In Tachikawa was a rather large park, so large that they we had to pay money to get into the bloody place! The park is called Showa Kinen Park- Showa is the era that saw the reign of Emperor Hirohito and Kinen is peace. So the park is a wish for peace- so I think that explains the odd steamy looking place that I captured on film up above. Actually it was a cold mist, and is a great idea on a hot summer's day!
There were actually quite a few photo opportunities around the park, so I had to wade through a few pics, the view of the pond and the green scenery always wins out, not only for my pic, but also Ritsy's...
And what pay-for-use park isn't complete without a very large tree somewhere inside.
All joking aside, the park was a beautiful and very large and was a good place to go to sometimes. It was especially amazing around Cherry Blossom time as the entire place was packed and the sakura were everywhere!Top Gun
Also near the place that I was living was the U.S. army base, Yokota. We weren't in the path of the sounds of the planes but could often see them running their drills pretty close, and I remember being treated to a fireworks show that year's July 4th. Well once a year they open up their gates and people can come in and enjoy the friendship between America and Japan. This was the year after September 11th and I was pretty surprised that the security on entering was a lot more lax than I expected. Of course I know that I don't really look like a threat, but what if I were an actor that had been Valmorphisized?
I was able to sit in the cockpit of one of their helicopters. Naturally, in my mind I was reliving a Star Wars scene ("don't get all cocky kid").
We had a good time that day, but I remember getting seriously sunburnt and then Ritsy and I had our faces stuck together for some reason.
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