Saturday in the park

Spent some time at Arisugawa park this weekend. It's a pretty big patch of green and not too far from our place. (You walk to the end of the Hiroo shopping street, past Nathan's hotdogs, the National Azabu supermarket, the florist that charges 3,200 yen (about $30) for a bouquet the size of my two fists and the Baskin Robbins, and you're at the southwest entrance.) It is named for Prince Arisugawa Taruhito (1835-1895). He was commander-in-chief of Japanese forces in the First Sino-Japanese War, among other things, and there's a statue of him on horseback here. We hiked along some of the narrow paths and stepped on stones to cross a bubbling brook. There are lots of small wooden bridges and a pond full of ducks.

The boys found plenty to do at the playground too. This rocking horse doesn't rock the usual way, but rather rolls forward and back.