New Header Image: Wooden Posts

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 22:05:35 +0000

It’s been a long time since I updated the header image - about 9 months in fact, so I decided it was time for a change. Nothing amazing, as usual, but I thought I’d keep with images from out and about the local area. This one was from a local children’s play park, where they have a trellis on supports over a seating area. The steel supports have these wooden post sections bolted to them for cosmetic reasons, and you can see here, they don’t touch the ground any more, meaning there’s a quirky look and a nice texture.

The image was taken on my Nikon D3200 on the 35mm lens at the slightly silly 24MP, but cropped all the way down - that’s a benefit of lots of pixels - cropping becomes a lot simpler.

Satoyama Koen

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 15:14:05 +0000

I thought I’d write a few practical posts here when possible of good places and parks for people with children around Kanto to go for a bit of a day out, since I’m kind of in that market at the moment. First up: Satoyama Koen, primarily aimed at children. Even though it’s ‘in Chigasaki’ it’s not too close to the station - more of a car or bike journey. There seems to be ample parking for both.

As you can see from the link, it’s quite spacious. The main attractions are: a huge roller slide, a smaller but still long roller slide for smaller children, a stream and pool for children to paddle, all concreted and quite clean. There’s also the usual jungle gyms and a large bouncy mountain. It’s quite spacious, meaning there’s plenty of walking space, woodland and open grass. Frisbee, ball sports and bicycle practice seem popular. When we went the ages of the children was roughly up to ten years old and everyone was very friendly, so everyone got a go on most things.

As the slides are rollers, many people brought bits of cardboard to slide on, which was a good idea. My well padded posterior was burning halfway down, so we invested 500yen in a plastic tray sold for the purpose at the nearby park centre.

Having a picnic seemed popular in the summer, but the only food on site is ice cream and snacks from vending machines, so it’s a walk to a convenience store if you didn’t bring anything. The same vending machines sell a selection of drinks (including Mountain Dew!), though many may not appeal to children ironically. As with all vending machines, these will be rotated by season.

It’s all free to enter, being a public run park, and no real downside, and the slide really is quite addictive for adults and children alike.

Park on Nanikore

New Header Image: Wooden Posts

Satoyama Koen