Nabana no Sato

Living in Mie offers some amazing opportunities. The prefecture is a long, odd shape, and so much of our eastern side is coast that we have unique views, cities, and nature. Besides that, it seems like there is a tourist spot somewhere along the road wherever you go in Mie. Come winter, most people go out of the prefecture for winter sports in nearby areas. But one spot that is always bustling is Kuwana City. Why is that? Roller coasters, a water park, Christmas lights, hot springs, and green houses!




In the summer, Kuwana is frequented by roller coaster (here lovingly called "jet coasters") enthusiasts who want the thrill of Japan's largest roller coaster park, Nagashima Spaland. Of course, it is called that because it is also home of a water park and attached to a hot spring resort. All of these attractions have separate ticket prices, but you can buy a combo ticket at a special rate. This past spring, some of the Ise-Shima ALTs took a trip for a roller coaster/water park day to cool off. On another occasion, some gal-pals and I went for the coasters followed by a relaxing hot bath. Both trips were wonderful, but I can go into that later. For those who can't wait, though, you can read up on it here.





Today is all about Christmas lights and green houses!

Super close to Nagashima Spaland, and yet another claim to fame for Kuwana, is Nabana no Sato, explained a bit on this Mie tourism site.. A Flower park and green house site, the park keeps business coming in the winter by putting on a major Christmas light festival! The festival starts in the fall, once the leaves on the Japanese maples have changed colors. Visitors can see the trees lit up at night and marvel at their colors along with the Christmas lights strung all around the park. This part of the season is really crowded with people coming to see both the light and the leaves, and stoping to take pictures all the while. In Japan, the two major christmas light displays are this one and another in Kobe. Each one is changed yearly, so people come to see what new and creative way the decorations will be in both locations. This year, the main attraction at Nabana no Sato was a huge display that mimicked Niagara Falls during different seasons. It was set to music and the surrounding field was decorated in lights and cloth to give it even more depth and grandure. My friend Dan and I went to see what all of the fuss was about and my breath was caught in my throat the whole time! It was so perfect and surreal. I've never seen anything so dreamlike and I never through that trees could look better at night than in the day. True to Japanese form, everything was laid out perfectly to allow the trees to play off the water features in the park.

Dan and I decided to stop by a restaurant at the gardens. We accidentally ordered the most expensive thing on the menu and plates like this one kept coming and coming and coming from the kitchen. We ate really well that night, and luckily had coupons for 2000 yen off the meal. It was as delicious as the trees were beautiful!

My Russian friends decided that on our ski trip, it would be fun to go to Nabana no Sato, and I decided to go again to really have a chance to appreciate the lights this time. The leaves had fallen off the trees, so we were able to stroll around without fighting through as large of crowds this time. Some people took the high road and rode a merry-go-round that was raised up high into the air!

 Just when we thought we had scene it all, Max noticed that the green houses were open for tours and that the coupons we had were just enough to cover the entrance free. Warming up in the green house sounded like a great idea to me, and Sofya loved roaming through all the blossoms. She even pocketed a few of the fallen ones to press in her magazine later. The tickets we received were actually valid for three green houses, so we were able to finish up our day at Nabana no Sato with three distinct and large flower settings. On our way out, we had been told to find the shawarma stand, which was so scrumptious! I had a fabulous time on both trips and highly recommend going if you get the chance!