Date & Time: Friday, January 17, 2025, 9:20 a.m. – 2:05 p.m.
Spot: Azumayama-Park in walking distance of JR Ninomiya Station
Visitors: Nine parents of Saint Maur International School*1 students (eight women and one man), five from Mexico, one each from Canada, England, India and Japan.
Guides: Fumie, Kazue, Masanori and Setsuko, KSGG
Language: English
It was a clear and sunny day, perfect for hiking, when guides showed visitors around Azumayama Park at an elevation of 136m. The park, famous for a splendid view of Mt. Fuji and about 60,000 blossoms of Nanohana (Canola) alike, is in Ninomiya Town in the western part of Kanagawa Prefecture.
The young visitors often go out with their children but rarely enjoy outings for themselves because of having to give their attentions to their children. This hiking was a great sport to release their daily stresses. They showed elated looks from the very start. They flew up some 300 steps of concrete stairs on the way to the park. They talked and talked to each other about child-raising, everyday life and everything else.
Seeing clearly snowcapped Mt. Fuji at the top of the park, they broke out cheering. The blossoms of Nanohana were in three-tenths bloom, blooming later than usual, but were wondrously beautiful. The visitors took group photos with Mt. Fuji and Nanohana in the background and enjoyed photography freely.
The Visitors and the guides ate their own picnic lunches brought, sitting down on benches or plastic sheets and making lunchtime pleasant with conversation. After lunch they had a quiz time. A guide gave the visitors some questions about Ninomiya Town and Azumayama Park. In the morning, another guide had humorously provided the information on the spots above. So, they correctly answered nearly all quizzes. As the prize of the quiz, the visitors delightedly received beautiful picture cards of Mt. Fuji, taken by a person in his 90s who visits the park almost every day.
In the meantime, a guide brought an Ukiyo-e printed file, which was a prize to a winner of rock-paper-scissors game. Then one visitor from Mexico suggested playing “Disparejo”, a play like rock-paper-scissors in Mexico. Players of Disparejo first wave their hands and then raise their thumbs up or down. When the number of up-thumbs are smaller than that of down-thumbs, up-thumbs win, and vice versa. The visitors were mighty pleased to play Disparejo, which was a very interesting opportunity to know about a different culture for the guides.
The pleasant time flew by so fast, and it was time for the visitors to leave to go to pick up their children at Saint Maur. At the end, they enjoyed going down the 102m long slide, soaking in the fun atmosphere of being a kid again. On the rushed way back, they said in satisfaction, “Very happy to see Mt. Fuji.”, “I wear climbing boots and an anorak. But it was easier to climb Mt. Azuma than expected.”, “I will come back here with my family in the season of cherry blossoms.” and such.
The extensive sloping lawn at the top of Azumayama Park was uncrowded and quiet with majestic views of Mt. Fuji, Sagami Bay and Nanohana blossoms. Azumayama Park is an excellent spot for relieving one’s stress when it is a fine day. All visitors seemed to refresh their minds and bodies through this hiking, carrying natural smiles.
*1 Saint Maur International School in Yokohama is the oldest international school in Asia as well as in Japan.
