Hanami

One of many cherry trees we encountered daily during the Season of the Sakura when the cherry blossoms are blooming. Now those same trees are all covered in green leaves, but when we got here they were bare and everything was grey. What a difference! If you look closely, you'll notice some petals falling to the ground in the photo. They cover the ground like snow in some places, and if you wait around long enough, they cover YOU, too.

This is a shot of one of a few of the sellers at Hachimanyama park. I can't recall what the one in front sold, but the one immediately past it is selling caramel apples! All that white stuff on the trees are cherry blossoms.

This is a picture of the stream in front of our blanket in Hachimanyama park. Although it's hard to tell here, the surface of the stream was covered liberally with cherry blossoms. This was at the very edge of the park, explaining the absence of many people.

A close-up of the raft from the last shot. You can see the sakura on the water much clearer in this photo.

This is a nice picture of two schoolgirls buying chicken strips from a stall. I'd have more pictures of average people if Heather wasn't such a chicken. The outfits they're wearing are very typical of winter uniforms for girls here. Yes, the skirts are that short, and yes, most of them wear pantyhose in winter - it can be COLD! In summer they wear even less. Yeek.

This photo shows the lanterns just after they were lit. They're electric, but they give a nice, cheery glow. The real effect is best seen after dark!

This is one of the few night shots of Hachimanyama park that survived - the camera doesn't do night pictures very well when it doesn't have something close to focus on. This is one of the lanterns that looked so pretty during the day - much nicer now!

This is a good shot of a floodlit cherry tree in Hachimanyama park. I wish more of the night shots had come out; it was most beautiful at night.

Look! It's a shrine! And it has cherry trees! Wow!