This is an album of photos taken during our trip to Japan from late March to mid-April, 2015. We had not visited Japan before and we chose our dates carefully, hoping to be there at "Cherry Blossom Time". That, in itself, was not as easy as it may sound. Cherry blossom time varies a little each year with weather conditions being the main factor affecting the dates. Also, the blossoming starts in the south of Japan, working its way north over a few weeks, with the mountainous western areas being a couple of weeks behind the eastern regions. But our planning worked well and we arrived in Tokyo at about the same time as the early blossoms. As we worked our way south to Kyoto and Nara we entered the full glory of cherry blossom time. Later in our journey, as we travelled through the mountainous western region, we were again in the early blossom time. To visit Japan is to visit a country of large, modern cities with amazing transport networks. The Shinkansen, or "Bullet Trains", are amazing and the entire network functions like clockwork. But, beneath the modern appearance, an older culture still persists. It is seen in various religious and cultural ceremonies, for example, the famous "tea ceremonies". Also among these is the culture of "hanami", or "flower viewing" at the beginning of Spring when cherry blossom time arrives. Familiy groups picnic beneath the trees in every park and garden where cherry blossoms can be found. And that's almost everywhere. So, our trip took us through various areas of Honshu, from Tokyo and Kamakura, to Hakone and then further south to Kyoto and Nara. From there we stopped in Hiroshima en route to Miyajima, before heading for Osaka, Kanazawa and Takayama on our way back to Tokyo. The photos are unapologetically biassed toward the cherry blossom experience. That's why we chose the dates we did and we are more than happy with the result, even if the weather tried hard to frustrate us. |
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