The Cherries Bloom Again

In Japan I have developed a new appreciation of the changing of  seasons.  I grew up with season changes, but 20+ years in Florida dulled my appreciation of this regular change of weather and nature. Here in the Tokyo area we have frost in winter and occasional snow in winter, in summer it gets about as hot as Tampa for about six weeks. In autumn we have brightly colored leaves on maple trees. But spring, that's the season when the cherry trees bloom. There are so many of them and you find them planted singly on otherwise barren school sports grounds and in ones and twos in many neighborhoods. Many towns have a street that is lined with cherry trees on both sides. Small streams and ancient castle moats make great settings for cherry trees with the blossoms reflected in the water. Often cherry trees are planted the grounds of temples.

Today after church my friend and I went for a walk that in this time of year is called "Hana Me" - looking at flowers. You can see all the pictures I took on the nearly 4 hour ramble through Ichikawa in my Picasa web albums. I include some  here to make you want to look at the rest.  (You can always click on on of the slide shows running to the right and when you get to my web album, click on the tab along the top called gallery or albums or something like that to see a collection. Let me know if you have trouble.)


Other things are blooming as well, and as the season progresses we know that soon we will see wisteria. Each kind in it's proper time.