Monday, April 06, 2009

sakura walk

Lately, I've been going on sakura (cherry blossom) walks in the afternoons.

Thursday and Friday I walked around Sakuragaoka and Asahigaoka. These two neighborhoods have sakura (cherry blossom) trees planted in front of almost every home.

Saturday it rained, so I couldn't show Satoshi the sakura in our neighborhood, but Sunday was clear. The skies weren't blue, in fact there was an ugly haze, but at least there wasn't any rain or wind.

From our place we walked to Sakurai, where I showed Satoshi the huge sakura tree. A lot of the blooms had fallen since I had discovered it, but Satoshi was still impressed by the size of the tree.

Then we went to Suigetsu Park, where I wanted to show him this shidarezakura(weeping cherry) tree.

It was actually on the property of the apartments next to the park. (On Friday, I trespassed in order to take the photo, there are 2 men in the photo also, I think they were trespassing also, they didn't even notice me, I guess they were in awe of the tree).

From Suigetsu Park, we walked to Ikeda and up the steep Satsuki mountain.

We've always seen the observation area from the train, but never went up the mountain.

I'm sure the view would have been nicer had there not been the haze. The walk down the winding road was nice, there was a tunnel of cherry blossoms.

At the bottom in Satsukiyama Park, many people were partying under the cherry trees, actually everyone sat wherever they could find a place to sit!

There were tons of people, especially since the weather was nice. I think we'll be able to enjoy the cherry blossoms for another week or so.

17 comments:

Deb in Hawaii said...

Such gorgeous photos and how wonderful you can go the walks and see all the blossoms. For some reason in all my trips I was always just a few weeks off and either they were just starting to bloom or just ending.

KirkK said...

Hi Kat - Wonderful photos as usual! Thanks for sharing.

K and S said...

You are welcome Kirkk :)

Thanks Deb, the thing with cherry blossoms is that nature decides when it all happens, even if the weather people predict when it will start blooming, if the temps change it can bloom earlier or later, I am definitely lucky living here :)

Take care you two.
Kat

Lori said...

Looks great Kat! Will you have a hanami party?

K and S said...

Thanks Lori, not sure if we will have a hanami party :)

Take care.
Kat

dee said...

Kat - how do the sakura smell? Is it overpowering or just nice in the air?

K and S said...

It isn't overpowering Dee, it is really delicate. Sometimes you can't even smell anything.

Take care.
Kat

Rowena said...

I noticed the flux of cherry blossoms just over the weekend. It's like all of a sudden, the color of white is everywhere you go.

K and S said...

ooh, Spring is headed your way Rowena :)

Take care.
Kat

Pandabonium said...

I love this time of year. Such beautiful pics. The "huge sakura" tree is really amazing.

K and S said...

Me too PB! Thank you!

Take care.
Kat

moshi mooch said...

The pictures are lovely! You are very lucky to be living in Japan. I have been following your blog for awhile and I enjoy reading your posts.

Have a good day!

2kamuela47 said...

Beautiful pictures! I love sakura.

Ozge said...

No wonder why spring is my favorite season... Beautiful post, and pictures.

Spirited Miu Flavor
http://spiritedmiuflavor.blogspot.com

K and S said...

Thanks for delurking Moshi Mooch :)

Thanks Laura:)

Spring is one of my favorite seasons too Ozge :)

Take care everyone!
Kat

curiousdomestic said...

I love cherry blossoms. Thanks for sharing your photos!

K and S said...

Thank you Curiousdomestic :)

Take care.
Kat