Bike Rental in Kashiwa

I’ve seen these bikes around town, the ones emblazoned with the Kashiwa Reysol mascot.
So, where do you get one? Kashiwa Station east exit, behind the Sogo Department store, there is a little cycle rental depot. The bike man told me that if you show some ID – passport, gaijin card – and fork over 200 [...]

A secret garden in Abiko City

春一番 haruichiban, the first winds of spring came to Japan this weekend. Saturday was remarkably warm, and  put away my scarf and enjoyed the sunshine. On Saturday morning, when we were passing the Abiko stationfront in bright sunshine, we saw the monument to Taisho Period artists, and my friend mentioned that some of the houses [...]

手賀沼 Teganuma Marsh

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Teganuma Marsh is such a relief from suburban Tokyo, and opens into wide open spaces, views of Fuji and Tsukuba Mountains, and wooded hillsides. Today’s bicycle ride took me around the north shore of the marsh to the 安孫子鳥の博物館 Abiko Bird Museum. Teganuma Marsh has a great variety of birds, both resident and migratory, and the [...]