The blue sea of Nemophila by the Sea of Osaka

 Nemophilla Festival was held for the first time this year at Osaka Maishima Seaside Park 

located right in front of the Osaka Bay.

In 2014, I posted about flowering lilies at this place. 

(Flowering lilies by the sea at Maishima Island)

Unfortunately the lilies got salt damage extensively caused by the typhoon 24 of the last autumn.

 Nemophilla replaced them this year.

The blue sea of Nemophila by the sea of Osaka.

 Nemophilla reminded me of “Sky-blue Flowers” by Misuzu Kaneko 

when I saw them for the first time in 2011.

I posted this post, Sky-blue Flowers - World of Misuzu Kaneko

Sky-Blue Flowers

(Misuzu Kaneko/translated by D.P.Dutcher)

Listen close, you little flowers,

Color of the blue, blue sky.

Around here there used to be

A pretty black-eyed girl,

Always looking at the sky

Like I was just doing now.

Dawn to dusk the blue sky

Shining in her eyes,

They turned one day to little flowers

That even now watch the sky.

If what I say is right, why,

Flowers, you must know

More about the real true sky

Than wise professors do.

I’m always looking at the sky

And thinking lots and lots

But what’s real and true I don’t know.

I bet you see it all and do.

Wise flowers don’t say a thing,

Just keep looking at the sky.

Those blue eyes, sky-dyed,

Still aren’t tired of watching.

(Original Japanese  空色の花　here)

The wise sky-dyed flowers don't standout when with other flowers,
letting others draw attention.
still keeping their uniqueness and originality.

A Mascot Character, Nemo-mew

Millions of Nemophila bloom from late-April to mid-May

as far as the eye can see.

The blue colors of the sky, the sea, and Nemophilla,

each blueness enhances the hues of one another.

Amagasaki, Nishinomiya, and Kobe Cities are spreading beyond the sea, 

surrounding the Osaka Bay.

Maishima, one of the three man-mad islands in the Sea of Osaka, 

is a possible site for the proposed casino development.

As it is called Sports Island, there are stadiums for baseball and football,
 tennis courts, playing grounds, sites for auto camping and barbecuing, etc. 

I’m not sure if such a place like casino is necessary to boost the place.

Linked to Mosaic Monday

Flowering lilies by the sea at Maishima Island

In the late afternoon glow

A very large plot of land about 50,000 meter-square on Maishima Island is covered by about two million lilies from early-June to early-July.  Since it is hot and humid on a sunny day during the rainy season, I entered the lily garden around 5 p.m. and stayed till 7 p.m.  Because of the location, right beside the sea, sea breeze was comfortable.  What I saw was shimmering indigo-blue sea, clear blue sky, and lilies of various colors and species.

Konohana Bridge





At around 7:00 p.m., the sun was setting behind the mountains across the bay but big container ships were still busily passing by.  Incidantally today's sunset time is 7:13 in Osaka.

Maishima is a man-made island located in Osaka Bay. It was included in the candidate sites when Osaka had aimed to bid for Olympics but at that time I didn't know what it was like except for two things: one is the huge waste treatment plant with unique architectural appearance which looks like the work of Dali, and the other is as a site for Summer Sonic, one of the best rock festivals in Japan, which is held in Maishima every summer along with Makuhari.   On my first visit to the island I learned about the wide range of opportunities of sporting such as tennis courts, football stadium (base for Cerezo Osaka), baseball stadisum, indoor athletic field, spacious open dog-runs, racing circuits, barbecue garden, and so on.  I understood why it was called Maishima Sports Island in English.