I only got lost once on the way there, which doesn't sound too impressive considering it's only about 30 minutes away by bike, but when very few streets have names, and even the ones that do are written in characters that you can't read, well . . . even a map doesn't always help. Anyway, I stopped to ask a parking attendant for directions, and he was very kind and helpful, even drawing a local addendum map to add to the larger one I brought with me. (It was a good thing that I stopped and asked; by that time I had actually gotten turned around and was headed in almost the opposite direction!)
Part of the park has gardens and landscaped areas for walking, and in another area there's a huge playground for children. In that part, there are several koi flags flying. In Japanese culture, they are traditionally flown on Boys Day by families with sons, but sometimes are displayed in other places. One of my students told me that the grouping of three flags together represents father, mother and son.
