The Sunday Market in Kochi City is just a short walk from the train station. They close down two lanes of a four lane road going towards Kochi Castle. There are all sorts of stands selling things like fruit, veggies, fish, knives, flowers, potted plants and occasionally but rarely clothing or small crafts. I imagine the market is very seasonal and what is for sale likely depends on what is in the growing season.
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| Kochi Sunday Market |
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| Knives for sale at Kochi Sunday Market |
Kochi Castle is one of the recommended spots for viewing sakura blossoms. Although it is a very short season they are very lovely. They even have pink lanterns that come on at night to light up the gardens for people having evening picnics or drinking sake.
The castle is pretty typical of most Japanese castles with a large number of the buildings having been destroyed already. The watchtower with a few attached buildings is the main building that remains as a tourist attraction.
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| Kochi Castle |
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| Kochi Castle |
The view of the city is always somewhat foggy despite any weather conditions. It gives the mountains a hazy look in the background. The gardens and forest around castles in Japan are quite old but historically the area surrounding the castle would have been cut down fully so you could see any enemies approaching the castle. It is a bit ironic now that these are some of the lasting green spaces in the cities.
One of the most common birds in the city are Eurasian Tree Sparrows, House Sparrows and Barn Swallows. They build their mud nests on the sides of houses and parking structures.
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| Barn Swallow |
Makino Botanical Garden is another one of the places for viewing sakura blossoms in Kochi. The garden is not the easiest to get to by public transportation but it is a place where you can easily spend a full day. The gardens are set out into various sections including one section showcasing native flora of the area. Other sections are specific to rose garden, sakura garden, etc.
The event we went to see in the botanical garden was a traditional Japanese music event. At first it was very very lovely when the flute started softly with a nice relaxing melody but then something like a kazoo started and I don't believe the music was to my taste. It is possible I just am missing something that I don't understand about the song or type of music.
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| Concert in Makino Botanical Garden |
The scenery in the garden is very lovely and it includes some higher points with views of the surrounding area as well as some ponds with small waterfalls. You could hear a few frogs calling but I was unable to find any of them. I think they were Japanese Tree Frogs. I did find a Fire-belly Newt in one of the smaller pools.
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| Makino Botanical Garden, Kochi, Japan |
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| Makino Botanical Garden, Kochi, Japan |
Most of the plants are labelled nicely so it is a great place for any botanist or nature lover to visit. But I will admit that it is very very different from other Japanese style gardens. This garden appears to be very much designed to have a lot of various species and diversity whereas other gadrens in Japan are more simplistic with more open space.
It was a lovely day to visit the gardens and I very much enjoyed seeing some familiar genera of spring flora.
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| Pulsatilla cernua at Makino Botanical Garden, Kochi, Japan |
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| Arisaema rigens at Makino Botanical Garden, Kochi, Japan |
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