Several weekends ago, we were going to take a short trip outside of Tokyo to enjoy the fall colors. As we approached the platform, we were notified the rapid service train we needed to take to our destination was out of service. So…we changed our plans, hopped on a different train and decided to get off at a random station. Our randomly chosen location was Tachikawa City. We had no idea if there was anything to good see, so we just walked away from the station and hoped we would stumble on something interesting. After about 15 minutes, we saw an entrance for Showa Kinen Park. We paid the 400 yen entrance fee (approximately $4.50 USD) and hoped for the best!
After we walked through the entrance gates, we were pleasantly greeted with this…
Showa Kinen Park is 400+ acres of nature and beauty!
An ekiden was taking place in the park, so we enjoyed watching some of the action…
An ekiden is long distance relay race (and they are very popular in Japan). If you looks in the photos below, you will notice everyone is wearing a cloth sash or tasuki. The sash is used like a baton, which is passed from runner to runner.
by beth
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