Sunday Driving in Gojo

After visiting a festival in Yoshino Town on Sunday morning, and seeing a concert in Shimoichi Town in the afternoon, my friends and I found ourselves with a little time on our hands, and went for a nice drive to Gojo City. We passed through communities with persimmon farms and lots of traditional Japanese houses, and made the smooth climb up the soft hills of the western side of the city until we came upon a park.The highlight of Goman-nin No Mori Park (or “50,000 Person Forest Park”) is without a doubt its spectacular view of the valley below. Climb up a long set of steps to an acorn filled path, and continue up to the lone deck perched over the park.

Along the ledge, a photo showed us which mountains lay before our eyes, and what they look like in winter. We could see Sanjo-gatake, the mountain behind my house. As I spend most of my time at the bottom of valleys with steep mountains, this long, clear view of southern Nara prefecture was incredibly refreshing.

Even in the late afternoon, this park still had a number of families enjoying one of these last warmer days of the season. With rental  spots for barbecuing and camping, along with wide patches of grass to run around on, it is a relatively quiet part of the city where people can relax and enjoy the outdoors.

There is also a shop where you can buy local vegetables, snacks, and souvenirs. There are many traditional, handmade items here that you probably can’t find near most tourist destinations.

As you can see, Gojo City is beautiful part of Nara Prefecture!  There are many other parts of the city to see as well, including the historic Shinmachi-dori, so I hope you get a chance to visit. If you have any questions or need recommendations, please don’t hesitate to contact us!

Here is the park’s Japanese homepage.