マネージャーさんから、
「花見してもらえることって、可能でしょうか？」
マネージャーさんはプライベートが訳ありで多忙。
そりゃ、やるっしょ♪
今回も２日前だったかも。
２日前の告知で、入口に看板を置いて。
出逢う人、出逢う人、お声掛けして。
最近イベントを言いだしっぺして学んだけど、
シェアハウスの場合、そんなに前もって企画しなくてもいい。
いきなりのお誘いでも、時間あいてたら、けっこー来てくださる。
シェアハウスの花見なら、近場がいい。
僕は、グーグルマップで近場の公園を検索し、どこの桜がベストかを調べてく。
「えっ、この木、桜だったんだ」
って、感じれるこの時期が大好き。
思ったより桜はあるし、道端の桜は花見会場にはふさわしくない。
そしたら、とてもすてきなとこを発見。
表からは隠れてて、たまたまみんなが知らなかった徒歩４分の公園。
家ではみんな毎日飲んでるけど、
お外で、お日様のしたで飲めるって新鮮。
やっぱ、知ってる仲間と外で遊ぶのも楽しいっすね♪
夕暮れ前、たまプラーザを歩いてたら、あれれ？
かわいいでしょ、木にぶらさけられて。
ってことは……迷子になっちゃんだね (；ω；)
夕暮れ時だし、かわいそうが際立って
保護した方がいいなじゃないかと一瞬おもったけど、いやいや。
見つけた方が、落とし主さんがここに探しに来るのを想定して
掛けてくれてるんですよね、ここにいるよーってわかりやすく。
それから踏んづけられたり車に轢かれたりしないよう。
でも今夜ひとりでかわいそう……と思いつつ断腸の思いでそのまま去り…… (；ω；)
翌日、いなくなってました!!! よかった。
見つけた方と、探しに戻ってきた持ち主さんと
ちゃんと持ち主さんのとこに帰れたあの子を思って、
ほっこりほっこりしたのでした。
数日後、エコバックに荷物をいれて、郵便局に行ったんです。
用事が済むと、空になったエコバックを小さく縛って
スカートのポッケにいれて出かけました。
半日後、エコバックがないことに気づいたんです。
まぁ、ものはなくなるものだし。
次のにかえるべきタイミングだったのかなと思いました。
でも……思い出したんです、買った時のこと。
ドイツのマインツの薬局のレジのところに、
いろんなおしゃれな柄のエコバックがたったの１ユーロで売ってて
買いたくなる場所に、買いたくなるデザインと選択肢で、
買いたくなる値段で売ってるドイツのシステムにすごーーーく感動しました。
いい旅だったな。
と思い出したら、朝通った道を一応歩いてみようかと思いましてね。
郵便局の方へ歩いて行ったら……
感動！
半日も前なのに。
落ちているのを見つけた方が、こうして戻って来ることを想定して
わかりやすく柵に引っ掛けてくれてたんですね。
「たまプラーザって本当にやさしい町だよねぇ」
と、以上のふたつのことをおうちのともだちののちゃんに話したんです。
「いい町だねぇ、好きここ」
満場一致。
で。すぐ翌日です。
ののちゃんからLINEが。
「これ見て！ たまプラーザってやさしすぎる」
落とし主さんがわかりやすいように、そして雨が降ってたから濡れないように
わざわざ透明のビニール袋に入れて柵にしばって……じーーーん。
こういう気持ちで日々過ごしていたいものです。
あーあ、いい町です、たまプラーザ好き。
April and May in Tokyo can be a perfect month for the first camping of the year. It gets much warmer than March less crowded than in summer. I like brewing and drinking a coffee at a camping site but I must say coffee tastes better in April or May when it’s cold at night. It is also the time of the ear that you appreciate the warmth of a campfire. Nothing is more relaxing than surround fire at night with a cup of warm coffee, maybe with a bunch of friends.
That’s exactly what I did with friends in Oakhouse Kichijoji 2 on a day in April.
Hikawa campsite is a campsite in Okutama where you get to do the easiest and the laziest camping in Tokyo. Located within 10 minutes walk from Okutama station, this is the camping site where you don’t need to bring basically anything. The campsite is right on the riverside where the river bed is big enough to host more than 50 tents. You do need to bring your own tents if you want to stay on the riverside but you have a choice to stay in a bungalow if you book in advance.
For staying with a tent you only need 800 yen per night which is a very good deal. you can probably swim in the river in summer. The water is crystal clear as you can see the photo below.
The riverbed is kind of rocky so you do want a thick mattress for quality sleep. If it’s an April you probably want a thick blanket or a sleeping bag to make sure you don’t get cold at night.
There there are some cooking sites available at the camping site where you can rent the cooking tools for a couple of hundred yen. We rented an iron grill and some firewood for a campfire at night.
There there are a couple of grocery shops in front of the station where you can buy all the food for camping. This is great because we don’t have to bring all the food and drinks. We can basically get everything close to the camping site.
A bunch of firewoods is available for 500 yen the and that’s enough to keep the fire running for long hours.
We finished eating before sunset and cleaned things up so that we can keep on drinking without losing anything in the darkness.
Actually, most camping sites in Japan do not allow campfire on the ground directly. It is to protect the ground because the ground usually gets charred after a campfire.
There were some charred spots at the Hikawa campsite as well but it seemed to be okay to do that at this can being sites. I guess it’s because the water is right beside you and the riverbed is so big that you don’t have to worry about burning the forest by accident.
the campfire was something that I wanted to do the most on this camping trip. it’s somehow so relaxing to just look at the fire. I guess our brain is wired to feel that way from the Stone Age.
The night was still young at around 9 p.m. when we almost finished burning all the firewoods and almost no drinks left. It was not a problem because we were already tired and sleepy. I bet no one sleeps this early usually though.
We looked around our fire in the darkness and noticed that we’re not the only one who’s doing a campfire.
We were a group of nine but no one really brought fancy outdoor gadgets. What we brought was tents, mattresses and sleeping bags. That’s really all you need for minimalistic camping as we did.
If you’re looking for an easy weekend camping trip that you can access from Tokyo, Hikawa campsite is definitely recommended.
毎年２回、シェアハウス対抗のフットサル大会あり。
通称「ヒガコカップ！」
以下の９枚の写真は、我がマネージャー、藤井さんから拝借しました。あざす
東小金井にある、ソーシャルレジデンス東小金井
ここには、ありえんことに、シェアハウスにフットサルコートが併設。
https://www.oakhouse.jp/house/673
そんな設備あるシェアハウスって、おそらくないかなと。
ありえん設備が付いてるシェアハウスが、【ソーシャルレジデンス】というブランド。
その東小金井へ、多くのシェアハウスから参加。
我がソーシャルレジデンス蒲田からは、なんと初めて２チームが参加。
蒲田から東小金井は遠いけど、２チーム分も参加できるのは、シェアハウス内がいい流れ♪
そして、もっと驚いたのは、住民のフットサル大会に
オークハウス本社の社長さんや、
おそらく重役的なポジションである、中川さん秋元さんも来られていたこと。
たかがイベントへ顔を出すのって、普通は無理。
オークハウスが最大手な理由はここにあるのかなって感じる。
物件担当でもないのに、顔を出して、住民の反応を肌で感じてく。
他のシェアハウス会社は物件担当すら、物件にほぼ関わっていない会社も多い。
僕が入居し続けている理由も、友達の不動産屋社長が
「オークは、他のシェアハウス会社のよう、ただ作って放置ではなく、管理がしっかりしてる」
と教えてくれ、その言葉を実感しているから。
話をフットサルへ戻すと、
うちのシケメンな僕と
この写真みて、マジやせるって、マジで決めた！！！
うちのイケメンなフランス人対イギリス人だっけかな
僕らの蒲田チームは２つ前の大会まで、勝てずに最下位リーグだったのに、
今回は、トップ６チームへ２チームとも入れた。
うれしすぎる。
また、半年後もトライしたい
すげー♪ 20人もいるｗ
楽しかった♪ 企画・運営ありがとーございます
Tokyo is a city surrounded by numerous mountains. For a local like me, spending some time in nature is something we do every once in a while. I live in one of Oakhouse Apartments called Tachikawa Garden Town and Tachikawa is a good place to find some nature in the city but I still feel like immersing myself into nature sometimes. To do that, going to the west area of Tokyo is the realistic choice.
Going for outdoor activities sounds like a road trip but it does not have to be. Mountains are accessible by trains and many people choose this way because it’s much less expensive.
If you don’t have to drive every time you go out for nature, the whole journey would be less time consuming and easy even if you’re going out by yourself.
That is probably why there are many outdoor brands in Tokyo and they are very popular. Outdoor gears are pretty popular and sold everywhere. I guess that’s why there’s a place like Outdoor Village Akishima.
Outdoor Village Akishima is a shopping center of outdoor brands. Located in Akishima, this place is not just for shopping but also a place for sports events.
There are 17 outdoor stores and a couple of restaurants and cafe, even an indoor bouldering gym and an outdoor climbing site. the climbing sites outside seems like for lead climbing and the wall is really high as 16 meters and thus complies international competition standards. When I visited there was a flyer for an international climbing competition too.
If you’re looking for any kinds of outdoor experience this is the place to go.
Outdoor Village Akishima is close from the station within 10 minutes by walk. I come here sometimes to look for outdoor items and camping gears. If you like shopping for outdoor gears, you know how expensive it can be. you also want to persuade yourself that you’re buying good stuff not some cheap thanks and you feel like you wasted money later on. To make sure you buy good stuff you want to check the quality of the products by actually seeing and touching them. It is true that sometimes shopping on the internet is cheaper but good outdoor brands don’t make a big discount anyway.
For example, Helinox is a brand known for its outdoor chair. The chair is extremely light and durable and most importantly it’s compact and packable. But it’s also very expensive like one chair costs more than 10,000 yen which is a bit too much but I still want one. I had been looking for a place where I can test the chair and this place is the shop that has almost all the series. I have not got this chair yet but it’s great that there is a place I can test.
Also in this place, each brand has its own building. So it’s not like a shopping mall where all the brands are in one building. This style is better for a stroller user like me. If you are with a baby, the elevator is kind of troublesome.
My favorite spot in the shopping center is the Snow Peak store. there’s a restaurant that you can have lunch inside the store and they use all kinds of snow peak items at the restaurant. So that you can see and use their outdoor items at the restaurant.
This is one of the things that I have not tried yet at this place but there is a climbing gym inside this shopping center. Maybe I should come here more often or with my climbing friends to see how the gym looks inside.
Another place that I like in the shopping center is the cafe in North face store. Their acai smoothie is fantastic.
There there is a big shopping mall on the way back to the station cold Mori Town. If you like to shop something other than outdoor items this is the place to go.
These are the two places that we go when we want to spend some time outside Tachikawa. Most of the things we want can be found in Tachikawa but Outdoor Village Akishima has more outdoor items in one place and it’s more efficient to see many things in a short period of time in my opinion.
Hiking is something I do every once in a while. There are many trains you can take from central Tokyo are to mountains mostly located on the west side of Tokyo.
There are many mountains you can go from Tokyo buy Okutama is one of my favorite and most accessible mountains. Well, technically speaking, Okutama is still in Tokyo. It’s just in the west but the whole landscape is very different.
What’s good about Okutama is that it’s extremely accessible with Chuo line and Ome line. I don’t think there are many mountains that you can reach by trains even in Japan. This Ome line takes directly to the stations where hiking gates are within walking distance.
Mr. Otake is one of the mountains that I’ve been before several times. It’s accessible at Mitake Station which is on the way from Tachikawa to Okutama.
I planned a ridge trail hike from Mt. Otake to Okutama station. Daniele, a housemate who we used to live in Oakhouse Kichijoji 2, contacted me that he will be staying in Tokyo for about a week. I decided to do some hiking in Okutama.
There’s another reason that I chose Okutama for hiking. Daniele told me that he was coming with his drone. He said he wants to fly his high-end drone for arial shooting and asked me where he can actually fly without getting arrested.
I knew flying drones in Tokyo is hard. Even public parks mostly don’t allow it for safety reasons. I did some research, mainly googling, and found out this map.
The red area is where you cannot fly drones. Basically it’s a “highly populated area” and you cannot drone all kinds of drones (excluding the small ones). As you can see, the east side of Tokyo is hopeless. There’s no chance. The west side, however, seemed fine. Okutama should be ok to fly drones.
Make no mistake. This map is only showing the highly populated areas. Technically speaking you still need to consider the landowner into account. It’s probably not a good idea to fly drones on the land of someone’s property. That’s why we decided to fly only on the mountain.
Getting on the top of Mt. Otake was not really a challenge. Besides, we took a short cut by taking a cable car called Mr. Mitake cable car for hiking (御岳山登山鉄道). Things were fine until it started snowing.
It does not seem like there’s much snow in the photos but it was actually snowing a lot. It does snow in Okutama but not in April! We did not expect this at all. For the record, it was supposed to be sunny in Okutama.
Although it was not the best day for flying drones, we did manage to fly one in the end. It really was the high end drone and it was actually compact. You can fold the propellers and the body size isn’t too big either. So you don’t need a backpack for only this drone.
Despite the snowy weather, the hiking itself was fun. It was almost a 6 hours-long hike. We were exhausted by the time we reached Okutama station and head back to Mitaka. Shohei, another housemate from Oakhouse Kichijoji 2 joined us and we tried the new steak house that Matsuya opened just a couple of days ago.
The meat itself is a good deal (1000 yen for 200g) and refillable soups and salads. It’s served on a hot lava plate. I liked it for a 1000 yen steak. I mean I’ve had a better steak before but it was good for the price. Give it a try if you live around Kichijoji. It’s just one stop to the west on Chuo Line and the steak house is right in front of the north side of the station. You won’t miss it.
Okutama is a good area for not just hiking but also camping as well. I went back to Okutama for camping a couple of weeks after. My next post will be about camping in Okutama.
3月＆4月は、引越しのシーズン。
ソーシャルレジデンス蒲田は、人気物件。
とはいっても、260人いるから、事情あって引越していかれる方もいる。
とはいえ、新しい入居者さんがすぐさま入れ替わりで引越して来られる♪
人気で2か月とか待つこともあるのかも。
かといって、たまたま急に引越あると入居できるのかも。
入居したての人へ、イベントを多めにしたいと思ってたら、
4月は週２以上で月10回もイベントあり。
撮影時にスケジュールボードへ書いてないのが２つあり。
そりゃ、楽しいよね♪
そして、オークハウス社が主催の大型イベもあり。
かまフェスって名前だったけど、今回は春フェス。
バンドのライブあり、新住民さんの自己紹介あり、ＤＪあり、活動の紹介あり
防音室もあるから、音楽が上手な住民もけっこーいる。
なんと、飲食もちょいあり。
というより、オークハウス社の会長さんが来訪してくださり、
飲食代を出してくださった。
ゴチになりまっす❤
会長さん、一番右↓
日本最大手なのに、トップが物件を見て回る。
これって、すごいこと。
だからこそ、最大手を独走されてるのかと。
僕が入居した６年前と比べても、倍以上の規模になってるはず。
に毎週２回イベントあると、たくさんの方と仲良くなれて、楽しい毎日。
リビングへ行くと、毎日、新しい住民さんとさらに仲良くなってく。
楽しさでしかない、世界最大シェアハウスといわれてる
ソーシャルレジデンス蒲田♪
https://www.oakhouse.jp/house/465
ドローン動画のFacebookページを新設いたしました。
ドローンを初めて1年10ヶ月、まもなく2年を迎えます。
ちなみに２年で４機……！怖笑汗
でも、いつも飛ばしているその瞬間が、過去１番、
表現も操作もうまいから、気分よくやってきました笑。
わたしがドローンで表現したいのは「風」。
ご覧くださる方の「心に風が吹き抜け」ますように。
いつどこにいても、一瞬でここちよくなれますように。
これははじめた当初から、もっというと『離婚して、インド』からのテーマで、
その表現手段が厚くなったのです。（詳しくはこちら）
国内外の空撮作品は主にInstagramにアップしていますが
「とまこドローンがいつも心に爽やかな光を吹き込んでくれます(´∇｀)」
「我が地元をこんなステキに撮ってくれてありがとう！」
そんなお言葉をいただくこともあります。
どのコメントも喜びですが、この類を拝見するとジーン。
込めてることが通じたなぁと確認する瞬間です。
ところで学生時代から重ねてきた海外への旅は、
行けば行くど好奇心と、新たな「好き」が増えて楽しいです。
一方、メインには繊細な文化習慣心意気という意味で
日本のこともどんどん好きになりました。
そしてドローンを初め、まずは日本のあちこちに
でかけるようになったら、今度はビジュアルという意味で
日本のすごさに打ちのめされ続けています。
先日むちゃくちゃ美しいフィリピンのエルニドを訪れました。
現地の方々に日本のことを聞かれると
「日本も超キレイだよ！」
うーんきもちいい！笑
海外の方にも、日本人のわたし自身が驚く日本の絶景に
新鮮な風を感じていただきたいです。
そんなわけで
● いつでも「心に風が吹き抜ける」スイッチの拡散
● 海外の方に「知らない日本あるよすごいよ」
の思いを込めて、新たにFacebookページ【 Sky Journey with DRONE 】を作りました。
後者は日本自慢ですが、前者のスイッチに国境はありません。
国内外問わず動画をアップしていきます。
添えるのは英語で、多くは語らずに。
英語できないからかだと思いました⁈ アタリで……以下略。
どうぞご覧いただけましたら幸いです。
The long cold winter is gone and finally the spring has come. One of the things I like about living in Tachikawa is that it’s so easy to find some nice nature spots close to your house. I live in Tachikawa Garden Town, which is one of the biggest Oakhouse Apartments in Tokyo, and it’s on the south side of Tachikawa station.
Your impression of Tachikawa might be an urban and that is not wrong either. Around the station of Tachikawa, especially, is a pretty busy area and it is surrounded with tall buildings with many stores inside. The landscape of the city would probably remind you of Shinjuku. In fact, some people do think of Tachikawa as Shinjuku in the west. However, it would not be accurate to say that urban area is what only Tachikawa has.
For example, there are very nice nature spots in Tachikawa and one of my favorite spot is within walking distance from Tachikawa Garden Town. That very spot is called Negawa Ryokudou (根川緑道).
On the first week of April, I brought my housemates there and we enjoyed Hanami. It was actually the first time for me to do hanami there. I knew this place was nice but I could not do it last year because I had so much unpacking to do (I moved to Tachikawa during the Hanami period) and I did not know anyone in the house back then.
It was very lucky of me that I got to know some people in the house and we became close enough to invite Hanami this year.
Negawa Ryokudou, is the place we picked for Hanami. This spot is known as a nice walking path. There’s a nice little stream going toward Tama river along the path. When I take a walk with my daughter, I always come here. I recently found out that this path is not only a nice walking path but also a nice hanami spot as well.
As you can see, the view is amazing with many sakura trees on both sides of the river.
What’s great about Tachikawa is that even a nice place like this won’t get crowded during the best season of the year. I love hanami in Inokashira park in Kichijoji but that park is so crowded that you can’t even walk straight or find your friends. The only area that can get crowded in Tachikawa is around the station and that’s it. I rarely queue for any restaurants or any services.
In any hanami spot in Tokyo, taking a hanami spot is the troublesome part. You have to wake up at 5am in the morning and set up the space, and “guard” the spot until everyone else shows up. The worst case scenario is that you catch a cold and you have to go home by noon. That is precisely why everyone wants to do hanami but no one wants to organize one.
There is a nice riverside spot where you can place a hanami sheet on the floor and just relax. I was surprised how less crowded this spot was.
Here we brought our own food and share some drinks. We stayed there for such long hours: I believe it was from 11am to 4pm so that’s 5 hours. 5 hours! We must’ve lost track of time because it was so nice.
I brew some coffee with my outdoor equipment. Drinking coffee outside is always great.
The hanami we did on that day was so easy and stress-free. In my opinion, Hanami should be something peaceful and nice. This spot in Tachikawa had everything I wanted for Hanami.
My advice for hanami in Tokyo would be simple. Just come to Tachikawa and you’ll be fine.
いやもう、なにがなんだか。
初めてこんなの見たときの衝撃たるや。
海にきたら、草原だったんです。
試しにヤギでもはなしてみようさー。
それが、これ、あーさ（＝あおさ）なんです。
磯の香りかぐわし〜、あの海藻。
南の島に通い始めて３回目の春、いよいよ春の風物詩として
こういうのが心に根付いてきました。
それから、春の風物詩はもうひとつ、もずく。
ここは竹富島、真ん中の点がわたしですw
上空から俯瞰してて、下から迫り来る森と
上から押し寄せるもずくの波にのみこまれてしまいそう。
もずくの絨毯、海にしいときましたw
想像しやすい南の島の海とまるで違って乙でしょう。
ちなみに、おいしやおいしや〜太くてやわらかくてつるつるで。
一方、こちらの想像通りの彩の海も、同じ竹富島、同じ時期なんです。
いろんな装い楽しめる春の海も大好き！
南の島の春のこと、さらに書いています。
よろしかったら、下記リンクからご覧くださいませ。
【旅色アンバサダー連載】