Roses are red… and white, yellow, pink, purple, orange…!

With the Cherryblossom Craze finally calmed down,  the next flower mania takes over Japan; the roses are in full bloom!

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Near our house is a famous park, not the one with the castle, but the one built in the middle of the river surrounded by skyscrapers and highways: Nakanoshima park, literally meaning “island in the middle”. There is a huge European-style rose garden with maybe a hundred different types of roses.

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We bought a small bento (Japanese lunchbox), brought our mat (a nice green one!) and had a little pick -nick in the park before joining  half the population of Osaka in the rose explosion!

Pink!

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Orange!

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…A bit of both!

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And the classic red ones of course:

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There was a small cute-dogs-in-dresses gathering, surrounded by a group of loud and enthusiastic women ;-)

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What I love most about this park is the heavy contrast between the beauty of the garden and the tall, ugly, concrete office buildings surrounding it.

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But when you put the two together you get very interesting patterns!

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A lovely summerday in Nakanoshima Park!

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