Tourists walk through some of the 30,000 kochia plants, most of which turn red, on a slope of Hitachi Seaside Park in Hitachinaka, Ibaraki Prefecture, northeast of Tokyo, on Oct. 13, 2009. ''The ball-like shape of this plant is adorable. I feel as if I was in a picture book,'' said Chizuko Gemma, one of the visitors. (Kyodo)