Sakura (Cherry Blossoms) Is Not The Only Flower To Enjoy In This Season!

Now it is the best time for “Hanami (Flower Viewings)”! The most popular and famous flower for “Hanami (Flower Viewings)” would be “Sakura (Cherry Blossoms)” in Japan, but there are more spring flowers to enjoy!

Imakuma Shrine is one of the Shinto shrines located in Hachioji City, and it is known for beautiful one kind of Azalea flowers called "Mitsuba-tsutsuji". The photo above was taken last week, on April 12^th and about 60-70% of the Azalea trees were blooming. So it would be more beautiful this week. What's more you can enjoy a casual hiking starting from this shrine. you can enjoy the view of Azalea flowers blooming beside the shrine on the way of the hiking trail.

In addition, this shrine keeps a ritual dance called “Shishimai (Lion Dance)”. Shishimai is a common traditional Japanese performance taking place at festivals and new year celebration time, but the style of the dance kept at this shrine is unique. It is said that the origin of the ritual dance goes back to 14^th century and it has been performed to pray for a good harvest and expel evils. If you are interested in the ritual dance you can see it at the last Sunday in August every year.

You can reach Imakuma Shrine by bus from Hachioji Station (JR Chuo-line and Keio-line), or Musashi-itsukaichi Station (JR Itsukaichi-line). Take Nishi-tokyo bus from either station and get off at Imakuma Tozan-guchi. From the bus stop to the shrine takes 20-25 minutes on foot. 

Where Would Be Nice To Go To Enjoy Cherry Blossoms Viewings?

April would be the best month to enjoy cherry blossoms (Sakura ) in Tokyo area. There are various kinds of Sakura and each kind become in full bloom with different timing. So we can enjoy Sakura for about a month. 

There are so many famous spots for Sakura viewing, but most places in the center of Tokyo are very crowded. As you can see in the photo below, people who went out for enjoying Sakura sometimes feel as if they came out to see just a crowd of people. Therefore I always recommend to go to suburb areas of Tokyo for Sakura viewings. 

Even inside of Tokyo there are cities considered as suburb areas and also country-side areas. Tokyo is a prefecture mainly consists of 23 wards, 26 cities, 3 towns and 1 village. The 23 wards are usually considered as the center of Tokyo, so people often ask as "Is it inside of 23 wards?" to see if it is located in the urban area. The rest of the areas written as 26 cities, 3 towns and 1 village are called "Tama Area" which came from the old name of the area, and these are considered as residential area and countryside of  Tokyo.

26 cities of "Tama Area" would be convenient places to enjoy Sakura quietly. You can reach the areas mostly in an hour from the center of Tokyo, and won't see too much crowd in Sakura spots. If you don't mind to spent more time on trains and buses, the 3 towns and a village would also be wonderful places to enjoy Sakura and nature without crowds. What's more, in "Tama Area" you can also enjoy a wild type of cherry blossoms called Yama-zakura in mountains.

The photos above are all taken in Hachioji City which is one of the 26 cities. As you can see in the photos, you can find many kinds of Sakura almost every where all over Japan since a lot of places such as local parks, streets, riversides and schools. Hope you can find wonderful Sakura spots without a crowd in Tokyo!

Fall Flowers' Season Started! How About Going To See Japanese Spider Lilies?

Japanese spider lily, “Higan-Bana” is one of the typical fall flowers in Japan. It has been growing all over Japan for long time, but it probably came from overseas because the genetics of this flowers all over Japan are identical. It is thought that one bulb was imported initially and was propagated by dividing the bulbs.

It seems that the climate in Japan well suited for this flower, so today people can enjoy seeing this flower growing abundantly in many places. Kinchakuda in Hidaka City, Saitama prefecture is one of the famous places shown in the photos above and about five million Higan-Bana flowers bloom every fall. Between September 17th to October 2nd will be the festival of Higan-bana, there.

Actually the name “Higan-Bana” means “Flower of The Other Shore”, in other word it is “Flower of Afterlife World”. Moreover it has many other names such as “Heaven’s flower”, “Dead people’s flower”, “Hell’s flower” and “Ghost’s flower”, so some people may not enjoy this flower just because of the ominous name.

Why do the names have unpleasant meaning? Probably one of the reasons came from a well-known fact that this flower is actually a dangerous plant. It is a poisonous plant with an alkaloid so that it can be deadly.

However, for just Hanami (seasonal flower viewing), it is harmless and provides us a fantastic view of fall. 

Cherry Blossoms' Hanami(Seasonal Flowers Viewing) Tour in Sakado City, Saitama Prefecture

I'd like to introduce a mini virtual Hanami(Seasonal Flowers Viewing) Tour today! Please enjoy nearly fully bloomed Sakura flowers here!

This is the same place I showed in my post yesterday. It is a river side area of Oppe-Gawa River located in Kitaasaba, Sakado City, Saitama prefecture. The Sakura trees are all Angyokanzakura, one of the early blooming types.

The Flowers have clearer pink color than Someiyoshino which is the most common kind of Sakura in Japan. So the pretty spring color can be recognized even from a far distance.

There is no train station near by and it would be a little inconvenient, but there are a lot fewer people than famous "Hanami" spots. Thus it is a nice place to enjoy beautiful Sakura flowers in a relaxed atmosphere.

Cherry Blossoms' Hanami(Seasonal Flowers Viewing) Season Has Started!

As I mentioned in "Sakura(cherry blossoms) Forecasts" previously, the Sakura Standard Tree in Tokyo had several flowers yesterday and the Meteorological Agency of Japan formally announced that Sakura(cherry blossoms) started blooming in Tokyo area.

Now most Japanese are probably checking weather forecasts to see when will be good for "Hanami", although the announcement was about the beginning of blooming and there aren't many flowers yet in parks. "Hanami" is one of Japanese traditional customs of going out to enjoy seasonal flowers. It is actually not only for Sakura(cherry blossoms), Hanami can be for any flowers, in fact Japanese enjoy going for "Hanami" throughout the year, but of course  "Hanami" for Sakura is the most popular one. 

Besides, people love to have a "Hanami party" under Sakura trees. When people hear the announcement of Sakura(cherry blossoms) blooming in their area most people would say "Okay, let's go for Hanami with lots of food and alcohol! It's a party time!". Then some people would bring out their blue sheets, huge tarpaulins usually used by construction companies as shown in upper right hand side photo. Somehow using tarps is common for "Hanami parties" since people think it is more convenient than gathering small picnic sheets, and large tarps can be used to secure enough space in a good spot.

Weather forecasts are now saying that the temperature will cool down from the day after tomorrow therefore Sakura flowers would last long this year. If it is too warm all Sakura flowers bloom quickly and scatter within several days, but with cooler temperature people can enjoy "Hanami" with lots of flowers this weekend and even during the next week.

However, maybe some people just can't wait that long. Don't worry, although the major type, Someiyoshino,  is just started blooming, there are other types of Sakura flowers have bloomed enough for Hanami. The photos in the lower row show "Angyoukanzakura" in Sakado City, Saitama prefecture. Today, I saw 70-80% of the "Angyoukanzakura" flowers have already bloomed. You can go for Hanami there right away!