Miki Yama Forest Park

Since before coming to Japan, we saw a place called Miki Yama Forest Park very near to our new apartment complex on Google Maps. We found the website at the time, but it was difficult to tell whether it was a nature reserve or just a park. We casually asked some of the teachers at Becky’s school about it, and they never had much to say. 

Last week, I was exploring on Becky’s bicycle (I’m finally getting one next week), when I found a gravel path going into the woods and a map of the forest park beside it. So I knew there was at least some decent hiking. According to the map, the main entrance was maybe a 15 minute walk from our house, so we decided to check it out during the weekend.

It did turn out to be very close to our house. We were shocked when we walked through the main gate. The park was beautiful. It had a large paved parking lot with nearby vendors, fountains that were full of happy children, a nature center, a restaurant, lots of picnic areas and a mixed of both paved walking paths and more rugged hiking trails. It felt like a little bit of paradise in the middle of Miki, and we were shocked that none of the teachers had talked up the park previously. 

We explored for a couple of hours until stopping at a good picnic spot, where we ate a delicious beige lunch we bought at the grocery store that morning. We hiked a bit further and found an observation tower that overlooked all of Miki. 

We exited the north of the park at the hiking path I found a few days earlier. We walked through the nearby neighborhood, including a substantial cemetery, where families were happily visiting graves to clean away dead flowers and replace them as part of the Obon festival.

We walked a bit further to our intended post-hiking destination, Amaguri, a shop that sells gelato and treats made with chestnuts. The gelato was as delicious as the dancing shop mascot was hilarious.