Reflections of exotic stones, greenery and Japanese history in a pond

Her tears fell in to the pacific and there arose a group of islands called Japan. There are many myths associated with old Japanese culture. The Goddess behind the creation of Japan may be a myth, but when I read the pamphlet distributed at the entrance gate of Kiyosumi gardens, I recollected the mythical story.

The artistic and beautiful stones laid around the pond in the Kiyosumi gardens were being collected from all over Japan. Thus while stepping on each stone, I could feel that I walk all around Japan! It is an imaginative feeling I shared with my family when we visited the Kiyosumi gardens on a Sunday.

Kiyosumi gardens located near to the Sumidagawa river in the Shitamachi area of Tokyo is very near to Monzen Nackacho. The Kiyosumi gardens is just a few minutes walk from the Kiyosumi shirakawa station in the Toei Oedo line. For us coming from Higashi Ojima, there is one transfer from Toei Shinjuku line to Toei Oedo line at Morishita.

There were groups of people lead by a guide, but we opted to be independent as understanding Japanese was still on the half way for all of us. The pond has three islands and a building where we saw some people practicing meditation. It reminded us of the Buddhist monasteries at some remote village. But the information written on the English leaflet says the building is a tea ceremony space architecture.

Rainwater is used for pond at present, but in old days water from Sumidagawa river was brought into the gardens. Thanks to the Iwasaki family who took the pain to collect all those beautiful stones from all over the Japan and brought them here in this part of Japan by steamships. Those exotic stones now decorate the pond and the surroundings. For that reason the Kiyosumi gardens may look like a stone garden. The tea ceremony building mentioned earlier is known as Ryotei in Japanese. Ryotei was builit as a guesthouse for the visit of British military personality Lord Kichener.

My kids could enjoy the fishes and the tortoises and the ducks in the pond. There were pigeons as well sitting on the stones. We walked towards the Ryotei building stepping on the stones laid in the pond. We could see a big stone monument in which a poem was inscribed. Sitting on a nearby chair we could recognize that the poem tells about a frog who jumped into an old pond. The monument stone was originally located on the banks of Sumidagawa, but was moved to the Kiyosumi gardens when the protection walls were constructed along the Sumidagawa river bank.

The shallow parts of the pond have stepping stone pathways that looked amazing for my kids. They enjoyed the scene of fishes and tortoises while crossing the pond and found the reflections of trees in the water. After walking a while we took rest and gave food to our kids. The climate was ideal for an outing with family with low sun but clear sky.

The tallest hill in Kiyosumi gardens is known as Fuji-san, resembling the name of Fuji mountain. There were Crape myrtle flowers in the garden. We were not tired after walking one round around the pond. On our way back to the exit gate which also the entrance gate, we could meet warm-heated Japanese people greeting while passing on the way. The garden was built by a business magnate Kinokuniya Bunzaemon, who lived in the Edo period.


The entrance ticket charge is JPY 150 per adult and for children, admission is free. It is a place recommended to be visited in Tokyo and which is worth to visit as we can recollect some part of the history of Japan while walking through a typical Japanese garden. Kiyosumi gardens is designated as “Scenic Park” by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. The pond inside the Kiyosumi gardens reflects the history of Japan along the with the reflections of the exotic stones and the trees.

Arakawa River, Nakagawa river and Barbecue square in Komatsugawa

Narcissus would love to spend times unlimited on the bank of this river Arakawa where we used to spend evenings on weekends whenever possible. Though little bit embroidered with Boeotian mythological hero’s passion to his own reflections, the beauty of Arakawa river banks offers more or equal attraction to the residents in Komatsugawa.

The barbecue square built on Arakawa river bank is an ideal meeting place for many of the locals here in Komatsugawa. Nakagawa River is another river flowing parallel to the Arakawa River. Two rivers flow parallel and an aerial bridge going exactly at the middle of the rivers from Funaboribashi bridge to connect to the national highway makes the whole scenery stimulating.

The entrance to the Barbecue square is towards the Komatsugawa play ground. There was a professional acrobat who was performing his skills on unicycle with multiple pieces of juggling clubs. Clad in professional gymnastic dress, he was not reluctant to wish passers-by. My daughter was surprised and keen to watch his performance and insisted to stay there more. The older gymnast, when reached near to us did not forget to wave his hand and touch my daughter’s hands. She was thrilled literally. The week-end evenings at Komatsugawa play ground give more opportunity to mingle with the local community.



The barbecue square is a well maintained place, where visitors also take care not to spoil the beauty of the nature. The garden is with many trees and beautiful flowers. White, Yellow, Pink and Blue flowers in a mix of green leaves and the light blue sky at the top of this part of the earth, with a dome at the mouth of Arakawa river presents euphoric days out of the concrete walls.




The life in flats, that also in the midst of a jungle of concrete buildings has been a new thing for us. Being come from a place where transformation of lives from the feudal persuades to the industrialized one is still at a confused stage, we had not been with negligible stress due to a sudden change. Transformation from single family houses to multi-dwelling apartment, where we may never meet neighbors for the whole stay in Japan is something a new experience for my mother too.


The Arakawa River and the Nakagawa River flowing to Tokyo bay with a long stretch of river bank with vetiver grass is rich with eco-system. We could see small frogs while walking on the road near to the river bank. I told my daughter the story of a frog that waited on the river bank for his friend to come from a far away village on a rainy day. Spending time with kids is a good way of reducing everyday stress. The stories are never real and kids never want them to be real. The colorful stories will deviate from the original story and mix with many local additives. She was happy to walk with me on the road parallel to the stretch of vetiver grass.


We never felt come back home. The days are becoming longer in Japan again. Sun is yet to set at the horizons of the land of rising sun. Thousands of boats might have carried loads of wood and food through this river from far away places to Tokyo. Arakawa River might have seen years of human transformation and making of one of the most intelligent society in this part of the earth. Still Arakawa River flows silently. That is the way of Samurais – rich in knowledge and thoughts but still silent!

A day out listening to the murmurs of sakura leaves in Komatsugawa Park

The weather was good with moderately warm environment. The shadows played hide and seek game with the light. The shadows were dark grey in color…..shadows everywhere in all cases are colorless. Shadows may have nothing to do with dreams. With leaves of sakura trees and maple leaves immerse in dreams with tantalizing murmur, the Komatsugawa Park looked more pleasant.

We could see ants and centipedes crawling. That was one fine Saturday we decided to eat out at the Komatsugawa Park. There were Japanese people sitting on the wooden benches in the park. Eating out is a common thing in Japan. Holidays are more enjoyable when all family members relax under the shadow of trees with small kids playing nearby.

The life in Japan is calm and quite. For senior citizens, Japanese government will take care of all medical expenses. They also get pension from government for their daily living. Ward offices will pay money for small children. Children below the age of 3 get 10,000 Yen per month from the ward office. Children above the age of 3 get 5,000 Yen per month till the age of 15. Many of our friends in Japan will buy toys and new dresses for their kids with this money. The money will be credited to the bank account of head of the family once in every four months.

Our children stopped when they saw a cat on the park. They insisted me to take snaps. The cats in Japan are also disciplined well. He posed for us! A grandma walking near to us stopped and watched us. She looked keen and expressed surprise by seeing our daughters.

The Komatsugawa Park is just less than one minute walking distance from our apartment. In fact the apartments name itself is Komatsugawa Park Mansion. Japanese gardens and public parks are well known for the maintenance and cleanliness. The visitors to the park with their pets, mostly dogs take care to collect the fecal droppings from their pets in a plastic bag and carry it along with them! The public discipline and regard to the law and order is at highest value in Japan.

The dogs in Japan are well cherished by their masters. Most of the dog lovers treat their pets more or the same way as their kids! Sometimes they will be carried to public places on a stroller with all kind of royal attention! The grandma looked astonishingly on us also carried her dog. The dog was silent even after seeing the cat. The scene reminded me of the Japanese lessons we had at OVTA in which the life of a dog was described. The dog in that story was jealous of the cat that was lazy and desired to be at master’s home everyday without doing any work.

The climate has been favorable for a full day out with kids. The coming weeks will witness much rain compared to the foregone days. After the rain Japan will be hot. While walking back to home, we saw the cat still watching on the birds sitting on the bushes. Cats pay more attention and concentration in each and every action than us. As we stepped back home, the sakura leaves whispered to bushes and the cat was still listening to it.