shinagawa waterside roaming : March 27 2025

thursday was spent from early morning. not at home nor in the office, i was out in the streets. it was for quite boring paper works really, but an important one. renewing a visa is important for a foreigner in another country. and so i got a day off of sorts.

and i ended up here. well, if you have been with me for the past days i am pretty sure you already knew that this was my best photo of the day. it was taken in an office building complex where the center portion was designated as a relaxation space. office work harbor so much stress, and i am glad the architects designed this breather area filled with trees and plants landscaped in a beautiful park.

and sakura is present yet again. this season is really meant for these flowers. i was really just passing by on a walkway in the second floor which connected two buildings. the cherry blossoms at the park below were just so full that i took a picture. other people also started taking pictures, as if their blinders were taken off and have just now realized how beautiful they were. or probably they were just too shy to stop by and take pictures, but now upon seeing me there and snapping they now have company. i'm not taking credit though, but let me share how my day went.

Shinagawa Station (品川駅)

it all started at this dystopian feeling station where it seems everyone was just so robotic walking in unison to the exit. this is how i feel whenever i pass this path. it was probably before 10 am and i was searching for the bus to the immigration building. little did i know that the bus stop location was transferred, so i was kind of panicking at that time searching for the new bus stop location from an unclear direction on a warning sign. it was not the best feeling at such an early time. i made it to the stop but my sweat started dripping.

about this station, i featured this in my yamanote train line series and you can probably read more of it from below.

nostalgic sections of the yamanote : November 15 2024

Konano Bridge (港南大橋)

after hours and hours of queueing at the immigration, i finally was done and could finally breathe some air outside. i decided to have some stroll, perfect since i was in the part of town i usually am not familiar with. in the past, i just rode on a bus to and from the immigration office.

first up was this bridge which i was really unsure whether walking on it was possible. at first i only saw the roads for vehicles, nothing for people who only ride on their shoes. but wouldn't it be weird for a bridge to not have foot paths? (oh never mind, some bridges back home in the philippines do not have foot paths.) so here i am finding a way up and yes i did.

from up the bridge, i was quite disappointed to see nothing extraordinary. it was just full of factories. but here we have boats parked on the sides. a bigger bridge will have boats in it.

just at the foot was this train tracks. i was honestly surprised at how high it was up there. by the way, i am quite unsure if that english name is correct. 港南 - reads as konan and 大橋 - reads as ohashi but means big or large bridge, so i am perplexed how it got into konano bridge.

Kōnan Ryokusui Park (港南緑水公園)

it was definitely closer to go straight from the park to reach shinagawa station, but then i was not there to be swift but to explore the area some more. i turned left and took a longer route. that led me to this park which was adjacent to a monorail track.

this park was rather new, opened in 2012. it was wide, and very airy. i think it was a great venue for viewing the night sky, nothing to obstruct the stars and the moon. in other seasons those trees would surely have leaves and i wonder how it will look by then, it would surely be a new experience. i finally found a bench and got to eat my packed onigiri (japanese riceball) for lunch.

the park's website was very correct when it mentioned that people can play any sport they want in this wide field. two duos were in the grassy field playing football. a father and son combo was doing long and far kicks, while the childhood buddies were having tricks.

Tennozu Fureai Bridge (天王洲ふれあい橋)

by this point i was kind of lost, i couldn't see any bridge in google maps but it told me to cross the waterways. so how? just followed the route suggestion thinking of the many possible ways to cross the water which includes as crude as swimming. a water gate was even there protecting the canal.

and here was a bridge indeed. it was a foot path, too small for vehicles. it may be for foot but just look at those framework, very pretty and very much comparable to large scale bridges. aside from this beauty, the area was also full of waterside restaurants, seemed like a trendy hotspot for date nights.

Rakusui Bridge (楽水橋)

first came into view was this tiny statues of birds. it was beside a sand park where a father son combo was playing catch ball. the ambiance in this side of the water was more relaxed, full of benches.

and here was the final bridge crossed that day. this was just a simple one, but brightly painted. by this time the sun was really getting hotter, it was past noon time and people were getting back to their offices from lunch.

and this was how the water looked from above that bridge. one time i saw a fish jumping from the waters. i really had no clue why so i looked closely. and then there was a man with a fish rod. i guess he was the cause of the jumping fish. for a second i thought that it was a salmon jumping upstream just like those shown in wildlife videos on youtube.

and that led me back to the office complex near the station. this was the same complex where the first two pictures of this post was taken. i was back at the station and with nothing else to do, i decided to head back home and shortened my leave to a half day instead. was this dedication? nah, it was probably boredom.

as always, AMPING KANUNAY!