Pretty Trees with a Cherry on Top

The last two weeks have been filled with a ridiculous amount of hanami. I have seen more cherry blossoms than you can imagine. And, it's not quite over yet. I'll be searching out the late blooming trees in the region this coming week so that I can show them to my friend who is about to visit Kyoto. My photos don't do justice. I can't seem to capture the zen-like relaxation that you feel when surrounded by blossoms in mankai. But, trust me. It's chill.

Here is a brief list of the best places I've seen cherry blossoms this month.

KYOTO
Tetsugaku no michi (Path of Philosophy)
Okazaki Canal
Heian Jingu Garden
Takasegawa Canal
Kamogawa River
Arashiyama (Nakanoshima Park)
Maruyama Koen
Kyoto Imperial Palace Grounds

OTHER NEARBY CITIES
Uji River
Byodoin Temple in Uji
Saidaiji Temple in Nara
Osaka Castle (Nishinomaru Garden, Grounds, Park by the Moat)
Ookawa River in Osaka

Takasegawa Canal Sakura Festival

On Saturday, I volunteered at the Takasegawa Canal Sakura Festival on Kiyamachi Street. The festival was held by the Old Rissei School machi-zukuri (~Neighborhood Planning Committee) and some very friendly people that I met on Facebook.

The idea of the event seemed to be two-fold: informing people about the history and significance of the Takasegawa River/Canal, and (of course) enjoying the cherry blossoms.

The part of the festival that I was helping with was a boat ride in the canal under the sakura blossoms. Before the event began, several of the volunteers assembled a takase boat and jury-rigged the canal to increase its waterlevel in the area of the boat ride.

A kimono-clad band of five girls helped to lure visitors. Then, we offered rides on the boat to passers-by and gave them information and a quiz about the canal. People seemed to have a really good time. Two maiko even stopped by to see what was going on!

While "volunteer patrolling", I was given the special task to look for foreign tourists and to give them the information sheet about the canal so that they could "more thoroughly enjoy their experience" in the area. This was uneventful as a surprisingly low number of English speaking people passed by the canal. However, I did meet one fun couple from Issaquah, WA who were filming a series about Japan for a PBS show called Discoveries Asia. They shot a quick interview with me about the canal, the event I was volunteering for and why I was in Japan. It will probably end up on the cutting room floor, but there is a small chance that I could be on their show. How amusing!

Some other things I learned are that the Takase boats (Takasebune) are well-known from the title of a novel by Ogai Mori. These boats were used on the canal and as such, the name of the canal came from the name of the boats. There is also an old popular song called Takasebune that we were playing on a CD all day. Even though it was a beautiful song, by the end of the day I was so tired of hearing it.

It was a fun experience to try volunteering at this festival, especially since all of the event planners and all of the other volunteers were Japanese. A few of them spoke English, but even so, the day was a good chance to test my Japanese skills. I still have a long way to go, but as long as I kept my sentences simple, people seemed to understand what I was saying. Sugoi desu ne!

Under Kyoto's Sakura Spell

This time of year in Japan is MAGICAL. It's so hard to pay attention to anything these days besides the cherry blossoms. Kyoto has me completely under its sakura spell.

The Cherry Blossoms are in mankai (peak/full bloom) and it seems that on every street in Kyoto you're bound to glimpse a sprinkling (or more!) of these beautiful flowers among the other trees. Even more amazing is that many parks and pathways, especially those lining the Kamogawa river and the canals, are completely lined with sakura trees. One such example is the Tetsugaku no Michi (Philosopher's Path) just south of our house. These pictures were taken along the Tetsugaku no Michi and Honen-in Temple just as the first blooms were appearing last week.

For the sadly short sakura season, we along with thousands of other Kyoto-ites are enjoying hanami and yozakura (hanami at night) non-stop. This means I'm running all over the Kansai region on foot, by bike, by bus and by train to view the cherry blossoms in many of the most popular/gorgeous spots. Expect more photos and updates assuming that I can break myself away from the beauty and peacefulness around us to blog again.

In Like a Lion, Out Like a Lamb

March is fulfilling its proverbial destiny. Yet again, the month is ending in a much more pleasant and less ferocious way than it began. Spring has arrived along with brief moments of lovely weather. I've taken this to mean that I don't have to wear jackets anymore and that it is time to wear skirts, short sleeves and sandals. I might be a little bit cold, but you won't hear me admit it. Instead, I'm busy seeing, doing and photographing everything again.

Kyoto-ites are all abuzz with excitement about the "Sakura Front." Yes, that's right. The arrival of first bloom and peak bloom times for the cherry blossoms are forecast on the news each day alongside the weather. They say the first blooms hit Kyoto and Uji on March 24th and the first blooms arrived in Osaka and Nara on March 26th. The estimated peak cherry blossom viewing times for our region are estimated to be between March 30th and April 10th this year.

I'm looking forward to my first hanami experience! Hanami means flower viewing (hana= flower, mimasu/miru= to see, to look, to view) and it is a uniquely Japanese custom of taking time out to enjoy the beauty of flowers. Although, flowers, in this case, almost always means cherry blossoms!

Plum Blossoms are in Bloom!

On February 25th, Kitano Tenmangu Shrine held its annual Baika-sai Plum Blossom Viewing. This festival is a "Nodate" or outdoor tea ceremony hosted by geiko and maiko beneath the beautiful plum blossoms at the shrine.

Because of my Japanese class and tutoring schedule, I missed the actual tea ceremony, but I was still able to enter Sugawara Michizane's plum orchard, enjoy some plum blossom sweets and admire the blooms on my own. They say there are about 2000 plum trees in the orchard with most of the blossoms being either pink or white. It was beautiful and very peaceful.

Perhaps you were wondering... Who is Sugawara Michizane? Well, he was a scholar and politician from the Heian-era (9th c.) who is sort of the patron saint of Kitano Tenmangu shrine. In fact, his nickname "Tenjin-san" is the also the name of the monthly flea-market held on the shrine grounds. The Baika-sai festival has evolved from a prayer ceremony held at his death to ask for repose for his soul. It is said that he was crazy about plum (ume) trees!

I can understand his enthusiasm because the plum is associated with the start of spring, being among the first flowers to bloom. For Kyoto residents, the arrival of spring should mean finally being able to turn off our wimpy space heaters (glorified toasters) and to stop wearing fleeces and/or coats inside. I can only assume that winter felt even colder in the 9th c. since heaters and the like were not around. It's no wonder Tenjin-san loved this harbinger of warmer days.

All together now... Welcome Plum Blossoms! Welcome Spring!