Wildflowers in the botanical garden and Tsuruga Station on the Hokuriku Shinkansen

 The other day, I went to the botanical garden in Fukui Prefecture located about 90 km away from here. In its vast hilly area, we can see numerous species of plants, both native and transplanted. The main purpose of the trip was to look for slime mold, but due to the fine weather every day I couldn't find any.
 So, I changed my mind to take some pictures of the wildflowers in the garden.

Now  I would like to show some wild flowers in the botanical garden.

water lily（suiren） 

Hydrangea （Ajisai）

Honey bee

Bellflower, campanula　（Hotarubukuro） There is also a white flower. 

Japanese spirea （Shimotsuke）

Japanese meadowsweet　（Kyoganoko）

Gardenia　(Kuchinashi)

Psychostrophia melanargia　（Kin-monga）

Epipactis thunbergii　(Kakiran)　

 Since its flowers are persimmon-color (yellow to orange), reminiscent of persimmon fruits, it is called Kakiran in Japan.  Kaki means persimmon and Ran means orchid.

Hosta sieboldiana　（Giboushi）

Exterior of Tsuruga station, current terminal of the Hokuriku Shinkansen

 By the way, I heard that Tsuruga Station on the Hokuriku Shinkansen, which opened in March this year, is the tallest station in Japan, so I got off at Tsuruga interchange on express way to take a picture of the station building. The Shinkansen entrance is on the east side of the station. But there was nothing except parking lots in the surrounding area.

 The new station building is about 37 meters tall, equivalent to a 12-story building. The Shinkansen platform is on the third floor, 21 meters above ground level, making it the tallest station in Japan as well as the height of the station building.

 Until March 16th this year, we could get to Kanazawa or Fukui directly from Kyoto, Osaka area by the Limited Express ‘Thunderbird’ on the conventional line, but now we have to transfer at Tsuruga station, a temporary terminal.  I think it's inconvenient to move to the upper floor with a luggage in a short time, although we can get small time-saving.

 There is no confirmed information on when the Hokuriku Shinkansen will be elongated to Shin-Osaka station. Until then, we have to endure the transfer at Tsuruga station.

 The Hokuriku Shinkansen is a high-speed Shinkansen railway line planed to connect Tokyo with Shin-Osaka via Nagano, Kanazawa, Fukui and Tsuruga. On March 16th, the extention to Tsuruga from Kanazawa was open. As a result, the section between Tokyo and Tsuruga is in operation at present.