Nature Archive

It looks like this weekend will be the peak time for cherry blossoms (Sakura) in Ise City. The following pictures of Miyagawa Tsutsumi Park’s cherry trees were taken yesterday (April 6th), but I saw the same trees today—less than 24 hours later—and the blossoms were already much bigger and much more colorful. The warm weather in the last few days has really jump-started the Sakura season!

For me, cherry blossoms have always been a symbol hope and renewal and and reminder that no matter what has happens during the year, spring always comes. I am sure that I am not the only one who feels this way; I think for many Japanese people, whether young or old, this is a magical time of year. And this year, considering the recent earthquake and tsunami and the seemingly endless stream of difficult news from the north, this year’s Sakura season brings a special meaning for many of us.

There are many places people can view cherry blossoms in Ise City. If interested in finding a place to view Sakura, please refer to this site to find more information.

In addition to the many parks and designated areas within Ise City to view Sakura, I personally like to view the many scattered wild cherry trees that dot the hills and mountainsides around the city. To me, they make the whole mountain softer and more colorful. The colorful pink blossoms clearly stand out amongst the many Japanese cedar trees making a usually beautiful scene even more special. 

If you are visiting Ise City, please take special note of the wild cherry trees along the mountain side to the south of the city. They are a special treat.

This shot was taken this morning (April 6) looking toward the Oharai-dori and Okage-yoko areas, near Naiku. The Sakura (cherry blossom) is a day or two past peak but are still very beautiful! I personally like this part of the season because the blossom petals fall from the trees like snowflakes.

If you are visiting the Naiku area and if you have time, I recommend going after sunset since some of the area is illuminated and very pretty. Nighttime offers viewers a cozier and more festive experience, since at night, the area is a bit livelier with many vendors selling drinks and snacks.

If the weather is nice in the coming days, some of the blossoms might last another week or so.  Wherever you are in Japan, I hope you are enjoying this beautiful season.

If you are visiting Japan in the springtime, you may be lucky enough to visit during cherry blossom season, the annual and somewhat unofficial symbol of spring. I don’t know the exact reason why, but traditionally, Japanese people go a little crazy around sakura season. We love to see cherry trees, photograph them, have parties under them, buy things that have cherry blossom pictures pasted on them and even take long journeys to discover them.

If you have visited Japan in the springtime or if this spring marks your first visit, you will find a huge array of goods and meals that are packaged in pink, the color that represents the sakura blossoms. We just go crazy about anything and everything related to sakura and if you have been here in the spring before, you know what I mean.
Ise, of course, is no exception. There are many of these annual works of art along the Isuzu River if you are visiting Naiku. Or if you are traveling by car, another wonderful place is along the Miya River near Miyagawa Tsutsumi Park (宮川堤公園). I will post a link to an Ise City map that can help you with specifics and for more detailed information, I recommend a google or yahoo map to really zoom in on where to go.

http://www.ise-kanko.jp/english/html/map/map.html

Many of the shops and restaurants in Ise offer special goods and meals for this season. The Okage-yokocho area near Naiku usually closes down by 5 o’clock in the evening but during this season and, perhaps, until the middle of April depending on the weather, some areas along the Isuzu River are lighted in the evening giving visitors the chance for some beautiful viewing after sundown. The following link is in Japanese, but you can see a few images in order to get a better understanding of what I am writing about!

http://www.okageyokocho.co.jp/html/sakuramaturi.html
Some of cherry blossoms in Ise have already bloomed but we are certainly not at the peak just yet. If you are visiting Japan or hopefully Ise in the next few weeks, please enjoy this beautiful and very “Japanese” season! I hope to post more sakura pictures in the coming days.