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Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Flowering lilies by the sea at Maishima Island


In the late afternoon glow

A very large plot of land about 50,000 meter-square on Maishima Island is covered by about two million lilies from early-June to early-July.  Since it is hot and humid on a sunny day during the rainy season, I entered the lily garden around 5 p.m. and stayed till 7 p.m.  Because of the location, right beside the sea, sea breeze was comfortable.  What I saw was shimmering indigo-blue sea, clear blue sky, and lilies of various colors and species.

Konohana Bridge
















At around 7:00 p.m., the sun was setting behind the mountains across the bay but big container ships were still busily passing by.  Incidantally today's sunset time is 7:13 in Osaka.





Maishima is a man-made island located in Osaka Bay. It was included in the candidate sites when Osaka had aimed to bid for Olympics but at that time I didn't know what it was like except for two things: one is the huge waste treatment plant with unique architectural appearance which looks like the work of Dali, and the other is as a site for Summer Sonic, one of the best rock festivals in Japan, which is held in Maishima every summer along with Makuhari.   On my first visit to the island I learned about the wide range of opportunities of sporting such as tennis courts, football stadium (base for Cerezo Osaka), baseball stadisum, indoor athletic field, spacious open dog-runs, racing circuits, barbecue garden, and so on.  I understood why it was called Maishima Sports Island in English.

31 comments:

  1. Hello:

    This is absolutely amazing and what incredible images. We can scarcely believe what we are looking at. The lilies are truly magnificent, but so also is the situation with those wonderful sea views. How we wish that we could board an aeroplane today to see all of this for ourselves. Thank you so much for such an inspirational post.

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  2. Oh, WOW! So many beautiful lilies!

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  3. Dear Yoko -Thank you for your visit today, it was lovely to hear from you again.
    The bible quote "Consider the lilies of the field how they grow" is spectacularly brought to life on your wonderful images.
    I have never seen so many lilies growing en masse before, and to see them against the backdrop of Osaka Bay is something that will stick in my memory.

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  4. こんばんは。お母様が亡くなられたそうで、大変辛い日々を過ごされて、謹んで哀悼の意を表します。 素敵な百合の島ですね。

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  5. wow. how beautiful to see all the varieties blooming together!

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  6. So beautiful !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! An amazing place ! And pictures !
    Have a nice day !
    Anna

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  7. Nice to see you back, Stardust! A field full of lilies would be an unusual sight in my part of the world, especially by the seaside. I particularly enjoyed the eye-level perspective where the flowers seem to decorate the beach. It is almost as if I could ruffle my hand through those lovely petals!

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  8. This place is heaven on earth. Fortunate to see him live.
    Ciao
    Loretta

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  9. Such a gorgeous place and so amazing photos !
    Greetings

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  10. Ohh jag som älskar liljor. Där skulle jag trivas. Mina som jag ha på kolonin har också börjat att visa sin färg, Vi behöver sol och värme för att de skall bli fina och slå ut. Här har vi fått mycket regn och kyliga kvällar vi längtar till att det skall bli sommarvärme igen.
    Önskar dig en skön sommarvecka
    Kram Meta

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  11. Wow!!!
    Piękne lilie
    Pozdrawiam :)

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  12. 今年から閉園時間が延長になったんですよね。そこから海に沈む夕日を見に行きたいと思っていましたが、Yokoさんのとても素敵な写真で満喫できました。ありがとう。最後の写真、いいですね。海面に浮かぶ長い光の帯が余韻を残しながら、静かな世界にいざなってくれているようです。

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  13. Thank you Yoko-san for this wonderful walk through the fields of lilies - how enchanting and calming :-)

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  14. What a beautiful sight. My brother always grows a few pots of lilies for my mother's garden each year; they will both love to see these photos. I hope that they remain forever - the world can get by without any more sports stadiums!

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  15. 舞洲にこんなにきれいで、広いユリ園があるなんて、思ってもみなかった。夕方訪れられて、ユリや海や夕日のコラボが印象的に撮られていますね。特に最後のショットの逆光が厚いユリの花びらをも鮮やかにうつしだして、おもしろいなと思いました。

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  16. Yoko様 
    お母様のご逝去を悼み、謹んでお悔やみ申し上げます。

    どんな日であろうとも、花は懸命に美しく咲いてくれる。 まるで、私達の為のように・・・ 
    そう思えるエネルギー溢れるお写真です。  

    どうぞ、ご無理なさらず お過ごしくださいませ。
     

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  17. Be still my heart - what beauty! I saw lilies at the farmer's market and was tempted, but I knew the deer would also love them so I resisted. These blooming hillsides are magnificent.

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  18. Wow..so beautiful and amazing places and picture.

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  19. Hi Yoko,
    great to see you are back "on the blog stage" - especially if one is aware of what happened to you and your family within the last months! But as a positively thinking person I appreaciate your decision not to hide and isolate because of your pain, but to come back to your community.
    I hope that the communication with your blog fellows around the world will help you to find back to pleasure and confidence.
    In my training room of the company I work for a calender from a Japanese tool manufacturer is hanging on the wall. The July calender sheet displays...
    ...exactly the same flowering lilies you show us on your post! Next week I'm going to take a photo of the calender sheet and will send it to your address... ;-)
    Thanks a lot for your kind comments - all the best for you and your family,
    Uwe.

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  20. 遠くの海、青い空・・・。  とりどりの深い色彩をより一層引き立たせてくれているようです。

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  21. ¸.•°♪♬
    Muito lindo!...
    Parece um sonho!...

    Boa semana!
    Beijinhos.
    ¸.•°♪♬♫º°

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  22. Your posts always make me dream.... This is a really stunning place! Those flowers are wonderful! As always I loooove the pics. I have a giveaway on my blog to celebrate my 500 followers if you like to participate have a look on: http://lovecraft2012.blogspot.pt/2014/07/500-seguidores-oferta-500-folowers.html
    Have a fabulous day!
    Hugs from Portugal,
    Ana Love Craft
    www.lovecraft2012.blogspot.com

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  23. Everything has already been said by the previous blog commenters.... what a lovely place. With a view of the sea too... gorgeous.

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  24. Wow - what a magical sight to see all those lilies! Your photos are gorgeous.

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  25. such gorgeous photos! Truly a joy to see and take to heart!

    so interesting to learn of this island as well.

    lovely days and beyond to you!

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  26. Enjoying this pictures is a pleasure to stop by Greetings from Spain

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  27. What an amazing sea of lilies. It must have been heavenly to walk among them.

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  28. Stunning kaleidoscope of colors and the interplay of the afternoon sun with the lillies makes them look like exquisite pieces of art - the sun set pictures are my favorite.

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  29. I was just about to ask where Maishima Island is when I read the last part. I wish I knew about this during my trip to Osaka! I would've gone. Then again, it's another reason to go back :)

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