One of the good things about having Monday off is that one can avoid the week-end crowds for a few things, be it shopping or watching cherry blossoms in the most famous and beautiful park in the area. If on Sunday, any place that had cherry trees was invaded by hordes of people seeking to watch their blossoms for Hanami, on Monday, things were much more bearable if you’re like me and hate crowds.
And to make things even better, yesterday afternoon was the most beautiful afternoon of 2012 so far, with a cloudless sky and temperatures raising about 20°C (that’s 70°F) for the first time of the year. In other words, it definitely was the perfect day to spend the afternoon in the Ritsurin Garden, and this is exactly what I did.
It was my very first Hanami, and I can say that now, I definitely understand Japanese people’s obsession with Sakuras.
I may have gone overboard with pictures, this is the largest batch I have posted in one post (and there are more to come, both in a upcoming second post, and as random pictures in the coming months), however, I really advise to watch the whole gallery, I don’t think you’ll regret it (just click on the first picture, and then press the right arrow key to see the next picture).
Enjoy.
Some beautiful pictures David, and this certainly does look like a great place to view the beautiful cherry blossoms. Great having a weekday off to beat the crowds and the weather was just perfect for it. Hope the little one is doing well.
John
Thanks.
Yes, sometimes I’m bummed I have to work on Saturdays, but not working on Mondays is priceless as far as avoiding crowds is.
Hana is doing well, I’m more worried about myself, and my lack of sleep.
It’s really beautiful collection. We can take proud of Hanami
Thanks. Yes, thanks to Japan for those wonderful trees and flowers.
Beautiful! I think I’m jealous! 🙂
PS: The shapes of the pine trees are fascinating …
I genuinely believe that Ritsurin Koen is the most beautiful garden/park in Japan.
The pine trees are basically giant bonsais (which sounds strange as bonsais are small trees, but you see what I mean, right?)
Never realized that Ritsurin Garden had some many sakura trees. I was there a few years ago in late March and did not see many sakura blooms. Probably I was there too early for the full sakura blooms. Next time I might have to be there the first week of April. Great photos. Thanks for posting them. You have a great website. Thanks for sharing.
It has a quite a few, but yeah, you need to be there at the right time. And that right time varies from year to year. It tends to be the first week of April in Takamatsu, but this year it is supposed to be late March. We’ll see.