Budget
Entrance fee: FREE
Transportation: From Shinjuku it costs around ¥730
Ride the Yamanote line to Nishi-Nippori station
Transfer to Joban line and drop-off to Kanamachi station
It's my first time to experience the fall season. I lived in a tropical country since I was born. I was only able to experience summer in my country and winter in South Korea last 2018. I wasn't looking forward that much to fall, I was more excited to see spring.
But then comes December. The weather is getting colder and colder and the trees are turning brown. I also see a lot of yellow trees around the area I live in so I decided to look-up nearby parks. I was able to see some fall foliage in the many small parks of Arakawa river and it looks really nice! Everything was brown, orange, and yellow. I decided to look for a larger park. I cycled to Shinjuku Gyoen Mae near my office and also to the famous Yoyogi Park. But the amount of people in these parks are too much for me to enjoy. Yeah it looks good, the yellows and oranges are at peak but it's just too crowded and hard to find peace and enjoy the surroundings. Then I remembered that I visited a park during summer in Katsushika City which features a Metasequoia grove—the smallest of the three Redwood species. I was living in Adachi City that time and it was somewhat nearby my area so I rode my bike and went there on the weekend.
I arrived to what I think was an alternative entrance to the park since I didn't see any special. It was just a bunch of the steel barriers—the one that prevents entry to cars and motorcycles in sidewalks. I continued for a bit and was wondering if I'm in the right place. It was nothing like this when I visited during summer. The trees were brightly colored from light green, to reds, and yellows. I remembered there was a pond on the left side covered with lilies but when I checked, there was nothing on it. Guess that was one thing better to see in summer. Following the long path, I arrived at the metasequoia grove.
In the middle, is a stone pathway with some green foliage at the middle.
At both sides are the Metasequoia trees. If you go inside the trees, there are empty free tables and benches where you can sit and relax. There were some people here but not that much. In other parks, it would really be hard to get a table or even a spot to take pictures or sit without some people around you.
I continued my walking while pushing my bike, following the route I did when I first visited. I reached the Oba river part.
It's really nice here, there were some birds and ducks in the river and you can see the Saitama side which is a different park called Misato Park. After walking the riverside, I was at a huge open area where its not really that special but if you go to its sides, there's a pond with really nice trees around it.
You can follow the path to go around the pond. A lot of areas without people so you could take pictures as much as you want. Continuing the path I came across a blue bridge.
On the other side you can see some bright yellow and orange trees which I find really really cool. Here's another picture near it:
After crossing the bridge, I think this is the main entrance as I can see a lot of people and cars outside. I continued by going to random areas. I reached a part where there's a shallow body of water where during my summer visit, a lot of kids were playing in the water. But now, it's too cold even to dip a single finger in the water.
I went strolling again to some random places and got myself into a really long road that seems to be for cars so I had to rode my bike. There's nothing on the left side but trees, and on the right, an open grass field where people are having picnics and playing catch. If you cross this open grass area, it would lead you back to the shallow water area. Then I noticed there were some small streets where I can enter the trees on the left side, so I did and it was worth it. I never went here during my first visit. There were less people in this area and it looks like a mini-forest. I followed the path and arrived here:
There's someone playing a flute or some wind instrument somewhere but I can't see them. I followed the path and arrived to another body of water with some small islands in the middle. This was the best spot in my opinion and I was having second thoughts if I was really still in the city.
There was also a part where there's a bridge you can cross to get the the center islands.
You can follow the path or just go around it since there's another small bridge that will lead you to the same island from the sides. Eventually you will reach a resting area. It was really nice here. I feel like I'm inside a computer game with some crazy graphics.
There's a Japanese maple tree near the water.
I took a rest here while staring around the beautiful scenery. There were no people in this area the whole time. It was so chill but I had to leave since the sun is soon setting. On my way out, I came across this very yellow area. My phone camera didn't justify how yellow this area was.
I returned to where I started and went back home to rest.
This is a park I highly recommend during fall. In summer it looks just like a quiet normal park where everything is green. But during fall, the colors go crazy and it looks a totally different park.
If you want to visit, here's a Google Maps link which I believe is the main entrance. But in this post, I used this entrance.
