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posted: April 30th, 2011 |
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This page begins with April 10th and a trip to Koishikawa Botanical Garden. Then we go to Niigata Prefecture and climb Mt. Kakuda (482 meters = 1,580 feet) on April 15th. We took so many photos there that our one day trip to Mt. Kakuda is continued on the following page. Click on any thumbnail to begin.
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| Begin April 10th |
On April 10th we went to Koishikawa Botanical Garden. Koishikawa Botanical Garden is operated by Tokyo University, so it has a pretty high standard of excellence. The first shot here - a cherry tree - came out very nice. The 2nd shot, a Viola diffusa is also quite nice. The 3rd shot is a Viola yedoensis. It's not as nice as the previous 2 photos, but it's the best shot we managed to get of this species.
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 April10th_ KoishikawaBG002RC |
 Apr10_KoishikawaBot Gar_023_Viola_diffusaRC |
 Apr10_KoishikawaBot Gar_029_Viola_yedoensisRC |
Here is another nice shot of a cherry tree in first position. In 2nd position is an additional shot of Viola diffusa showing the entire plant. In 3rd position is a Viola confusa ssp. nagasakiensis. This species is not supposed to be growing here, so they probably imported some seeds and planted them.
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 Apr10_KoishikawaBot Gar_044_CherryBlossomsRC |
 Apr10_KoishikawaBotGar _039_Viola_diffusaRC |
 Apr10_KoishikawaBotGar_060_ Viola_confusa_ssp_nagasakiensisRC |
Here are 3 shots of cherry blossoms in this row. The 2nd shot just happened to be perfect timing to achieve this effect - taken against a shaded background.
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 April10th_ KoishikawaBG047RC |
 Apr10_KoishikawaBotGar_ 079_CherryBlossomsRC |
 Apr10_KoishikawaBotGar_ 072_CherryBlossomsRC |
This was our biggest celebration of Cherry Blossom Season this year. We did not take a bottle of nice Saké out this year and enjoy a beautiful lunch under the cherry trees. We had a more subdued lunch - please allow me to repeat what I said on Page 1 - "Cherry Blossom Viewing Parties were mostly quiet and subdued affairs this year (compared to normal) due to it being less than a month after 25,000+ people lost their lives in the "Great Eastern Japan Earthquake" and associated tsunami. Of course the nuclear problem still hangs over us even as I write this. It's not exactly a happy time or a time for big celebrations." We had no Saké at all with our lunch this year, and we did not have a fancy lunch, merely rice balls.
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 April10th_ KoishikawaBG067RC |
 Apr10_KoishikawaBotGar_ 106_CherryBlossomsRC |
 April10th_ KoishikawaBG091RC |
Here are 3 amazingly colored photos of different cultivars of Rhododendron sp.
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 April10th_ KoishikawaBG107RC |
 Apr10_KoishikawaBotGar _124_RhododendronRC |
 Apr10_KoishikawaBotGar _111_RhododendronRC |
And here are 3 amazingly colored photos of different cultivars of Camellia sp. These flowers were so perfect as to nearly make us think that they were not real, but artificial!
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 Apr10_KoishikawaBot Gar_131_CamelliaRC |
 Apr10_KoishikawaBot Gar_144_CamelliaRC |
 Apr10_KoishikawaBot Gar_148_CamelliaRC |
In 1st position is a shot of Magnolia stellata and in 2nd and 3rd position are shots of Chaenomeles sinensis - the common Quince. Do you know what Quince is? We had never seen the flowers of Quince. We collect the fruits in the autumn every year and put some of them in a bowl to make our apartment smell nice, but somehow, we'd never before noticed the flowers.
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 Apr10_KoishikawaBotGar_ 156_Magnolia_stellataRC |
 Apr10_KoishikawaBotGar_ 170_Chaenomeles_sinensisRC |
 Apr10_KoishikawaBotGar_ 172_Chaenomeles_sinensisRC |
In this row are 2 shots of "Baimo" or Fritillaria verticillata. This is a very interesting flower.
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 Apr10_KoishikawaBotGar_ 177_Fritillaria_verticillataRC |
 Apr10_KoishikawaBotGar_ 181_Fritillaria_verticillataRC |
Here is a cherry tree beside the pond and a collage of a white dandelion (Taraxacum albidum) flower and a regular dandelion (Taraxacum officinalis) flower.
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 Apr10_KoishikawaBotGar _190_CherryBlossomsRC |
 Apr10_KoishikawaBotGar _204_209_TaraxacumRC |
| End April 10th, Begin April 15th |
On the night of April 14th we took a night bus from Tokyo to Tsubame-Sanjou Train Station in Niigata Prefecture. We left Tokyo at 11:45 PM on the 14th and we arrived at Tsubame-Sanjou Station at about 5:25 AM on the 15th. Then we took a train to Yoshida Station and then a train from there to Maki Station, arriving at about 7:05 AM. From there we took a taxi out to Kakuda Beach, as the first bus was not until after 9:00 AM. Then we hiked up a trail of Mt. Kakuda for a while. Then we just hiked up a tiny valley filled with Hepatica flowers. From there we ended up on a real trail again, hiked to the summit of Mt. Kakuda (482 meters = 1,580 feet), ate the lunch which we took with us, hiked down the trail to a Hot Spring at the base of the mountain, relaxed there for a couple of hours and then took a city bus back to Maki Station. We finally ended up back at Tsubame-Sanjou Station and took a night bus back to Tokyo. We didn't spend any money on hotels, we just slept on the bus. We also slept for about 5 hours after we got home on Saturday morning. The first shot in this row shows the beach where we started. We also visited here in 2009. At that time we hiked up the trail past the lighthouse shown in the 2nd shot. You can find the documentation of that trip HERE (new window). The 3rd shot is a Viola vaginata. |
 Apr15_MtKakuda _001_BeachAreaRC |
 Apr15_MtKakuda _002_BeachAreaRC |
 Apr15_MtKakuda_ 008_Viola_vaginataRC |
Here is the entire Viola vaginata plant in first position. In 2nd position is a beautiful Trout Lily (Erythronium japonicum) and in 3rd position is a Trillium (Trillium smallii).
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 April15th_Mt Kakuda003RC |
 Apr15_MtKakuda_018_ Erythronium_japonicumRC |
 Apr15_MtKakuda_023_ Trillium_smalliiRC |
Here is a closer shot of the flower of the Trillium (Trillium smallii). That is followed by 2 shots of the flower which we came here specifically to find - Hepatica (Hepatica nobilis var. japonica f. magna).
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 Apr15_MtKakuda_ 024_Trillium_smalliiRC |
 Apr15_MtKakuda _033_HepaticaRC |
 April15th_MtKakuda 012_HepaticaRC |
Here is a shot showing several Erythronium japonicum flowers and then a shot showing several Hepatica (Hepatica nobilis var. japonica f. magna) flowers in the same shot as several Erythronium japonicum flowers. The 3rd shot is exclusively Erythronium japonicum. We could not believe how many Erythronium japonicum occurred here! It was just Unbelievable.
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 Apr15_MtKakuda_042_ Erythronium_japonicumRC |
 April15th_Mt Kakuda017_HepaticaRC |
 April15th_MtKakuda025 _Erythronium_japonicumRC |
We also could not believe how many Hepatica nobilis var. japonica f. magna occurred here. And we could not believe how many colors of the rainbow they come in. When we visited here in 2009 we only found a very few of this flower - we had missed the peak of their flowering in 2009. This year we were here for the peak of the Hepatica flowers. Please forgive us if we show you several more of them.
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 Apr15_MtKakuda _046_HepaticaRC |
 Apr15_MtKakuda _054_HepaticaRC |
 Apr15_MtKakuda _058_HepaticaRC |
Here are 3 more shots of Hepatica nobilis var. japonica f. magna and the 3rd shot also exhibits a Trout Lily.
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 April15th_Mt Kakuda039_HepaticaRC |
 Apr15_MtKakuda _059_HepaticaRC |
 Apr15_MtKakuda _062_HepaticaRC |
And an additional 3 shots of Hepatica nobilis var. japonica f. magna. The 3rd shot shows an entire plant.
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 April15th_MtKakuda 070_HepaticaRC |
 Apr15_MtKakuda_ 071_HepaticaRC |
 April15th_MtKakuda 075_HepaticaRC |
And 3 more shots of Hepatica nobilis var. japonica f. magna. The 2nd shot gives you a hint of the amazing beauty which appeared before our eyes.
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 April15th_MtKakuda 072_HepaticaRC |
 April15th_MtKakuda 095_HepaticaRC |
 April15th_MtKakuda 092_HepaticaRC |
Are you amazed yet at what we saw on the side of this mountain?
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 Apr15_MtKakuda_ 077_HepaticaRC |
 Apr15_MtKakuda_ 087_HepaticaRC |
 April15th_MtKakuda 105_HepaticaRC |
We only saw one deep red flower in the wild area. On the opposite side of the mountain, near a Shrine where the monks had apparently planted seeds, there were several red flowered plants.
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 April15th_MtKakuda 128_HepaticaRC |
 April15th_MtKakuda 149_HepaticaRC |
 Apr15_MtKakuda_ 112_HepaticaRC |
In this row the center photo is identical to the one just above it (note MtKakuda149), but it has been manipulated into a collage showing several individual flowers in addition to that photo just above it.
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 April15th_MtKakuda 153_HepaticaRC |
 April15th_MtKakuda149 _Many_Hepatica_300RC |
 April15th_MtKakuda 180_HepaticaRC |
Here is the final Hepatica (Hepatica nobilis var. japonica f. magna) flower you'll see. At this point we ended up on the ridge and we continued on up to the summit. Please continue on to page 3 to see more amazing flower shots though.
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 April15th_MtKakuda 176_HepaticaRC |
 April15th_MtKakuda 190SceneryRC |
 April15th_MtKakuda 192SceneryRC |
| End Page 2, but April 15th continues on Page 3 |
| Thanks so much for taking the time to look at this page. Now, please go on to Page 3 for the continuation of today and also the continuation of this month's adventures. |
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