Ueda-jo Senbon Sakura Matsuri (Picture Book)

While last year the cherry bloom was late in Tokyo and we were super lucky to see all of it during our stay, this year it was early and completely over by the time we arrived in Tokyo. Luckily, this situation could be remedied: in Nagano Prefecture, a mere 80 minutes on the Shinkansen away, the Ueda Castle 1000 Cherry Trees Festival (上田城千本桜祭）is in full swing.

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Close-up on Sakura – 2012 (Picture Book)

When we left Zurich last Sunday, we took off in a snow storm (admittedly somewhat atypical for the season). These last days, I have been snowed on as well, but in a much more pleasant manner: by falling Sakura petals floating through the air.
Even though the rains have now taken down most of the glory of Tokyo’s Sakura trees, I still have to pay a tribute to this year’s season in pictures.

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A Kind of Magic: Cherry Bloom at Chidorigafuchi

 One of the most magical places in Tokyo during Hanami season is Chidorigafuchi (千鳥ヶ淵, thousand birds moat), the northeastern part of the Imperial Palace moat. Gorgeous old sakura trees are lining both banks of the moat, extending their branches towards the surface of the water.
We visited Chidorigafuchi on two consecutive days early in the morning, finding two completely different moods.

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Things Japanese XIIX

Since the Japanese specialize in cute things, they have found ways of making mundane everyday objects cute and special. Paper clips are an instance of this. You can buy them horse-, elephant-, or car-shaped, to name only a few. But the colored cherry blossom edition is the crowning achievement!

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Gion in Details (Picture Book)

Gion is mostly known as the Geisha district of Kyoto. But the area of Gion and between Maruyama Park and Kiyomizudera is lovely in its own right. Here, you get a feeling of the old Japan. Few places in Japan have retained so much of their historical character. The narrow lanes with small houses are full of lovely details. And of course, the cherry blossoms add to their charm.
Small shops selling local crafts and restaurants boasting the local specialties (tofu) attract the casual passer-by, and tea houses tucked into corners invite for a bowl of matcha or a refreshing iced green tea under the drooping branches of a shidare sakura.
Here are some views to share.

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Dreams in Pink and Blue (Sakura)

The short time of the Sakura bloom is already nearing its end around Kyoto and Tokyo, as the cherry blossom line approaches the mountains and the northern prefectures. And this year, I can say that I really had my fill: by day and night, from almost pure white Yoshino Sakura to kitschy pink, from delicately drooping Shidare-Sakura to puffy Yae Sakura with a double bloom. For days, I would see cherry blossoms when I closed my eyes at night and my dreams would be a delicate pink and white before a clear blue sky. Of course, I also indulged my camera…

Dreams in Pink and Blue

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Kyoto Sakura Light-up (Picture Book)

Central Shidare-Sakura in Maruyama Park

Cherry blossom viewing is not restricted to the daylight hours. A number of places in Kyoto have special Light-ups for this purpose. Some of them, like Maruyama Park and the Shirakawa River are publicly accessible, while for the Light-ups on the grounds of Kiyomizudera, Kodaiji, or Nijo Castle, you have to buy a ticket. The Sakura Light-ups are often spectacular and afford a different view of the Sakura. In short, they are not to be missed!

Lit gate at Kiyomizudera

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Sakura in Kyoto (Picture Book)

To be in Kyoto during the cherry blossom season is a dream come true. Not that Tokyo wouldn’t have lots of sakura trees. But Kyoto provides this special historical setting of temples and shrines that shows off a blooming cherry tree just so much better. The season is just starting out, with the weeping shidare-sakura at its best now, and the limpid spring air gives the blue skies this clear and intense quality I find particular to Japan.

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Nara under Cherry Blossoms

Last weekend, we finally visited Nara, another former capital of Japan. The timing was perfect: good weather, and the cherry blossoms in full bloom.
Every time I travel in Japan, I learn at least one new word of Japanese. While on our last trip, the word was “jigoku” (hell), this time, it was definitely “shika-senbei”, deer cracker.

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Sakura Love

The Sumida river clad in pink

These days are probably among the best of the entire year. We have a succession of mild days with blue skies, and most of all, the cherry trees are in full bloom.

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