TAKARAZUKA: garden fields

After meeting the little puppy the other day, I've really been wanting a little puppy! Talking about little puppies... no one has more adorable tiny little puppies than the Japanese.

When we were at Takarazuka, we ran into this wonderful little park called "Garden Fields," where there were a botanical garden, a couple museums, and a dog park and a specialty shop for pets.


A large green house at Garden Fields.

I was really excited to check out the fun little dog park. The largest dog we saw was about Yama's size (65 lbs. or so). Most of the dogs running in the dog park were tiny little ones! They were so cute!


A cool dog being photographed by his owner. I didn't think he enjoyed it, though.

There were all sorts of people and dogs at the park, and everyone seemed very content and happy.


A guy holding and chillin' with his Boston Terrier.


A cool kitty named "Leon" looking at the dogs play.

After checking out the fun dogs at the dog park we went into the specialty shop for pets. I couldn't get my eyes off a couple of the cute little puppies...


Sleeping beauty.


I think this little guy liked me. He wanted to come out and play with me. If he was mine I'd call him "Butter Ball."

I was really impressed by how peaceful and lovely Garden Fields was. It was a great place to visit, and if dog playgorund was not part of your vacation plan, you could still enjoy the many wonderful things inside and around the park.

I want a tiny little puppy. I want Butter Ball!

TAKARAZUKA: Kiyoshikojin Temple

Our friend Nobu came to the caffe to see me today, and told me that when he told his mom we went to Koyoshikojin Temple in Takarazuka. I guess it was not a very high-profile temple.


John and I arrived at the JR Takarazuka Station, which is right across from the Hankyu Takarazuka Station.

Since we were not familiar with the city and we couldn't find any maps around the station, we decide to just walk around and follow a group of people that we saw walking out of the station.


We were walking toward the mountains and saw cool trees and houses.


We eventually realized where we were going, and we saw a lot of people there, too. It was the New Year's and people went up to the temple to pray for a happy new year.


A buddha looking out from the temple.


Many families went to the temple together.

Right outside the temple area there was a festival filled with food and goodie stands.


We got yakisoba. Hmmm... yakisoba.


Japanese fried chicken on a stick.


BIG hot dog. We've been seeing quite a few stands that sell these HUGE hot dogs, and people like them. They were yummy.


Taiyaki. These were tradtionl treats with fillings. We got a milk flavor one and a azuki (red bean) one. John says they are "crunchy pancakes."

We really enjoyed our trip to the Kiyoshikojin Temple. The temple was beautfil and the people were happy and festive... and the festival outside was a total bonus!