Japan is pretty well know for its public works projects, what we in the US might call "pork-barrel projects" -- helping the legislator's local community with construction projects that are often not necessary. Niigata has its fair share of these, with a former Prime Minister of Japan, Kakuei Tanaka, from this area of Niigata -- a man The Economist once called, "that paragon of post-war corruption". Well, thanks to someone at least, this off-the-radar area of the country, mostly known for its delicious rice and heavy snowfall in winter, has two stops on the shinkansen bullet train to Tokyo and an international university right out in the middle of a rice field. We also have some beautiful parks! So enough about politics... let's enjoy what we have :)
Wednesday we spent a few hours at a park in Muikamachi (Yukari's hometown) next to the city building where the playgroup meets (see her post below). The day before we bought a hat for Ian, since he has rubbed off most of the hair on his head, and we didn't want him to get a sunburn. I am pretty tired of seeing every kid in the world wearing a baseball cap, so my rule was anything but a ball cap! Luke emphatically said at the time that he didn't want a hat, but shortly after we left the store, he changed his mind... How old are you? Oh, that's right, terrible two! So we returned and bought him the identical hat as Ian's -- though I notice that Luke likes to turn the brim of his hat up a bit on the sides, somewhat like a fedora, just to be different.
Yukari and I came to this park years ago, and I vaguely recall filling out health insurance forms for travel here at that time -- maybe before a trip to Indonesia? Anyway, I don't remember the park being this interesting and elaborate. There is an expansive pond with an area for viewing and feeding koi (see Yukari's post last month), a fountain in the middle of the pond, a pagoda at the top of a hill, a bridge, beautiful red Japanese maple trees, and a replica of an old style tea ceremony house complete with a stone lantern (ishidoro) and rock path to the pond. We really had a wonderful time as a family today, and I expect we'll be back at this park many times over the course of the next month. Thanks, pork-barrel politicians!
Wednesday we spent a few hours at a park in Muikamachi (Yukari's hometown) next to the city building where the playgroup meets (see her post below). The day before we bought a hat for Ian, since he has rubbed off most of the hair on his head, and we didn't want him to get a sunburn. I am pretty tired of seeing every kid in the world wearing a baseball cap, so my rule was anything but a ball cap! Luke emphatically said at the time that he didn't want a hat, but shortly after we left the store, he changed his mind... How old are you? Oh, that's right, terrible two! So we returned and bought him the identical hat as Ian's -- though I notice that Luke likes to turn the brim of his hat up a bit on the sides, somewhat like a fedora, just to be different.
Yukari and I came to this park years ago, and I vaguely recall filling out health insurance forms for travel here at that time -- maybe before a trip to Indonesia? Anyway, I don't remember the park being this interesting and elaborate. There is an expansive pond with an area for viewing and feeding koi (see Yukari's post last month), a fountain in the middle of the pond, a pagoda at the top of a hill, a bridge, beautiful red Japanese maple trees, and a replica of an old style tea ceremony house complete with a stone lantern (ishidoro) and rock path to the pond. We really had a wonderful time as a family today, and I expect we'll be back at this park many times over the course of the next month. Thanks, pork-barrel politicians!
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