Chūgen-daira Green Park Look out over Yorii from a hillside of fresh greenery

In May, when the mountain azaleas and fresh greenery were at their best, my friend and I took a day trip to Chūgen-daira Green Park to look out over Yorii. I left Tokyo early, with her in the passenger seat. We took the expressway to Hanazono IC, then drove about 30 minutes up the mountain road. We parked in the park’s free car park.

As we walked toward the observation deck, the trees suddenly gave way to a wide-open view. Low trees lined the slope in front of us, with a dense green forest beyond. The town of Yorii stretched out past the forest. The mountains that had hemmed in the road on both sides now seemed to run all the way out to the plain.

I wore a mint cardigan over a pale pink pleated skirt, with white shoes. I brought my hands together loosely in front of my waist and felt the morning breeze on my fingertips. A small pink flower grew close by. My friend crouched to get a better look at it while I gazed toward town. We were standing in the same place, but looking at completely different distances.

“That tiny flower is actually in bloom,” my friend said. “I can see the whole town from here,” I replied. So we switched places. Up close, the petals were thinner than I’d expected, and the morning light shone through them. My friend was squinting toward the plain I’d been watching, trying to see how far it went.

I’d heard the observation deck sits about 370 m above sea level and offers a 180-degree panorama. Looking from one end of the deck to the other, I could follow the view without a break: the mountain slope, town, and plain beyond all flowed into one another. I traced a narrow road winding down the slope with my eyes and spotted several small buildings. Beyond them lay clusters of houses. Looking across the flat land stretching farther still, I turned to my friend and said, “The Kanto Plain is huge, isn’t it?”

After taking in the town together, we walked a little farther through the 5 ha park. It was cool in the morning shade, and I was glad I’d brought my cardigan. The soil around the tree roots was a little damp and soft under my shoe. Yorii also has a walking trail called Kaze no Michi. I’d heard that this roughly 3.4 km trail was completed in 1996 and runs along Fuppu River, through Nihon no Sato, and on to Chūgen-daira. There’s a section where you cross the river on stepping stones. When I told my friend about it, she suggested racing along the trail next time. I answered quite seriously, “It’s a walking trail, so no racing.” She laughed: “You’re supposed to play along!”

By the time we got hungry, it was time to head down into town. I’d heard Kishiden’s mitarashi dango are a shop staple, made with rice milled that morning. Kishiden also sells Kimi-shigure and kanoko, so my friend and I would have a hard time choosing. We put “ROUTE 1 - HAKONE (steam mix)” back on, the track we’d listened to on the mountain road that morning, and started down the slope, debating which sweets to get.