I want to go to TaikiTown in spring! ! My family enjoyed the wisteria at Nohara Rural Park, the azaleas at Mt. Ohira Azalea, and ouchiyama Zoo♪

◆Article creation: Hanachiro #Mie Travel Camera Club
I'm a married couple with two children who live in IseCity, and I take photos of them when they go out. I would like to share the charms of Mie that my family has actually visited and that we would like to recommend.


Once the spring cherry blossom season is over, wisteria and azaleas will be at their best!
​Nohara Rural Park in Taiki TaikiTown, Mie Prefecture is home to beautiful wisteria trellises.

` `Ohira Tsutsuji Mountain'' where azaleas bloom all over the slopes of the mountain.

Animals become more active with the spring weather"ouchiyama Zoo" There are many spots to enjoy in spring, such as

In addition, TaikiTown is home to ouchiyama Milk OuchiyamaMilkVillage, which is famous for its Ouchiyama milk, and each spot is within easy enough distance to visit in one day, so we will introduce them all at once!
We will also explain tips on how to take photos to preserve beautiful memories of your trip.

The first place we will introduce is Nohara Rural Park, which is located in Nohara TaikiTown and is famous for its beautiful tunnel of wisteria flowers!

There is a wisteria trellis approximately 60 meters long here, and the best time to see it is usually from late April to early May.

On a sunny day, the contrast between the purple flowers blooming on the wisteria trellis, the green of the park, and the blue spring sky is truly beautiful. If you take a photo with sunlight filtering through the wisteria flowers and branches, it will definitely look great (lol)

Around the wisteria trellis, where the scent of wisteria spreads, people were pointing their cameras and smartphones at the flowers.

There are not only wisteria in the park, Azalea or flower bed Panji-etc. can be enjoyed at the same time.
Surrounded by mountains and fields, this park away from the city is less crowded and relatively empty compared to other famous wisteria spots, so take your time and stroll around!

In terms of access, it is located close to IseCity and MatsusakaCity in TaikiTown, and there is no entrance fee, so you can easily visit.

The center of the park is a large field with slides and other play equipment, so my little ones were more excited about the play equipment than the flowers (lol).

The next place to introduce is Ohira Tsutsujiyama, where azaleas bloom all over the slopes of the mountain.

The best time to see the azaleas here is from late April to early May, the same time as the wisteria I introduced earlier.
It has been designated as a prefectural scenic spot, and approximately 10,000 azaleas are said to grow wild there.

Ohira Tsutsujiyama has a promenade on the slope, so you can walk around the mountain even if you are wearing light clothing. My two-year-old daughter was also sweating and desperately motivated to climb on her own.

I was worried that my daughter might fall, so we stood right behind her and watched in horror (lol).

In this way, families with children and elderly people can easily climb up the promenade halfway up the mountain.

The view from the top of the slope is a wide expanse of red azaleas below.

Walking along the promenade and seeing the azaleas blooming up close, you can enjoy a different view from the one at the foot of the mountain.
My 1-year-old son took a stroll on his mother's back, riding on his back (lol).

There is a parking lot in front of Mt. Tsutsuji, and at the base there is a park where you can take a rest on a gazebo and benches, as well as restrooms.

We were hungry after walking on the mountain slope, so we had a picnic in the park, and my daughter was very excited to eat her lunch in the middle of nature.

The next place to introduce is ouchiyama Zoo.
This is a rare private zoo.

Spring is the season when animals become energetic, so please try going to the zoo in the sunny weather that makes it easy to go out.
　　
The zoo, which is surrounded by the mountains of TaikiTown, is home to more than 40 types of animals, and you can even experience feeding the animals.

The animals you can feed include sheep, llamas, baboons, ostriches, and swans, and you can interact with them too much to list.

Carrots and bread for bait are sold for 100 yen.

Children asked me for 100 yen coins many times (lol)

The animals are friendly and approach you, so the food runs out faster than expected (lol)

My daughter was afraid of big animals, so she only fed the small pigeons.

Even small children can interact with animals appropriate for their age and personality.

Large animals such as horse bears and lions can be seen within arm's reach, making it quite impressive.

Furthermore, you will be overwhelmed by large birds such as ostriches and emus.

Rather than feeding the ostriches, my children felt more like they were being robbed (lol).

When I came to this zoo on a field trip with elementary school students, it seemed like an older facility.
However, now the zoo has been beautifully maintained and has been transformed into a warm zoo where you can feel the warmth of the trees.
　

　

If you go to ouchiyama, you should definitely stop by OuchiyamaMilkVillage is famous for its milk for school lunches.

In addition to sweets such as bread, soft-serve ice cream, and souvenirs, the store also sells ouchiyama Milk T-shirts.

The recommended item is definitely the soft serve ice cream, which has a rich flavor that gives you the dignity of ouchiyama Milk brand.

Personally, I was hooked on "Milk France" among the breads I casually purchased (lol)

TaikiTown full of charm introduced this time

All of the spots are close to the Kisei Expressway interchange and National Route 42.

I think many people pass through Kishu casually when traveling to Kishu, but definitely check it out! Please come and visit TaikiTown this spring!

Lastly, I would like to introduce some points for beginners that I always keep in mind when photographing memories with my children when I go out.

It's about taking pictures from a child's perspective.

When you casually take pictures of children, you end up photographing them from the perspective of the adult taking the picture.
As a result, the background becomes dominated by the road and the ground, and even though the child's expression is nice, the result is a disappointing photo that does not convey the beautiful scenery.
　
↓↓Before↓↓ (Autumn leaves are behind the child)

Therefore, be conscious of holding your smartphone or camera at the same height as your child's eye level.

This instantly creates a sense of depth, allowing you to capture both the beautiful scenery and the child's expression.

It can be difficult to keep holding your smartphone or camera low, but please try your best to be aware of the child's perspective (lol)

This may come as no surprise to those who regularly take photos.
However, when you suddenly take a photo while busy with your child's daily life, you tend to have no free time and tend to take the photo from an adult's perspective.

First of all, I think just being aware of these basics will change the impression of your photos.

↓↓After↓↓ (Ohira Azalea Mountain)

By simply lowering your line of sight, the ground will be blurred and the photo will instantly become more atmospheric.
In addition to taking photos from the child's perspective, try taking photos from different angles, as this will add movement to the photos and make them more impressive, so try experimenting with them!

This concludes the introduction to TaikiTown in spring.
This time, I created my first article as a member of the camera club.

For spots and photos that we weren't able to tell you about in this article, we also post them on Instagram, so please take a look if you'd like!

　
From now on, we plan to post articles on the Kanko Mie website every month, so please continue to support us.

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