JOURNAL ・ FIELD NOTES

Poppies and the Skytree at Hirai ― Orange Blooming in the Old Downtown at Dusk

In Hirai, Edogawa, Tokyo, there is a season when some 180,000 orange poppies cover the Arakawa riverbed entirely. In the early-summer dusk, just as the flowers drink in the setting sun, the Tokyo Skytree rises far beyond the field as a blue silhouette. It is a downtown view where the sound of passing trains drifts in on the wind.

A Sea of Orange, Drinking in the Sun

As the evening light drops low, the poppies change colour. The reds and pinks of daytime take on the setting sun, turning orange, then a burning amber. The thin petals let the light through like paper, and each flower glows from within, like a small paper lantern. With every passing breeze those lights sway all at once, and the whole riverbed seems to breathe, slowly. And far beyond the sea of flowers, against a sky already sinking into indigo, the Tokyo Skytree stands quietly, alone. Orange in front, blue behind. That such a palette had been laid out in one of the most ordinary corners of the old downtown — it surprises me anew, every single year.

The Nearest Great View in Town

The flower fields that earn fame are usually far away. You rise early, change trains, and at last arrive. The poppies of Hirai are different. Fifteen minutes on foot from a station on the Sobu line, up the bank of the riverbed, and there they already are. People in suits on their way home, people walking dogs, children still carrying their school satchels — everyone stops before the flowers, in the middle of an ordinary day. In the emergency room I live in time measured by the second. Perhaps that is why I cherish those few minutes when the setting sun slowly dyes the poppies. A time that asks nothing of me to hurry, right beside the station. It felt, a little, like a kind of mercy.

All at once, the flowers light up in the sun.
And beyond them, a single blue Skytree.

Planning Your Visit — Season

Hirai, in Edogawa, lies between two rivers — the Kyu-Nakagawa and the Arakawa. On the Arakawa riverbed sits Hirai Sports Park, where each early summer a poppy field of some 4,200 square metres spreads out.

The Shirley poppies are usually at their best around May. They begin in early May, with full bloom most often peaking around the middle of the month, and in some years they last into late May. Dusk is the time to come. The low sun shines through the petals, and the orange deepens to its richest. As the light falls, the Skytree turns to a silhouette, so it is worth arriving about half an hour before sunset to watch the scene shift, moment by moment, with the colour of the sky.

Getting There

The nearest station is Hirai on the JR Sobu line. Leave by the north exit and walk east along Suzuran-dori, toward the Arakawa. Following Kuramaebashi-dori as a guide, you will see the bank that leads down to the riverbed. It is about 900 metres from the station to the poppy field — roughly a fifteen-minute walk. The riverbed path is flat and easy to walk. The way back grows dark at dusk, so a small light to see your footing is reassuring.

Tips for Photographers

Here, the true subject is backlight from the setting sun. Place the low sun beyond the flowers and shoot so the thin petals are lit through, and the orange will seem to glow from inside. Rather than forcing the Skytree to appear bright, let it sink boldly into silhouette — the contrast between the orange in front and the indigo behind comes alive. Then move close to a single nearest bloom for a soft foreground blur: the lower half of the frame melts into gentle orange, and the tower stands cleanly in the depth beyond. The poppies sway endlessly in the wind, so keep your shutter speed a touch fast — and the patience to wait for the one moment the wind drops is itself the shortest path to a fine frame.

While You're in the Area

Hirai has another river. The Kyu-Nakagawa, a calm waterway that meanders along, with a walking path from which you can see the Skytree across the water. From winter into early spring the Kawazu cherry trees bloom here, a spot known for the pairing of blossom and tower. A little further and you reach the wisteria of Kameido Tenjin Shrine, and Oshiage at the very foot of the Skytree. As a day spent following the rivers and skies of the old downtown, Hirai makes just the right starting point.

🌅 Orange Blooming in the Old Downtown at Dusk, in a Single Print

This dusk view of the poppies and the Skytree at Hirai is offered as a silver-halide print on FUJICOLOR's finest photographic paper. We ship worldwide.

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