Twentythree

The park’s Garden Fest 2026 -Autumn- event is enveloped in a sea of fire this year that’s perfect for making fall memories.

’Tis the season for kochia (bassia scoparia), nicknamed kokia in Japanese and firebush in English, to have their moment in the spotlight. Mt. Hakodate’s Kokia Park in Shiga Prefecture and Hitachi Seaside Park in Ibaraki are two of the most famous places for viewing kokia in all of their crimson, autumn glory, but this year, a locale in Kobe promises to raise a colorful challenge.

Situated at an elevation of 400 meters (1,434 feet), Kobe Nunobiki Herb Gardens & Ropeway’s Garden Fest 2026 -Autumn- event from September 12 through December 6 is well underway, but now through the end of October is the peak time to see the kokia looking like they’re on fire. The grounds have three main areas where kokia have been incorporated into the landscaping, including the following spot right outside of the park’s Glass House where they take center stage.

▼ Flames of crimson

It’s a perfect spot to take a photo looking like you’re engulfed in flames.

The second spot is the Windy Hill Lawn Plaza, a windswept spot on slightly higher grounds with Kobe’s modern cityscape in the background.

Here, you can recline in hammocks while admiring the contrast of vivid red and skyscraper silver.

While lounging, enjoy lazily watching the gondolas pass by on the ropeway as well.

The third spot is by one of the flower and herb gardens where the kokia mingle with their other fall cousins like the silver cock’s comb pictured below.

▼ Kokia with orange zinnias

The gardens are home to approximately 200 kinds of plants and 75,000 individual herbs and flowers, so your eyes will never tire of the different color combinations.

The Kobe Nunobiki Herb Gardens & Ropeway is currently following its fall season hours through November 6, which are from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. (last entry at 4:30 p.m.) on weekdays and 10 a.m.-8:30 p.m. (last entry at 5 p.m.) on weekends. The ropeway opens at 9:30 a.m. and the last ride down is at 5:15 p.m. on weekdays and 9 p.m. on weekends. A standard entrance fee for one adult with a round-trip ropeway ticket and entrance to the Herb Garden is 2,500 yen for adults (US$16) and 1,250 yen for children (elementary through junior high school), though there are some discounts for those entering after 5 p.m. who wish to view the gardens only.

For some gastronomic fun while you’re in Kobe, consider stopping by this retro eatery specializing in sobameshi that we recently enjoyed.

Park information
Kobe Nunobiki Herb Gardens & Ropeway / 神戸布引ハーブ園／ロープウェイ
Address: Hyogo-ken, Kobe-shi, Chuo-ku, Kitano-cho 1-4-3
兵庫県神戸市中央区北野町 1-4-3
Website

Source, images: PR Times
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This site takes traditional architecture to new heights, like a Ghibli world come to life.

We’re always on the hunt for hidden gems and little-known sights in Japan, so when we heard about a teahouse that was suspended in the air, we immediately sent our reporter Natsuno Futon over to Nagano Prefecture to check it out.

Called the “Flying Mud Boat”, the unusual structure is tucked away in Chino City, on a plot of land that houses two other equally charming teahouses. The setting is so whimsical that it feels like a Ghibli world come to life, with calming hues and natural materials helping the buildings blend into the surrounding greenery.

▼  The first sight to greet you is a boat-like object that literally hangs in the air.

This is Sora Tobu Dorobune, which translates as Flying Mud Boat, and it was designed by architect Terunobu Fujimori.

Ever since his student days, Fujimori had always wanted to build something that floated in midair, and he finally got the chance to bring the idea to life when he created the Flying Mud Boat in 2010 to coincide with an exhibition.

From a distance, the architectural creation looks like it’s floating, but up close you can appreciate all the finer details, including the wire structure that holds it in place.

▼ On one side there are doors, which act as a small entrance into the structure.

The interior isn’t normally open to the public, but during special guided tours, a ladder is used so people can climb up to the boat and crawl inside.

▼ A beautiful spot for a teahouse.

As it turns out, the Flying Mud Boat isn’t the only unusual building in the area, as there are several other distinctive structures nearby, als0 designed by Fujimori.

One of these structures is a teahouse, cutely named Takasugian, which roughly translates as “Too-High Teahouse”.

▼ Nestled in amongst the treetops, this is another functioning teahouse in a dream setting.

This structure sits way above ground, perched atop two trees in such a whimsical manner that you’ll feel like you’ve stepped into the world of Studio Ghibli.

Ghibli’s animated feature movies are filled with architectural wonders that seem to defy all the rules, and this structure brings the same sort of anime wizardry to life in the real world. Despite the precarious look of it, the teahouse is structurally sound, but it’s located so high up that even looking at it from ground level is enough to make your heart skip a beat.

▼ Takasugi-an was once chosen by TIME magazine as one of the “Top 10 Most Dangerous Buildings in the World”, with the Leaning Tower of Pisa taking first place.

From a teahouse that’s too high comes one that’s too low, with the next structure being partly built underground.

Called Hikusugian , or “Too-Low Teahouse”, this is the complete opposite of Takasugian, literally sitting in its shadow.

Though none of the buildings were open when Natsuno visited, just seeing them was enough to spark a sense of awe inside of her. It also opened her eyes to what’s possible outside of traditional norms.

There’s also a community center designed by Fujimori in the vicinity, which puts his creative genius on full display.

From a teahouse that’s high up, to another down low, and then one suspended in the air – who knew teahouses could be so wonderfully unconventional? It’s a truly fascinating site that deserves to be more well-known, so next time you’re looking to enjoy some quiet time off the beaten path in Japan, be sure to put the Flying Mud Boat on your calendar.

Site information
Flying Mud Boat, Takasugian and Hikusugian / 空飛ぶ泥舟・高過庵・低過庵
Address: Nagano-ken, Chino-shi, Miyagawa 389-1
長野県茅野市宮川389-1
Website

Photos ©SoraNews24
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Kenko Tokina makes us think about our shots and feel extra emotion when we finally see how they turned out.

Recently, our Japanese-language reporter Go Hatori has gotten really into taking pictures, so much so that instead of using his phone for them, he wanted a dedicated device. After looking over his camera options, he decided to treat himself to the Pieni II from Kenko Tokina, a Japanese manufacturer primarily known as a lens maker.

There are a couple of reasons why Go chose this model, one of which is easy to see, and one of which, in a sense, is not easy to see. Let’s start with the easy one, though.

The Pieni II is incredibly compact. Though it’s a legitimate, functional photo-taking device, the packaging describes it as a “toy camera” because of how tiny it is.

Included with the camera is a strap so wear it around your neck, but the camera is so compact that you could even attach it to your key ring or use a clip, like the one Go picked up at a 100 yen store, to attach it to your bag or beltloop.

And as for the “not easy to see” reason Go chose this camera? Well, although this is a digital camera, with a slot to insert a microSD card on which to save your images…

…there’s no screen.

That means you don’t get a preview image, constantly being updated in real time, showing you the exact composition and lighting your image will have. Instead, you have a little clear viewfinder to help you see where the lens is pointed, and that’s it. What’s more, the Pieni II doesn’t have an app or any other sort of wireless connectivity that automatically uploads your photos to cloud storage or your other devices. In order to see how your photos turned out, you have to pop the SD card itself out of the camera and into your PC or phone.

In other words, the Pieni II’s design eliminates the instant results that are usually part of digital photography and replaces it with a gap in time between when you take a photo and when you see it, bringing back the exciting sense of anticipation from when film cameras were the norm. That’s the sensation that Go has been chasing as he takes photos, and he’s very, very happy with how some of his photos with his new camera have turned out.

Looking at the photos, you can probably guess the other thing Go loves about this camera. The Pieni II (which Go picked up for 5,280 yen [33] on Amazon Japan) isn’t designed for taking ultra-high-resolution images. In fact, its 1.31-megapixel count is pretty paltry by today’s standards.

On the other hand, that level of resolution is a great fit with the nostalgic retro-tech vibes of taking pictures without a preview screen.

The resolution isn’t so low that the photos become a blurry mess, but the softer lines and lower-key colors make then look like there were taken years ago, and add a sort of wistful significance to scenes of the present day.

All of a sudden, a quick selfie snapped with a friend feels like a precious memento that you’ve treasured for ages, and ordinary scenery looks like it could be a jazz fusion album cover.

Of course, the camera not having a screen means there’s no way to know right away when you’ve taken a dud that needs to be deleted, and when Go “develops” his photos by slotting the microSD card into his PC, he’ll always find at least a few that aren’t worth keeping.

That minor frustration, though, pales in comparison with the immense satisfaction he feels when one of his shots comes out just right and feels miraculously cool.

Photos ©SoraNews24
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We’re used to seeing salarymen in this part of Tokyo, and now there are salary goats too.

Along with travel and desserts, cute animals are something we’ve got a lot of love for here at SoraNew24. So when we spotted an adorable-looking goat the other day, we quickly got our camera out and started snapping some pics.

But unlike many of our other wildlife encounters, this one didn’t take place on a walk through a forest or a visit to a farm. No, we found this goat in the jungle…the urban jungle of downtown Tokyo!

We were barely outside of the Akasaka Exit of Yotsuya Station (part of which you can see in the bottom right of the above photo) when we noticed a crowd of people that had formed on one of the pedestrian walkways that lead to the ticket gates. They were looking down towards a patch of land below the bridge, and that’s where the goat was hanging out.

To give you a sense of the geography, Yotuysa is only about five minutes by train or subway from Shinjuku, the central Tokyo rail hub that’s the busiest train station in the world, and only about 10 minutes from Shibuya and its massively crowded Scramble Crossing.

▼ From Shinjuku to Yotsuya

And as unusual as it is to see a goat in downtown Tokyo, it’s even stranger to see two!

So what were these goats doing here? Working, because they’re temporary employees of East Japan Railways/JR East.

OK, technically JR is paying to rent the goats’ owners to rent their services, but either way, they’re here in a professional capacity. Their gig started earlier this month, on October 9, and they’re being employed as an ecologically friendly way of clearing out weeds from this patch of land on the station’s property.

／
もぐもぐ食べて、駅をきれいに！
四ツ谷駅にヤギが登場
＼

環境にやさしい除草方法として、
ヤギによる除草を試験的に行っています！

現在は２匹のヤギたちが活躍中

お近くで見かけた際は、
ぜひ温かく見守ってください pic.twitter.com/Zrf9gylPyI

— JR東日本（公式） (@JREast_official) October 19, 2026

The two animals dispatched to this job site are Nagi-kun, a one-year-old male, and Pokke-chan, a two-year-old female.

▼ Since this is a work relationship, we suppose that make Pokke-chan Nagi-kun’s senpai.

▼ This shot shows how much they’ve already chomped away at.

We spoke with a staff member who happened to be present when we came by, and they told us that Nagi-kun and Pokke-chan are scheduled to be stationed here until the end of the year. Since the grass and other underbrush doesn’t grow very quickly during the coldest part of the year, the animals will then take the winter off, but they might be back again in the spring if JR needs their services again.

If you want to see them for yourself, you can find them underneath the bridge seen here:

Be aware, though, that JR East asks that everyone be kind to the goats, and also to refrain from offering them any snacks.

After all, if they munch on treats, they might end up be too full to do their jobs.

Photos ©SoraNews24
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