Click on photos to see enlarged versions. Captions are below.

<<01>> Arguably Japan’s most famous cherry blossom tree, in Maruyama park. It’s a type of shidare-zakura (weeping cherry tree), which receives the kind of photo attention usually reserved for Hollywood celebrities at film premieres.
<<02>> Well aware of the hordes of tourists who descend on Kyoto during this season, famous Buddhist temples and gardens in the city are keen to exploit the commercial potential with raito-appu (‘light up’ = illuminations). Eager to get on in the act, Nijō castle plastered the city with these posters featuring enticing - and slightly misleading - composite photography. As with other places of historical interest, the Japanese tradition of viewing yozakura (nighttime cherry blossoms) can be enjoyed for a ‘small fee’.
<<03>> Ōsaka castle and park, one of the largest and most popular hanami spots.
<<04>> A close-up of cherry blossoms with the castle rampart behind.
<<05>> There’s no need to bother with real wildlife in Ōsaka-jō park when cute imitations will do.
<<06>> After heavy rain the cherry blossom trees lose a lot of petals. Here is some petal flotsam collecting in the moat by the rampart.

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 10th, 2008 at 3:52 pm and is filed under Uncategorized, Articles in English, Out and About in Japan, Photo Corner. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.