Mariko-Irie.com Blog

When I got Japan, I realized that I needed to walk. The last whole winter I didn’t go for walk. So my body was not good shape.

When I was in Tokyo. I didn’t have a car. So everywhere I go, I had to walk I love to go through Inokashira Park. It has a lake. Along the lake there are so many cherry trees. At night they light up.

And I like to walk along the Josui. It’s a cannel. And there are many trees including cherry trees along the cannel. And there is an athletic field as well. Around 7:00am already there are many people were doing exercise there. I did too.

Then I went to mountain house, I did morning walk almost everyday. Somehow I waked around 5:00am. The out side was getting light. Every morning the sky was different.

In a country, mostly road are winding. So I started to walk, after this curve what is there? That kind of curiously leaded me to walk farther. I enjoyed finding new roads and new scenery.

576. Follow a Road

Now I’m back in Santa Rosa. I do morning walk to Nagasawa Park. From my place to there, it’s 1.6miles. There is a lake. Some people do fishing on a boat as well.

The other day I saw several geese and a lot of babies by and on the lake.

Today some body was splashing water, then I looked at the top of the hill, there are a couple geese. Many small birds were flying over the lake. Some of them could be swallows. They flew very close to the surface of water, and making circle.

Every day I find something new.

And it’s very interested in: When they passing by going to a store, they don’t say anything each other. But when people are morning walk, jogging or running, when they are passing, everybody say “Good morning” each other. It’s a nice feeling.

This is in Hakusyu Japan, again.

Who lives there, told me that cherry blossoms by the shrine is so beautiful.

So I went to there in the sunny morning. Sure it was. We call these cherry trees Yamazakura, which means Mountain cherry trees.

575. Cherry Blossoms by the Shrine watercolor by Mariko Irie

They live so long. Some of them lives five hundreds years. They are watching human’s history?

Their blossoms are much quiet than Someyosino or some.  They are sweet to my eye.

This painting is looking at Mt.Kaikoma from Hokuto, Yamanashi Prefecture.

574. A View of Mt.Kaikoma
Watercolor painting by Mariko Irie

I was there in March, one night it got so cold. The next morning, I was going to morning walk, I saw white thing covered everything. It was snow and became to be ice.  The high mountains got much white in that morning.

This mountain’s height is 9,734 ft. It is one of 100 Famous Japanese mountains.

What a peaceful scene, isn’t it?

Once upon a time, old woman and old man lived in this house.

A lot of Japanese children’s story starts like this.

573. Once Upon a Time Watercolor painting by Mariko Irie

This house is just like that kind of old country house. It’s a very simple structure. It’s amazing that the house is still there. The east and north side of walls are falling. But I guess that the old woman in a yard is living in the house. It was early morning, like around 7am, she was working in a yard: taking care of her plants.

It’s a nostalgic scene in Japan.

This was other morning walking rout.

572. Cherry Blossoms View Watercolor painting by Mariko Irie

When I got the mountain house, for the first couple days were warm. Inside of a room without heater, it was over 80 F. I was so happy. Then temperature dropped to 40 F in the morning. When I went to outside for morning walk, everywhere is a kind of white. It snowed. So high mountains got whiter.

These are mostly paddy fields. Baby rice plants were not planted yet.

Sunlight in Spring is so soft in Japan.