Candle Light Service

Welcome to my revised blog. A new country and fresh adventures prompted me to redesign my page. I hope readers will enjoy the changes and interesting scenes from Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. 
Maps HERE and HERE.

I received information about a unique event held in the countryside of Kanagawa ---a candle light service to mark the summer solstice. City workers had set up over 80,000 candles in a local park, lighting them at dusk. Samurai invited me to go, so we enjoyed touring the park together.

Workers gave speeches before the event began:

The lighting begins! 

The lit pathway...beautiful eh? ^_^

A giant heart:

This park was huge and had a lot more to offer than just the candle service. We walked deeper down the path to find....a rose garden! Wow! A proper English garden in the midst of the Japanese countryside??? Amazing!!!

Roses:

It's the rainy season in Japan currently, and one flower is synonymous with this time of year -- 紫陽花 [ah - ji - sigh = hydrangeas]. Tucked in a corner of the English garden were these beautiful flowers....

Hydrangeas: 

We also found a children's playground with a zip line. Even wearing a dress, I hopped on the rope and sped down the zip line (laugh). Sorry, no photos as it was quite dark...I'll visit again to get some video.

We also followed the sounds of a group of excited people huddling together near a bamboo forest. What were they all staring into the forest intensely about....? Oh....蛍 [ ho - ta - ru = fireflies]! We saw a few..again, no photos, sorry.

Peace & Love

I enjoyed this event very much for several reasons -- it was free, it was outdoors and it was quite romantic. What girl wouldn't be impressed walking through a park at dusk, surrounded by candle light?! Japan is lovely, no?