Spring Greetings from Tokyo, Japan!

Thanks for sharing :) How can you not go look at cheery blossom, i really loved pic 4, so beautiful. Yes, getting up early and have the tranquility of the places to yourself must be worth it, but how does it look when it's crowded?

Oh my god! Such beautiful pictures! It's as if I died and saw heaven. Really nice, Shigeki!

Lovely pictures! Only thing is what's that sausage thing at the end?

Triple ZANNEN
(1) the cherry blossoms were delayed by the chilly weather the week I was in Japan, so they didn't bloom on 3/19 as expected (the day I flew back to L.A. from Narita);

(2) we didn't get to have a drink in Tokyo;

(3) I didn't know we were in SF the same weekend!!!!! I was there from 3/21-3/26. Wasn't it a great weekend?! It was so warm and sunny, at least in Palo Alto and Hillsborough.

Thanks for the natsukashii photos of sakura...

OMG, how pretty. My mum will be going to Japan for a vacation next week. I wonder if the flowers still be as pretty...

beautiful! i love the way the cherry trees create a marvelous bower to walk through. :) and those shots of the trees on the hill look almost like bonsai. absolutely beautiful...and so etherial. do you think that is why the japanese people celebrate the time of the booming cherry trees?

Tell the person who wondered why anyone would look so long upon the blossoms that to look upon such beauty is life itself. I do hope the blossoms in Tokyo are fragrant, as well, so your nose can join the festival your eyes are enjoying. Then, when the blossoms begin to fall so the ground adopts the decoration which was the sky's, you can be caressed by thousands of petal fingers, drifiting...

Thanks for the beautiful photos.

Hi Shigeki,

When I launched the site, I was greeted with a larger than usual picture and it is simply beautiful beyond words. The path looks so serene with cherry blossoms on each side. Awesome.
Thanks for sharing again...

Spectacular! Gorgeous! Faaaaaaaaaaaabulous!!! Thanks for sharing it with us!!! :)

Really nice...feel like going to Tokyo...feels like snow! SWEETSNOW! what better idea than nap under one of the trees with a loved one...

envy

Shigeki, I must have been reading your mind.
When I saw the first picture, the first thing that came into my mind was, where is the drunk guy. :-) I really did!! haha

Absolutely beautiful photos. Thanks so much for sharing.

BTW
Does anyone live in the Imperial Palace?

i wish i see those flowers in real before i die

Those pictures are gorgeous. We have some cherry blossom trees in London which have also just come into bloom, including one on a street corner near a Japanese friend of mine - I asked my friend if she wanted to have a picnic under it and get wasted ;-p Happy sakura viewing Shi-chan!!

Those are beautiful pictures. We don't have anything like that here. The most beautiful time in Dallas is when it's not scolding hot or freezing cold...which unfortunately is not very often.

Man... I miss Tokyo so much and especially the Cherry blossom season. Whilst I was there I could not understand the fuss about cherry blossoms... after one spell of Sakura season, I am totally hooked on Sakura and when I talk to my friends about this season, I speak from passion!! :-) change of heart or what but it is definitely the most beautiful season in Tokyo.....

Hi Sven,

No problem! Well, when it's crowded, there are tons of stupid looking/behaving drunk people under the trees :-) And it takes about 10 minutes to walk for 10 Meters. :-) You have a wonderful day!

Hi Mark,

Thanks! Even though Tokyo is very crowded and a huge city, there are some beautiful sites like this still :-) You have a wonderful day!

Hi Paul,

Yup :-) The sausage thing is puff shell as it's attached to pudding like that :-) YOu have a wonderful day!

Hi GaijinGirl,

I am sorry :-( 23rd (the first day in SF for me) was fantabulous actually. But the rest of my stay in SF was chilly and cloudy :-( I did enjoy the beautiful blue sky on the first day though :-) You have a wonderful day!

Hi William,

Thanks :-) Unfortunately, it was raining yesterday and earlier this morning and that rain pretty much made those petals lay on the ground :-( So I guess they won't last much anymore sadly. They don't live long :( You have a wonderful day!

Hi Naomi,

Thank you very much. April is the beginning of the fisical year here in Japan. Like schools start in April. New graduates start working from April. Stuff like that. That's why this is the new beginning and we tend to celebrate that with beautiful blossoms like those :-) You have a wonderful day!

Hi Steve,

They are not fragrant at all actually. You don't smell a thing when you pass them by but I guess that's good because fragrant flowers with strong scent can be annoying some times. :-) You have a wonderful day!

Hi SGX,

I wanted to make it larger than usual as I wanted you guys to see things I saw even in the photos. Photos sometimes don't do that :0 Anyway, thanks! You have a wonderful day!

HI TigerYOgi,

THanks and I am glad to know you like them :-0 you have a wonderful day!

Hi Evny,

They are truly beautiful. :-0 Unfortunately, there aren't much left anymore due to the rain :0 You have a wonderful day!

Hi Maggie,

hehehe. You are a mind reader! I try to avoid those in the photo I take :-0 Yes, the royal family live there :-) Emperor, his wife, prince and princess. The land is huge so the other family members live in the remote area of the imperial palace's land :-) You have a wonderful day!

Hi CircuitBoy,

Some visitors to Japan around this time of the year try to target the day of cherry blossoms in full bloom but it's hard to predict when but you should definitely try cherry blossoms when you can ! You have a wonderful day!

HI Tim,

yup, those beautiful sites make any poor bad photographers good :-) So thanks to those beautiful blossoms! I used to do the picnic thingy under the trees in my 20s but I don't anymore as it's freaking cold :-) oh wait a minute, you are in your 20s. damn it :-) You have a wonderful day!

Hi Cesar,

Thanks. Don't leaves turn really beaeutiful in fall in your area? no? But I am sure there are other types of beauty there :-) You have a wonderful day!

HI Ian,

I am glad you were able to remember what you saw here in Tokyo. But the color of blossoms was more beautiful last year due to the weird warm winter this time. so I am sure you saw the best :-) You have a wonderful day!

Beautiful pictures Shigeki! As you may know Washington DC has a cherry blossom festival, and right now the city is absolutely full of tourists. I have never actually been down to see the ones in the Tidal Basin, but there are lots around my house so I get a nice view.

But we had a big storm last night and the blossoms are now mostly on the ground. Kind of Sad.

TK