Mar. 30 - The Crescent town in Sayo, Hyogo Prefecture

My husband and I drove for about one hour to Sayo city, Hyogo Prefecture

last March 30.

This is Mikazuki town.  
"Mikazuki" is the Japanese word for "crescent."
The local people planted the trees to shape like its symbol
to welcome visitors.  

     

I got out of our car to take a picture of the symbol trees.

Then, I noticed Narcissuses were in full bloom on the side walk.

I took a picture in front of the Mikazuki Station.

The Crescent Moon symbol can also be seen at the top of the building.

I was interested in this station, so I checked it in Wikipedia. 

It says that this wooden building was built in 2003.  Though, there have been no railway staff workers assigned here since 1986 because only 120 passsengers get in or off the station on a daily basis.  So, passengers can buy their tickets using the vending machines only.

We ate lunch at Ajiwai-no-sato restaurant in Mikazuki town. 

We visited there in May 2015, about one year ago, and we liked the place.

We both enjoyed the meal but I felt a bit too heavy after eating. 

I should have refrained from having all the fried vegetables. 

The flowers of dogwood tree have already begun to fall,

but the tree still looks beautiful.

 My husband was so much into taking photos there. 

After finished lunch, we drove for about 5 minutes to Noi-no-Jinya.

Here is an excerpt of the Wikipedia article about Jinya:

"During the Edo period of Japanese history, a jinya was the administrative headquarters of a small domain of land held by the administration, and the associated grain storehouse."

As a birdwatcher, I was excited to find a small bird called

White Wagtail on the narrow wooden floor. 

There are small pinmills made of PET bottles along the roadside. 

After that we moved to Tsurudani area to see Katakuri or Dogtooth Violet flowers.  

Katakuri or Dogwood Violet flowers

My husband took a little time to set up his camera's tripod.
He occupied the narrow path, but we were lucky that

there were no other visitors.

Please continue editing from here.  Thank you!
I guess that his back pain comes from this kind of pose. 

He needs to reduce weight so that he can do it easily.

I liked the yellow flower, the rape flower, more than the dogtooth violets.

There were two senior volunteers who welcomed us at the entrance.

I enjoyed chatting with them more than taking pictures there.

We fully enjoyed our visit -- the meal, the historical buildings, and flowers in this area. 

We are looking forward to seeing the Lupinus flowers in bloom next month.