It's Autumn in Japan!
Okay, I was supposed to post this last month but I got so busy I totally didn't have time to complete the post.
In Tokyo, there are so many places to go to see the majestic Autumn scenery, and my friends and I decided to go to Showa Memorial Park.
Showa Memorial Park (国営昭和記念公園) is short for Showa Commemorative National Government Park. It opened in Oct 1983 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Emperor Showa. It's the largest park in Tokyo where you could see and enjoy a lot of things! Walking in this park may be so tiring but walking with Gingko trees all around you and yellow leaves as carpet on the path feels magical that you can't help but put a smile on your face.
source: Showa Kinen Park official website
It was a Saturday when we went to the park. My friends and I met at Ogikubo station and from there, it would take us around 29 mins to reach the park gate. That day, there was a train delay so we traveled for almost an hour. Not to mention, the train was so full you can hardly move your hands to get your phone from your pocket.
When we reached the park, there were already a lot of people but since it's so wide and spacious, there's still an area wide enough for people not to run into each other.
We entered via the Nishi Tachikawa gate and from there, we can witness the lake and the people renting swan boats and normal boats. They're freely enjoying the scenery. I even saw one painting the scene! Too bad, I was too shy to ask a photo of him painting.
There are currently so many gates to enter the park but I guess the famous one is where we entered: the Nishi Tachikawa gate found outside the Nishi Tachikawa station.
Not all trees have changed its color and since we were tired of seeing red colors from our trip the week ago before this, we decided to pay a visit to the Gingko Avenue to see a different color of Autumn. There were actually 2 but we first went to the one near Tachikawa gate.
You could also reach the park from Tachikawa station but you have to walk for around 5-10 minutes to reach the Tachikawa gate of the park.
On the way, we passed by a bridge with dried up river. It's kinda weird because I couldn't remember if there was water in this bridge when I went to this park a year ago.
We reached the Gingko Avenue after around 5-10 minutes of walking. Many people were enjoying the view. I mean, it's so yellow! And I also wore yellow. LOL It was fine to wear T-shirt that day because it suddenly got warmer.
As usual, the scent of these Gingko trees was not that pleasant but they look so lovely we couldn't stop enjoying taking pictures. I even saw some people lying down the grass fields with the yellow leaves on it.
Usually I just enjoy the view, take photos of it but my friends kept insisting to take photos of ourselves so here's the photos my friends took of me.
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One could choose to go along the right or left path. We went to both. 😅 There were less people on the other side so it's kinda good for some shameless pictorials.
Not all leaves have turned yellow though on the other side. Some still showed green leaves, about to turn to yellow. Still it's kinda interesting to look at them.
At the end of the trail, there's a big fountain which some kids enjoyed. There were more kids than usual that time because there seems to be a day camp where kids get to enjoy playing and learning with some foreigners. Probably an English camp, but not sure. I've been to an English camp before but it was held overnight in some faraway town.
And one more look at the Gingko Avenue before we left for another place.
There were a few food trucks and we decided to grab a bite since it was already noon. It wasn't a heavy meal but just a little pikapika. I had yakisoba though, which I wouldn't recommend. I can cook a better one. There were a lot of huge mochi in sticks though, and they looked so delicious. I guess I was too busy eating that I forgot to take a photo of it!
We continued walking around the park and just exploring. We noticed there were some mini buses taking passengers. I guess those buses will take you around the park.
There were also a lot of people riding bicycles but they have their own bicycle lane so they won't bother the people walking. Actually, there's a bicycle rental shop just near the gate but we didn't bother. We're planning to walk and take photos. If you're here to visit the entire park, I suggest you rent a bicycle.
You could also ride the boats which seems therapeutic and romantic for couples. We didn't though, but I wanted to do it. While some people were busy being romantic in the water, some people were enjoying their time in the shade. I think if I'll come back here alone, I would probably do the same - read a book sitting under the trees.
More adventures and we came to a bridge that seems like a maze. The water was muddy but we found a very big fish (or was that a koi?) in it.
We're not lost! I repeat, we're not lost. On the way to the other Gingko Avenue, we have seen a lot of interesting things including this herb garden but I couldn't see one herb that's alive.
We've reached the other Gingko Avenue which it's kinda famous for its illumination at night. People had to line up to take their turn using the reflection thingy that will show the beauty of the Gingko trees. It's hard to describe it so I hope you would get what I meant.
There were benches everywhere so we just stayed there and chill while waiting for our other friends to come. While we were there, we were just observing a game played by the ojisans and watching people passing by and taking photos.
Behind the bench where we were seated was the barbeque area so we were so full from the aroma of the barbeque while sitting there. We wanted to do barbeque too but the staff told us it was only for people who had reservations. No walk-in customers. So much for an impromptu barbeque afternoon.
Near this area lies different areas where you could rent for doing sports. The ojisans earlier were doing some sport but there were also some kids busy enjoying their time.
When the group was complete, we decided to go around the park for a bit and looked for a place to eat. Some of my friends haven't eaten their lunch yet.
I don't know what happened but that was it. We wanted to go to the Japanese garden but we weren't able to go because we had to leave already. I realized we spent more than an hour sitting, eating, and catching up that we had forgotten to roam around the park. It's okay though, we could go another day but the time spent with these people was more precious.
Here's a very short video of my autumn adventure in Showa Kinen Koen.
Hope you enjoyed the tour of Showa Kinen Park! I'll probably post more about this park in the future when I visit the place again. There are still so many areas in the park that I haven't explored.
Thanks for reading!
See you around! じゃあ、またね！
All photos are taken using my phone unless stated otherwise.