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Friday, February 10, 2012

Narcissus at Chihaya-akasaka Village



Chihaya-akasaka Village is only one village in urbanized Osaka Prefecture with the population of about 6700 people.   It is located in the mountains of the Kongo-zan (1125meters high).  On the terraces at the hillside, about 50,000 narcissus bloom from mid-January to February.




 

Not only flowers but also blades are beautiful in the light.




Although many were laid down by the wind storm of the previous night, they were still radiating sweet fragrance.
 



 

Dark green blades and white faces were shining bright in the sun.   In spite of the very cold air, I wondered if it was winter or spring. 






This is "rural Osaka" in urbanized Osaka Prefecture.  Traditional Japanese countryside is preserved just an hour drive away from busy Osaka City.   The winding paths run through trees, terraced rice paddies, and  houses.




A general Kusunoki Masashige (1294-1336) was born in this village.  He took Imperial orders from Emperor Go-Daigo and raised an army at Shimo-Akasaka Castle. He is affectionately called as “Nanko-san”.  The monument, The Birth Place of Nanko, was built by Okubo Toshimichi in 1878.  The momument is under the gigantic camphor trees as his name “Kusunoki/楠” means “camphor”.
 

If you are interested, please have a visit to Narcissus Fields at Nada-kuroiwa in Awaji-shima Island  where 5,000,000 narcissus bloom one after another on the mountain slopes facing the Pacific Ocean.

49 comments:

  1. Mami adora flores e eu adoro ter amiguinhos por isso venho apresentar-me
    Eu sou uma gatinha que foi adoptado e tive a sorte de ter uma mãe que me dá muito amor e que me deu nome Kika
    Como eu amo ter amigos venho convida-te para seres minha amiga, lá vais encontrar outros amigos que já conheces, eles também são meus amigos.A semana passada completei 500 seguidores,ou seja ,amiguinhos!
    No dia 24 de Janeiro, fiz 500 seguidores resolvi fazer uma brincadeira ..um sorteio de fotografia, vossas(só animais) mas só duma parte do corpo "por isso o nome do sorteio tem nome de esconde esconde"
    Gostava de os ter no meu sorteio e como amigas ou (os)
    Fico esperando as vossas fotos e visita
    Turrinhas carinhosas miaumiau

    Kika♥♥♥

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  2. Hi,Stardust.

    大阪の郊外にこのような村が、まだあるのですか!?前日の風で沢山のスイセンが倒れてるのは少し痛ましいけれど、ここには一足早く春が来てるようですね。12番目の写真がとても好きです。美しい村ですね。このまま保存され続けて欲しいです。

    Tomoko

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  3. What a pretty twisting road running through this urbanized little town. It looks so peaceful there. And the large tree with its huge branches hanging over the monument would give passersby a lot of shade in the hotter weather. Little blades of flowers are developing all over my area, too, but I have spotted no narcissus faces yet. Thanks as always for sharing your world, stardust. :) Hope you are having a wonderful week!

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  4. Absolutely wonderful.
    I find myself looking forward to your new posts and I am never disappointed.
    And the new page look is great. I love the way we can click in your sidebar and go back to other posts to take a second look.

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  5. My narcissus won't show their pretty faces until sometime in March, I remember your past lovely post of the 5,000,000 that bloom in Narcissus Fields at Nada-kuroiwa, a most impressive place to visit. The winding path through the trees and terraced rice paddies in "rural Osaka" is very picturesque, Yoko and I imagine even more so in a few weeks, with the 'greening' of Spring!

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  6. Zobaczyć tyle naraz narcyzy, to niesamowite. Widok zapiera dech w piersiach. Szkoda, ze to tak bardzo daleko. Pozdrawiam serdecznie. *** See so many at once narcissi, it's amazing. View is breathtaking. Shame it's so far away. Best regards.

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  7. J feel like spring, but unfortunately I still snow falls.
    What beautiful pictures, thanks!
    Ciao
    Loretta

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  8. It looks positively springlike with those glorious fields of flowers!

    Such artistry and beauty in your photos.

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  9. Wow how pretty! Love those!
    Happy weekend.

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  10. Greetings from Ireland.

    Have enjoyed your blog very much and will be back again to visit.

    I love the wonderful photographs you have produced.

    Fiona x

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  11. Stardust!! Thank you for stopping by. I am now a follower. Your photography is gorgeous. Beautiful shots and like you, I am fascinated by other places....yours is truly spectacular. Have a good weekend and I look forward to your art and writing. Chris

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  12. I adore narcissus because they are very pretty but also because they mean Spring! I am longing for warmer days and February is always a fierce month in Western Europe!
    Thank you for these lovely photos with the sunshine as well!

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  13. That is a very pretty flower, lovely shots. We have lots of white here too, but it's the frozen kind!

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  14. Hi Yoko
    I enjoyed the first sign of spring in the narcissus flowers and also the glimpse of rural Japan in your area of Osaka.
    I took your link to the amazing slopes of Awaji-shima Island...what an amazing sight...
    when I opened your post today I could smell the narcissus....do they have a perfume? or am I just remembering the scent of spring...

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  15. Their quiet beauty reminds me of Greek myth. Air is so cold, but your photos tell me they are the harbinger of spring.
    When I was an elementary school kid, I read a lot of books on 大南公 and the tagedic loyalty of farer and son towards the emperor.
    I feel I must visit this place! Stunning photos!
    keiko

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  16. A little breath of springtime comes floating down into our cold midwinter. It will be a while till we have flowers in bloom, apart from the courageous little snowdrops, but spring will come, spring will come...

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  17. Wow. How beautiful. Have a great weekend. :)

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  18. I have been to Narcissus Fields at Nada-Kuroiwa in Awaji-shima island that you say. Narcissus filled on all a whole hill.
    But these narcissus in Chihaya-Akasaka are fresh. I didn't know them. I like the first photo.

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  19. まだ冷たい気温のなか、すっくと立つ水仙は気品を感じさせます。去年の水仙卿のpostとても印象的でした。今回の水仙も誇り高く咲いていて素敵です。大阪の水仙卿、近いのに知りませんでした。

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  20. I loved this post, Yoko :) What a lovely sight to see all the narcissuses. They look so pretty, and your photos are excellent.
    Here it is still winter, and I will have to wait untill April for the narcissuses to appear in my garden.

    Hope you are having a wonderful weekend :)

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  21. Great shots! Beautiful pictures!
    Have a nice weekend
    Yvonne & Raphael

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  22. Hello Yoko, I have put a TAG on your blog from my post.
    Please have a look and hope you will join in. DeeBee

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  23. I have just discovered your wonderful blog. Beautiful pictures if your country. Your lovely photos of narcissis reminds me of spring. It is very interesting to see photos from Japan, a country I dont know so well. Greetings from Norway.

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  24. I'm sure I have never seen so many narcissus blooms in one place! Beautiful!

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  25. How nice to see your flowers, while here the world is dormant. It is beautiful to see these in such profusion.

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  26. Yes, I want to visit narcissus fields.

    Greetings from Spain

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  27. 5Million? What a sight that must be!
    Wonderful.

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  28. Gostei imenso do seu blogue. Tem uma grande diversidade de imagens. Flores, frutos ,paisagens fantásticas e muita informação.
    Bom fim de semana.

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  29. los narcisos acá se dan muy bien,en mi jardín tengo un buen sector con narcisos,son muy agradables a la vista
    saludos desde la patagonia

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  30. What a beautiful setting. The fields with the fresh white blooming flowers are a sight to behold.
    The sweet fragrance must be really something.
    Reminds me a bit of the Himalayas.
    Always a pleasure to visit your blog, have a wonderful Sunday:)

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  31. What a beautiful flowers. I was so surprised to see that place like this still exists so close to the busy city like Osaka. I am so glad that you have shard with all of us. I would love to visit some day...

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  32. How beautiful this fields are. Wish I could step on my bike and see it myself.
    Have a lovely sunday Yoko.
    gr. Marijke

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  33. How beautiful. Narcissus are among my favourite flowers because they mean that Spring is on the way. They don't bloom in England till March although I have a pot of indoor ones on my table right now. The scent is very special.

    The village looks beautiful, is it consciously preserved or just remained that way? It's a shame that modern building is often so ugly whereas traditional building is so beautiful.

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  34. I think I might like Narcissus Fields at Nada-kuroiwa even better because they overlook the ocean, and ocean and flowers are two of the elements which I like the best.

    I do hope to come to Japan in the next 18 months or so after my book is translated there, and when I do I will look at your blog and make a note of some of the things which I would like to see during my visit. You mention such interesting things and your blog is the first one which opened my eyes to how many fascinating and unusual things there are in Japan.

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  35. Gorgeous photos of the fields of narcissus. It is so beautiful, wish I could visit.
    Thanks for sharing.
    Have a beautiful Sunday.
    Greetings Mette

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  36. Jenny – Regarding Chihaya-akasaka Village, local people’s conscious efforts to preserve have maintained the village as it is. To boost the local economy, locals have taken care of narcissus or opened a small market selling local products. Of course, we strolled the hill of narcissus for free, and on our way back we couldn't resist buying tangerines and other fresh vegetables at the market where we could park our car.

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  37. Ahhhh.. those narcissus must mean that spring is not far away! My mother would call those flowers jonquils.

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  38. 千早赤坂村の名前は知っていましたが、こういう所なんですね。地元の人達の保存、繁栄への模索の努力は大変なものでしょうが、それが実ってきているのでしょう。
    水仙の写真、ほんとに素敵です。最初の写真が特に好きです。やさしい光があふれて、心の内から希望が満ちてくるようです。

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  39. All those flowers blooming must be quite a wonderful thing to look forward to at this often dull time of year. Thank you for these beautiful pictures.

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  40. Another of your delightful posts. I'm not sure how to express what I feel about the traditional Japanese village in the rural areas...but they feel comfortable and warm and I think would be easy to live in.

    The narcissus make me want to break into the song from "The Sound of Music," about hills coming alive!

    They are beautiful!

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  41. Wow, such a beautiful place.
    I wich I could see it with my own eyes.

    Wich you a nice day.

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  42. I just can imagine how wonderful it must be to view so many narcissus – they are very pretty and their fragrance is so sweet. Spring is around the corner when narcissus are blooming like this.

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  43. Wonderful pictures!
    Greetings from Switzerland
    Angela

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  44. The feeling I have after seeing all these beautiful pictures is that Chihaya-akasaka village is a magic place. I don't know if it's because of the unreal narcissus already bloomed, because of the sleepy forest on the mountains or because of the gigantic camphor trees I can only guess, which remind me a lot of Totoro's tree...
    Thank you for this fresh and fragrant breath of spring, Yoko!

    My dream and wish is to live to the countryside and I promised myself that when I get there, I will plant in my courtyard all my favourites trees. And even though I don't think they can endure our climate, I like to dream of having japanese maple, ginkgo and camphor trees as well. :)

    Have a good weekend and warm days ahead!

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  45. Hello, stardust.

      Attractive works.
      You are the excellent artist.

      I thank for your usual and hearty support.
      And i pray for you and yours peace.
      
    ruma

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  46. 水仙はまだ寒い時期から咲く花ですね。その為か、可憐なその姿にも何かこだわりを持つ強い意志が感じられて、不思議な花に思えます。でも皆で寄り添って凛と立つ姿は、寒さから身を守るすべも知っているようですね。この寒さの中にも春はそこまで来ているようです。気温差が大きいですね、どうぞご自愛くださいませ。

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  47. you seem to love a lot flowers...really great entry! Holland (where I live now)is a real flowerland in spring!

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  48. Ooo my dear friend Yoco,
    So many Narkissus!!!
    Wonderful place and fantastic photos!!!
    Smell beautiful until here!!!
    Many greetings and kisses

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