My wife’s parents, both over 80 years old, have been living in the Kansai area, now in Kobe, but are finding it increasingly difficult to live by themselves because of their age (my mother-in law has been in a wheelchair for some time). So, they have finally agreed to our request that they should go to a nursing home. After looking around for a suitable place, we managed to find a cozy nursing home in northern Kawasaki, which is quite close to our place as well as to the home of my wife’s sister.

To our surprise, the nursing home happens to stand very close to a pleasant stream which is noted for beautiful cherry blossoms in the spring. I found out that the stream was first constructed as an irrigation canal for rice fields in the early 17^th century, at the start of the Tokugawa Shogunate. It has two water inlets along the River Tama and used to run about 37 Kilometers inland.

The irrigation canal is no longer used as such because the rice fields have almost all been transformed into urban surroundings; it has turned into a nice environment for the people living nearby.

Here are some photos of the stream. First, typical winter scenery on February 14.

Then, beautiful cherry blossoms on March 26.

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