Cherry Blossoms

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OK, I am way behind on the blogging, but since Matt, Carla, Rowan, and Nirav have arrived in Japan, I haven't had much time to blog. This will be a short one.

This time of year is Cherry Blossom season in Japan. Around mid March to the end of April, the Cherry Blossom trees come into bloom all over Japan. They start blooming in the south and then work their way north. The cherry blossom (sakura) is Japan's unofficial national flower. It has been celebrated for many centuries and takes a very prominent position in Japanese culture. There are many dozens of different cherry tree varieties in Japan, most of which bloom for just a couple of days in spring. The Japanese celebrate that time of the year with hanami (cherry blossom viewing) parties under the blooming trees.

I went to a few areas just to view the trees, along with many many Japanese. This is one of their busiest tourist seasons and parks are overrun with people snapping away their cameras trying to get the best shots. I have included a few pics from Tokyo, Nara, and Yoshina. I have pleanty more where these came from too😊

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Photos

Close Up
This was in Tokyo outside the Imperial Palace

Red flower
Not a cherry blossom, but still worthy of a snap.

Imperial Blossoms
Admiring the cherry blossoms outside the Imperial Palace in Tokyo

Tokyo Park
It became hard to capture the blossoms sometimes because of their white color against a cloudy sky.

Floating Blossoms in Nara
This is in front of the Todai-Ji, the largest wooden building in the world.

Tulips in Yoshino
I was trying out some of the settings on my camera. In this one, I have made everything black and white, except for the yellow of the flower.

Himeji-Jo Castle
Here I have let the blossoms' color shine through while keeping the rest of the background in black and white.

HUGE Apple
Ok, not a flower, but look at the size of the apples they have over here! You could feed an entire Japanese family off one apple.

Comments

[Kendra]

Hmm...
Does anyone else think Jason looks like Forrest Gump in the picture where he's sitting on the park bench? I do!