese / English / Korean)
※You may be able to get detailed informations of the Sunflower festival if you follow the following steps : Click the link "English" (at the top of the page) → Click the link "English Translation of the Webpage powered by Google" at the middle of the page → Click the link of the picture "Sunflower Festival 2009"


Then in Akeno, there are "Haiji-no-mura ハイジの村 (Heidi 's Village)" (Yamanashi Prefectural Flower Center), "OBSERVATORY of Institute for Cosmic Ray Research by University of Tokyo" and a lot of spots to get glorious view of Japanese-Southern-Alps. These facilities & spots benefit from the fact that Akeno has the best insolation conditions all over the country and we can have a lot of fine days throughout the year. In autumn, we can harvest Asao-Daikons(浅尾大根 a type of Japanese radishes), from which takuan (たくあん,沢庵 yellow pickled radish) is often made.
Haiji-no-mura ハイジの村 on Flickr

View  Sunflower-field & Heidi's Village in Akeno 明野のひまわり畑とハイジの村 on Google Maps

Edit : on local TV news broadcasts on June 12, it was reported that sunflower's seeds were sown on the grounds in Akeno on the day and its flowers would start in blooming in about late july.

Edit2

"Direction of the Southern Alps 南アルプス方面" shot by chipo at Prefectural Flower Center,Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License.