parks

A sign with the heading “Hida-Kiso River / Nationally Designated Park.”

A view of autumn foliage in a small well maintained park with a pond.

A small sports ground with a few cherry trees in blossom at its edge.

A small sports ground with a few cherry trees in blossom at its edge.

A bicycle with rear panniers parked in front of a traffic island inside a parking lot. A bush grows in the traffic island, and a sign peeks out of the bush reading (in English translation) “Number Five Parking Lot”. To the left of the traffic island a sign in Japanese asks drivers to turn off their engines when parked.

Two buses stand in a parking lot. On the side of one, the operator’s name Biwa Kankou (Biwa Tourism) is written (for Lake Biwa, lying to the north and east of Kyoto).

A white, lifesize statue of a cow, but with the hindquarters in the shape of a box of milk with milk pouring from its spout.

Shingle-roofed cabins embedded in cedar forest.

Short logs of one meter or so are stacked in rows under a canopy of trees. The white spots where plugs with mushroom spores have been driven in are visible on the logs.

A wooden sign reading (in translation): “Family Rental Bicycle (literally ‘rider-propelled vehicle’) Path”