The Onigiri Kingdom ? that appeared in Rokko This is located in Hyogo Prefecture 　　　　　"Rokko Garden Terrace" This is my personal favorite spot. Located at an altitude of 900m, you can see the night view of Kobe. At night, it's very cold, so dress warmly! ?

This is one of the photos I took when I went to Rokkoyama Ranch in early summer. Despite being close to the city of Kobe, the scenery was far from Japan. It was an interesting place where you can interact with various animals in addition to sheep up close.

The other day (around mid-April), I photographed the flowers of the otome camellia (otome tsubaki) in the Mt. Rokko of Kobe. This Mt. Rokko area has been designated as the Setonaikai National Park and has been a suitable place for recreation and summer retreat since the Meiji era. Mountain villas and recreation centers have been built here and there in the mountains, and there are sightseeing spots such as Rokko Ranch, which is inspired by a mountain ranch in Switzerland, and Arima Onsen, which is counted as one of the three famous springs of pillow grass. The mountains opened by foreigners in the Kobe Settlement have many katakana names such as Cascade Valley (a valley of many small waterfalls) and Twenty Cross (20 mountain trails), recalling the history of foreigners opening the mountain. By the way, this time the otome camellia was taken at the place of the Japanese name, Otter Pond in Viper Valley. Aside from the Mt. Rokko area where many names from the Edo period remain, such as the Shojo Pond introduced here last year, Otter Pond is ... I wonder if the pond used to be full of otters, and I still look around for signs. The camellia blooming season is almost over, but now the azalea flowers are brightly colored all over the driveway. Animals and plants are rich in nature, Mt. Rokko how about ? hiking?

The morning sun shines from the fresh green of spring... Mt. Rokko in Kobe has been redressed! !! The photo is a morning scene taken near the ridge of the Omote Rokko Driveway in mid-April. I climbed the hill on a road bike, but it was a pleasant cycling that felt moderately sweaty (I climbed slowly). Mt. Rokko was opened as a leisure mountain by foreigners in the Meiji era, and Arthur Herkes Groom, who built the first mountain villa, is called the "founder of Mt. Rokko." The first mountain villa was built at a place called Mikuni Pond after climbing the driveway in the photo to the ridge. From there, foreigners and Japan people built mountain villas one after another, forming a village. It seems that there are no mountain villas left from that time now, but you can still see many recreation centers of various companies in the vicinity. Even if you actually climb on a road bike, you can meet foxes, raccoons, woodpeckers, squirrels, moles and monkeys, and you can feel that you have come to nature in a different world from the city. How about ? forest bathing for a mental retreat this spring?