Springtime in a new park

Lucinda and Arno had their spring vacation a few weeks ago, and we were looking for new things to do. One new find was Showa Kinen, a vast park in Tachikawa in western Tokyo, that had gorgeous flowering trees, with blossoms just emerging, and very cool play equipment for children.

You can take a train from Shinjuku Station to Nishi-Tachikawa; my friend Laurie drove us and her children for about an hour on the highway, past Chofu, where the American School in Japan's big campus is.

This is the modern entryway. Tickets are cheap: only 400 yen ($4) for adults and 80 yen ($0.80) for children age 6+. That's only $5 for the three of us!


Central Tokyo, where we live, is mostly roads and buildings packed together, with fairly small parks and playgrounds. So it was a treat to see wide-open spaces with lawns you can run around on -- very rare in Tokyo! The children found a hill and decided to roll down it.


You can rent bikes there and there's a "train" that goes on the paved path around a lake, but we walked from place to place. Many adults, including several elderly people, were on the lookout for spring flowers. This weekend is the official high point of the Tokyo sakura (cherry blossom) season, and we saw plenty of flowers and color.





Then we started to come to the children's attractions: a big playground with bridges and passageways that Arno and his friend Max turned into a pirate ship, and a fun seesaw.


We marched through a non-narcotic poppy field...


...to the "rainbow hammocks," which Arno and Max called "Spiderman's webs." The children hurled themselves onto it and climbed and jumped for a half hour.


After a picnic lunch, we found a prime attraction: the "Bouncing Dome" giant trampoline that looked more like a moonscape. It's very sturdy, rubberized white canvas that's quite bouncy and everyone removes their shoes, so it's quite clean. At the top of each peak, there's a particularly bouncy patch.


At a smaller moonscape, I took this photo of our hair-flying group.


Next up: Dragons to climb on...


...and the "dragon's lair" rock maze (which did not prevent Laurie from checking her Blackberry).


And finally, quite tasty soft ice cream - I had the sakura (cherry blossom) flavor, while the children had choco-vanilla swirl.


Showa Kinen went on and on and on - and we didn't even experience the waterslides and summertime activities. We'll have to go back on a weekday this summer.