Nakai & Nakano Half-Day Trip / 中井駅中野駅半日遊

First, Hayashi Fumiko Memorial Hall:  Hayashi Fumiko was a famous author in Japan.  This was her old house (¥150/person entrance fee).  We were provided English pamphlets.  The grandpa receptionist spoke fairly good English.

林芙美子記念館

It was a beautiful traditional Japanese house.  It had several sections, all facing a serene garden.  Apparently she designed the house in sections so that she could put people she didn't like (e.g. the book editor) in outer sections that would never enter the inner house.  She also had a study and a library, and a relatively modern kitchen for her time period.  Visiting this house gave me ideas on how to design my future house, once I become a multi-billionaire best-selling author. 😜

Second, Goryo-Jinja:  a neighborhood shrine.  A university was on the way, and the neighborhood was extremely affluent.  We saw Mercedez-Benz, BMW, Audi parked everywhere.

Third, Tetsugakudo Park:  a beautiful park with many different old-timey buildings.  It wants to be au naturale so the ground is not paved.  It neighbors a river so it made tiny waterfalls in the park using the river water.  It has a kiddie playground.  Different flowers, trees and plants are nicely located.

哲理門

六賢台

Last, Araiyakushi: a neighborhood temple. We happened upon an antique fair. A vendor was selling several beautiful vases that caught my eyes. Unfortunately, I'm not artistic enough to have flower arrangements at home. ☹️

新井薬師梅照院 1

新井薬師梅照院 2

By this time I was starved.  So we wandered into a Thai restaurant called The Spicy Cafe.  I was probably ravenous because the Pad Thai was delicious with a large portion size.  Unfortunately they didn't have Thai Iced Tea.  Wha..... 😕

Finally we arrived at Nakano Sun Plaza and got onto the train at Nakano Station to go home.

My legs were so tired they almost gave out.  It was a fulfilling half-day trip.  I would definitely go back to Tetsugakudo Park and explore more of the buildings and see the beautiful flowers in different season.

I'll probably go back to Nakai/Nakano only in winter.  For some strange reasons mosquitos were fierce and aggressive in this neighborhood.  I had three bites on the right leg, two bites on the left leg, and one bite on the left hand.  As long as the mosquitos stay over there, however, I will not complain much.