Summer vacation in 2009 vol.6

On the last day I visited Maebashi city and Kiryu city which are located in Gunma prefecture.

I really didn’t want to go back to Tokyo, because my summer trip was so wonderful.

At first I went to the Gunma prefecture government building which is well known for it’s view from the top of the building.

Unfortunately, the day I visited there, it was cloudy. If it had have been fine, the view would have been better.

Few people visited the observation deck at that time, so I could enjoy it very much.

After I visited the Gunma prefecture government building, I moved to a small amusement park which is well known as the cheapest amusement park in Japan.

The park’s name is Luna Park.

Actually the concept of that park is “to make the customers feel nostalgic with it’s old-fashioned attractions”.

It was a very small park, and to my surprise, the price of most of the attractions were under 50 yen. Especially the price of the attraction in following image was only 10 yen.

These are protected as being the oldest rocking-horses in Japan by government.

It was not the weekend, but still many families enjoyed the park. It made me smile.

Actually my guide book didn’t feature that park in detail, but I think my decision to go there was not bad.

After I visited Luna Park, I went back to Maebashi station, and moved to the next city, Kiryu.

For over a millennium, Kiryu’s principal industry was textile manufacturing, primarily silk.

Although Kiryu is located in a rural area, Kiryu became welthy, so Kiryu has many famous cultural facilities, such as museums and parks.

Although the Kimono culture declined after the Meiji era, other types of industry, for example, Pachinko, and car components, flourished.

I knew Kiryu only by name, because I learned about Japanese history in my childhood.

I rented a bicycle at the station the same as in the other cities.

The above images are of  factories with saw-roofing.

“The saw-roof factories“  are the main symbol of Kiryu, and it was my purpose to see them.

Most of them were built before the 1950’s, however their number is decreasing with the decline of textile manufacturing. So now some of them are used as sightseeing facilities, museums, and cafes.

I saw some old Japanese houses in the streets on my way to Gunma University.

The following image is of one of the buildings of Gunma University, which is protected by the government.

It was buit in 1916, and is still in use.

There I saw some wedding photos. The building is sometimes used as a location for photoshoot.

The above guardroom is also protected by the government. I talked with a friendly guard for several minutes.

Finally my summer trip finished, and I went back to my home in which my husband was waiting for me.

It was only 6 days, however I could meet some nice local people, and could know a little about Gunma and Niigata.

My next trip is to go to Nikko with my husband and with my parents who live in Tokushima, in November.