Kyonan

From ChibaWiki

Kyonan Town

       Kyonan Town is in the lower western part of Chiba, right 
   above Tateyama, part of the Southern Boso Peninsula Area.  If you 
   were looking at CHI-BA-KUN, the Sports Festival mascot, Kyonan 
   Town would be in the thigh.  It is said that once you pass over 
   Nokogiri Yama (or under it now-a-days) you don't even need your 
   underwear.  This is due to the warm weather in southern Chiba, not 
   any nudist tendencies of the people who live south of Nokogiri 
   Yama.
       
       From Saturday, December 12th to Sunday, January 31st, Kyonan 
   Town is having a Narcissus Festival.  The town is full of these 
   fragrant flowers, and has several walking courses through flower 
   covered hillsides.  There are also many fields of rape blossoms, 
   which are the flower of Chiba and from whose Japanese name this 
   magazine gets its name.  Here and there the countryside is also 
   dotted with other flowers of various kinds, most of which are also 
   sold by various local vendors at very reasonable prices.
       
       The Festival will include a Marathon at Sakuma Dam on 
   Saturday, January 16th, mochi making with a musical performance at 
   the Edzuki Suisen Hiroba on Sunday, January 17, and at the Sakuma 
   Dam on Sunday, January 24th. 

       Two of the more notable courses are the Edzuki Suisen(
   narcissus) Road and the Okudzure Suisen Kyou.  The Suisen Road is 
   a three kilometer road through a valley literally filled with 
   flowers and surrounded by hills that look like they came right out 
   of a landscape painting.  The Okudzure Suisen Kyou area has fields 
   and walking paths lined with flowers as well as shops and a small 
   lake created by the Sakuma Dam.
       
       The flowers have already started to bloom, and should be an 
   incredible site throughout the spring season.  Many of the roads 
   and areas are also lines with Plum and Cherry trees which will 
   also bloom in the upcoming months.
       
       Besides flowers, Kyonan Town also has a rich history, being 
   the birthplace of Hishikawa Moronobu(1745-1818), the "father of 
   ukiyo-e", a school of wood-block printing.  One of his most famous 
   pieces is called Mikaeri Bijin, or "Looking-back Beauty", and is 
   an artwork of a woman looking back over her shoulder.  The 
   Hishikawa Moronobu Memorial Museum, a small museum dedicated to 
   Hishikawa Moronobu, is marked by a statue of a women in a similar 
   pose.  
       
       Next to the memorial is the Kyonan Michi-no-Eki.  Michi-no-
   Eki translates to "road station", and that is exactly what they 
   are.  They are spread out all over the prefecture, and serve as a 
   sort of combination between a rest stop and farmers market.  
   Kyonan Town's is called Michi-no-Eki Kyonan, and has a variety of 
   fish, most of which are dried, for sale.  Make sure to stop by the 
   Tourism Information Center next door, the one with the yellow 
   roof.  
       
       There are also any number of incredible restaurants along the 
   coast in Kyonan, hot springs in the mountains, temples and shrines 
   to see, and the World Cat Goods Museum.  Whether you love flowers, 
   the ocean, the mountains, history, art, driving, sea food, or 
   cats, Kyonan Town has something for you. 
       
       URL: http://www.town.kyonan.chiba.jp/ (Japanese)  
       URL: http://www.awa.or.jp/home/kyonankk/ (Japanese) 
   

Chiba Nanohana News Ed.79 This is an article from Nanohana News (the prefecture's English mail magazine. If you would like to sign up to receive it, go here: http://www.pref.chiba.lg.jp/syozoku/b_kokusai_e/foreigner/mm_eng.html