parks

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”

Four-wheeled pedal-powered carriages parked in a lot. The vehicles are in various colors and configurations, but all have two seats for adult riders and one or more child seats mounted somewhere on the frame.

The sign at the gate of Hamamatsu Garden Park, reading: “Welcome! 浜名湖カーデンパーク” and stating the opening hours of the parks to be 8:30am to 5:00pm, and giving the phone number of the administrative office.