Three Hergs, One Adventure: September 2015

Sakura season in Japan is one of the most beautiful. The cherry trees begin to bloom in Okinawa (the southernmost prefecture) in January. The blooms creep their way up the islands finishing in Hokkaido (northernmost of the main islands) by the end of April. With the arrival of warmer weather, the blossoms seemingly erupt all at once; green trees painted all shades of pink and white overnight.

They sit in their peak of beauty for a couple of days and then, almost as quickly as they arrived, they are gone. The wave of blossoms is tracked like a storm by the Japanese Meteorological Agency and public alike. During this time people are eager to view the blossoms in their most splendid state. They plan their outings to the parks, shrines, temples, castles, and villages where the blossoms are most beautifully showcased based on official blossom forecasts. People look forward to this period as a time to share with friends and loved ones as well as an opportunity celebrate the beauty of the blooms and the nature of life.

The practice, of gathering to picnic under the cherry trees, or Hanami, is a centuries old practice in Japan dating back to the 700s. Yes, the 700s. People bring blankets, food, friends, and family (and cameras, and tripods, and selfie sticks) and spend the day(s) sitting under the trees. As the blossoms age, they are blown from the trees by the wind in a pink and white swirl and fall softly to the ground like snow; rivers, ponds, puddles, and moats turn pink. From start to finish, the birth and death of the sakura blossom is completely majestic.

Bean and I (along with various combinations of friends...and one time Eric, poor guy's stuck in the office while we frolic among the flowers) did a lot of Hanami-ing this year. We spent the majority of spring driving around looking for flowers (you can see all the non-sakura flowers we drove to look at here). This period of time was probably one of my favorite few weeks that I have spent here in Japan (excluding awesome visits with friends and family). The weather was fabulous and the flowers are just flipping gorgeous.

In Tohoku in April/May, you can see (and I did see) sakura all over the place, but we explicitly went to look at them in five different sites: Kitakami, Hirosaki, Towada, Ichou Park, and Misawa. The trees were beautiful in all of the locations, but Kitakami and Hirosaki are both recognized as two of Japan's top 100 cherry blossom spots and were just plain jaw dropping gorgeous. I personally loved the trees at Hirosaki best and will go to see them there again next year. Instead of returning to Kitakami (even though it is beautiful), I think I will try and check off a few other of Japan's top 100 spots next year.

Here are ~~some~~ an excessive number of photos from each of the places:

Kitakami
A city about 120 miles southwest of Misawa in Iwate prefecture; it takes a little over two hours to get to Kitakami by car. Tenshochi Park in Kitakami is located along the Kitamaki River and is famous for its over 10,000 cherry blossom trees. While researching this post, I was shocked to see that they claim 10,000 trees (more than double, depending on the source, the number of trees at Hirosaki park). I was surprised by this because I felt the blossoms were much more abundant at Hirosaki park, which is why I say it is my favorite place to see them (well, either that or the red bridges...I am a sucker for red bridges). Numbers aside, Tenshochi Park is gorgeous and is one of the two best places to view blossoms in Iwate.

Koinbori "carp streamers" flown in Japan to celebrate Children's Day, a national holiday in Japan.

"Blossom Avenue" meanders along the Kitakami river and ends at this stunning yellow bridge.

Daffodils trying desperately not to be upstaged by the cherry blossoms.

Upstaged by this cuite pie instead!

Blossom buddies!

All blossomed out!

Hirosaki
A little under 70 miles (west) and two hours away (by car) is Hirosaki park, home to Takaoka Castle. The park is a popular destination during all seasons, but is famous in the spring for its 5,000 cherry blossom trees. We got to the park early enough to see the blossoms both during the day and when they were illuminated at night. This place is unbelievably gorgeous. Very crowded, but very worth it.

Towada

Just under 12 miles (and a 30-45 minute drive) southwest of Misawa is the town of Towada. I love Towada and have a bit of a personal connection there as it is the city in which I teach a few English classes. It is a cool little (what I consider to be artsy) city with lots of fun festivals throughout the year, a couple of amazing restaurants, and a really neat modern art museum, which has a really cool outdoor sculpture exhibit that is a wonderland for kiddos. By the time we made it to the Towada blossoms they were already starting to fall, fortunately this process is also absolutely beautiful.

It is pretty standard that Bean participates in a photo shoot or poses with people when we are out and about. She is going to think she is kind of a big deal...

How can you not love Towada?

From an observatory above the street.

Ichou Park
There is a park about 20 minutes from base in a place called Oirase Town that we Americans refer to as "Statue of Liberty park." The park is called by this name because it features a replica of the Statue of Liberty; Japan's largest Statue of Liberty to be exact. I also learned while researching this blog entry that Oirase Town shares the same latitude at NYC. That is kind of neat. Anyway, this park is another beautiful place to look at cherry blossoms!

Oh, and they have this awesome roller slide, too!

Misawa

Home sweet home, Misawa. Because he was traveling for work for most of April, Eric missed all of cherry blossom season in Tohoku. When he got home from his trip, he, the Bean, and I went to "Train Park" (I wonder if you can guess why we call it by that name) in Misawa to see the blossoms. They were well past their prime, but we still had a wonderful time!