Neighbourhood Walks

Typical suburban street in outer Tokyo

Walking around the neighbourhood streets where we live was surprisingly easy to get used to. I don't know if it's that we needed the maps so much in the first week (or all the Pokemon Go I've been playing) but four weeks in and it's hard to get lost in our little part of Tokyo. 

Main "Sakura Street" in Yotsugi with one of the few footpaths.
Unfortunately, so bumpy thanks to the sakura tree roots, it's hard to walk on. 

I wanted to be getting out and walking more when we arrived here, mostly because I knew I would have the time and thought it would be a good way to get back into the habit. I'm pretty lucky that the area we live in is flat and super easy to walk around. There aren't many actual footpaths here. Usually just a less than half a meter section on the side of the actual road that you use, but it's sometimes got a painted line to help the cars know not to run into you. The local streets tend not to have too much traffic anyway, though loads of bikes. 

All the spring flowers are out too, which makes every walk beautiful. People don't have any kind of yard or grass for the most part (unless you have a really big house, and even then, the garden is most likely stepping stones, rocks and a tree or two), but there are loads of small potted plants out the front of most houses. 

I love seeing the flowers that I recognise from Brisbane, but also the ones we never get in our climate, like the tulips, poppies and daffodils. 

I have been walking down to the river a lot recently, and feeling so unbelievably lucky that we got to live here for four months. I think I can kind of see why people drive into South Bank and walk along the river there now, though I still don't think I'd drive somewhere to walk. The rivers that boarder our corner suburb probably help with our ability to navigate too, though they won't help if we have too much rain later in the year and the whole area floods, since the ground here is so flat.

 

Steve thinks it helps that we have Skytree almost always in our skyline, helping us know which way is west. He and I walked over there from our place one weekend, and it took just under an hour. It's only 10mins on the train. As the days progress into summer, I can see me moving the walking to the evening and I'm looking forward to seeing how different things are with all the lights on. 

Since Steve finishes work at four, we've been able to go for a few evening strolls with the girls too. This Yellow Bridge is a pedestrian bridge that takes you over some water to another path down by the river. Steve has been using the stairs here as his Fuji Training, since Yotsugi is so flat he's got not other incline options. It's no Pegg's Lookout or Toohey Forest, but it will do. 

And here is Rachel eating Skytree. Just like Godzilla.