Wednesday, April 5, 2017

Sakura

I timed my travel to Japan at the end of March/early April so that I can see the cherry blossoms, called sakura in Japanese.  There are only 2 places (as far as I know) where you can see an abundance of cherry blossoms - Japan and Washington, DC.  The cherry trees in Washington, DC, were a gift from Japan before World War II.  Depending  on which part of Japan you are in, you may see the cherry blossoms during late March all the way to end of April.

When I arrived in Tokyo at the end of March, they were just starting to bloom.  It was a little cold and raining at that time.  While traveling through the Kiso Valley and the Nakasendo Trail, I did not see any.  When I arrived in Kyoto on April 3, I was told that some of the cherry trees have already bloomed.   While walking from the train station to the hotel, we stopped at the at the grounds of the Imperial Palace and saw my first cherry blossoms.  It was quite a sight!  Over the next two days while visiting difference places of interest around Kyoto, we saw cherry blossoms everywhere.  Not all the cherry trees have bloomed but I'd say at least 75% of them have.

I am taking a slight detour from chronicling my travel so that I can show some of these pictures now.  I've yet to write about my time in Nagoya, Nara and Koyasan.  I have so many pictures that I am randomly picking them and putting them on this post.  I may add more later.  So, here they are.




















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