Petit English Garden of MARPLE & POIROT

My wife and I started gardening in Fukuoka (Japan) in 2003. There was nothing but muddy clayey sloping land. At the beginning we made several structure such as steps and paths, and planted turf, fruit trees, roses, herbs etc. In 2010, we visited several famous English gardens, including Sissinghurst Castle Garden, Mottisfont Abbey Garden and Hidcote Manor Garden. We were shocked by the glory of those gardens. Since then, we have been trying to make small but glorious gardens by ourselves.

庭の紹介

　夫婦で庭づくりを福岡の郊外で2003年に始めました.　赤土むきだしの斜面にまず階段や園路をつくって芝をはり、果樹やバラ、ハーブなどを植えました.

　2010年にイギリスの有名なガーデンの、シシングハースト、モティスフォントアビー、ヒドコートマナーなどを回り、その素晴らしさに圧倒され、それから自分たちで小さくても素晴らしい庭をめざして庭づくりをつづけています.

1/03/2018

NEW YEAR HOLIDAY IN TOKYO (東京でお正月)

It was cloudy on the new year's day, and we saw the sun rise just only its 1 minute. It was lucky. Then we visited Tokyo.

元日は曇りでしたが、日の出が1分間ほど見えて幸運でした。
それから東京に行きました。

We visited Meiji Shrine as a 'Hatu-Moude'
(visiting shrines in new year holiday is called Hatu-Moude).
Meiji Shrine (Meiji Jingū) is a shrine dedicated to the deified spirits of Emperor Meiji and his consort, Empress Shoken. Emperor Meiji was the first emperor of modern Japan. The shrine was completed in 1920, eight years after the passing of the emperor. The shrine was destroyed during the Second World War but was rebuilt shortly thereafter.
Meiji Jingu is one of the Japan's most popular shrines. In the first days of the New Year, the shrine regularly welcomes more than three million visitors for the year's first prayers (hatsu-moude), more than any other shrine or temple in the country.

初詣に明治神宮を訪ねました。
明治神宮は明治天皇と昭憲皇太后をお祀りする神社です。明治天皇は近代日本の最初の天皇で、神社は天皇崩御の8年後の1920年に完成しました。第二次大戦で破壊されましたが、戦後間もなく再建されました。
明治神宮は日本ではもっとも人気のある神社の一つです。元日には毎年300万人以上の初詣客があり、全国でもっとも多い数です。

Next day (2 Jan), we visited the Imperial Palace.
Every year the Palace is open to the general public for the new year greeting. Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress, with their family, appeared at the balcony of the Chowa-Den Hall to greet the visitors gathered in the Totei Ground. One hundred and twenty six thousand people visited this year, which was the greatest number in history.
It took almost three hours, however, we were not so tired because the weather was nice.

翌日、皇居に行きました。
毎年、一般参賀が行われていて、
両陛下がご家族と一緒に宮殿のバルコニーにお出ましになり、新年のご挨拶をされます。
今年は12万6千人が訪れ、今までで最多でした。
3時間ほどかかりましたが、お天気がよくてあまり疲れませんでした。

His Majesty said
“I wish that this year will prove a gentle and spiritually fulfilling one for as many people as possible.”

陛下は
「本年が少しでも多くの人にとり、穏やかで心豊かな年となるよう願っております。」
と言われました。

We came back that evening by plane.
We saw our son, who lives in Tokyo. It was a short but nice trip.