Hanami Season

Worthy of publication!

A few weeks after we return from Thailand hanami season begins in Tokyo.  This year we want to view some cherry blossoms in places we missed previously.  Our first stop is Nakameguro, in the southwest part of Tokyo.  A river (I would describe it as a canal) runs through this part of the city and is lined with cherry trees.  They make a gorgeous canopy down the street and across the water.

No one can resist taking a selfie with a
sakura background.

It's like a blossom waterfall!

Here's your close up!

I wonder if he gets tired of being asked to have his picture taken.

The street is lined with tables & booths selling drinks and food.  I'm surprised to see so many because one of the reviews said there might be limited food and others didn't mention anything.  I knew the Japanese wouldn't let me down!  (Side Note:  Steve returned a couple of days later, closer to the weekend, and said he thought there were fewer food booths.  So maybe the merchants don't show up every day.)

Is this a successful picture?

I can't resist the drink of the season, sparking rose with a strawberry!  It's not bad (for pink wine - I'm not a big fan of rose) but it's fun to sip as we walk and take pictures.  I try for a still life photo, but I don't know think I'm as successful as Steve is with his sunset wine glass picture.

Surrounded by blossoms.

Steve could submit this to a travel brochure!

We arrive in the late afternoon on a weekday, so it's crowded, but not TOO crowded.  However, the number of people keeps increasing the later it gets.  We plan to stay through nightfall until the lanterns and lights are turned on.

Trying to capture the glow of the lanterns.

One more sakura selfie!

Right as it reaches dusk and everything is lit, the rain starts.  It stays a drizzle for about 15 minutes, then turns into a pouring thunderstorm (only the third one we've seen in the 18 months we've lived in Tokyo).  Luckily, we've walked back to the station by this time, so we decide to return home.

Very pretty, even in the rain!

Steve plays with shutter speed to try for a better picture.

Later in the week we go to Rikugien Garden, in the northern part of the city.  We visited them soon after we moved to Tokyo to see the Autumn Evening Illumination, when the trees are lit up at night in all their fiery glory.  They do the same thing for the cherry trees in the spring.  It's a much smaller spectacle (and less crowded) because they don't have as many sakura, but it's still pretty.

 

The moon cooperates with the illumination theme, and peeks over the blossoms on one of the trees.

The lights on this tree make it look multi-colored.

Yes, another selfie!

Amazingly, it's not all outdoors!  We attend a sakura theme party.  There's a sakura cocktail, but it's too sweet for us.  Steve decides to stick with the fresh sake.

Fresh sake straight from the barrel!

It's like a compulsion...must do selfie with cherry blossoms.

We repeat one location, but that's because it's right beside our apartment and we go there often, anyway!  The Aoyama Cemetary has paths lined with sakura. 

I think Steve has a second career as a photographer.

Too pretty for ghosts to hang out at this graveyard.

I finally get the shots I waited for all last season!  Blue, blue sky and pretty pink flowers - it really does happen.

Blue sky, pink blossoms - it's not just a myth!

Cherry trees at our apartment!

Tie-dye has fun with the flowers, too!  We make him model for our photographs.

Have to take the picture from down low so you can see the blooms.

Mom!  I'm a boy dog, not a girl dog.

A potted tree - it counts!

Running around in the fallen petals - he jerked the leash, causing my hand to move as I took the picture.

As the cherry blossoms fall, the next flowers pop up - tulips!  Together they make a pretty picture.  Unfortunately, none of my photos capture the petals as they fall.  You feel like you're in the middle of a (not as cold) snowfall when the breeze blows them off the branches.  Magical!

One final picture (and it's not a selfie!)