Cherry Blossoms 2012: Tokyo Report (3/22)
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2012/03/22 - Tokyo Report
by sean
Today we headed for Tokyo to do our second cherry blossom report for the year. As the weather didn't become much warmer over the past week, we weren't expecting much progress from our last visit. Weather forecasts have been predicting that this year's season would begin slightly later than the average season, and that the opening of the cherry blossoms would start around 31st March in Tokyo. Interestingly though, today we read about the season having started in Kochi, as its first blossoms have opened yesterday.
Ueno Park
March 22, 2012 - still closed
We approached Ueno Park with excitement as we imagined last week that the first flowers of the weeping cherry tree at its entrance would have opened by about this time. However, we were slightly disappointed that the buds didn't seem like they would open for yet another week. The Okanzakura cherry trees at the side made slightly more progress, but were still about a week ahead of full bloom.
As expected, the Somei Yoshino cherry blossoms have yet to open, and we would have to wait till the end of March before they start opening. In the park, preparations for the festivities of the coming hanami (literally cherry blossom viewing) season has begun, as workers put on decorations and set up make-shift garbage disposal bins.
There was an early flowering variety of cherry tree (a Kanzakura) which from a distance looked like it was dropping its petals already; upon a closer look, the culprits for the fallen petals were birds, happily pecking away at the nectar of the flowers.
Koishikawa Korakuen
March 22, 2012 - still closed
Bearing in mind of the weather conditions of the past week and what we saw at Ueno Park, our hopes weren't high for the famous weeping cherry tree at the Koishikawa Korakuen. Indeed, the buds look like they would not start to blossom until about a week from now (they usually open slightly earlier than the Somei Yoshino.
If visiting the garden in the near future, now is probably a better time to view the plums at the plum grove; many of the plum trees have reached full bloom, while some of the early flowering ones have already past peak and the late flowering ones are just opening.
Chidorigafuchi and Yasukuni Shrine
March 22, 2012 - still closed
The situation at Chidorigafuchi and Yasukuni Shrine was similar, with a high majority of the trees yet to flower. There was a nice feeling in the air though, as many visitors were seen walking around, enjoying the atmosphere of impending spring and gathering around that odd early flowering variety of cherry tree to take pictures. In two weeks or so, hoards of people would be visiting this area, some probably renting boats to row through the moats at Chidorigafuchi while enjoying their hanami session.
The most significant tree of them all, however, is the one that stands beside an open air Noh theater at the Yasukuni Shrine: this is THE official representative cherry tree of Tokyo: when its first flowers bloom, it will be declared that Tokyo's cherry blossom season has begun. It seems likely that it will take more than another week to happen though.
Shinjuku Gyoen
March 15, 2012 - still closed
As from our report last week, the vast majority of cherry trees in Shinjuku Gyoen were still closed, and the trees' buds looked like they needed at least another week of mild temperatures in order to start opening. A few of the Kanzakura variety have however reached full bloom, and many people gathered around them to appreciate their beauty.
Shinjuku Gyoen is a great place to visit for tourists in Tokyo before the main cherry blossom season starts, because it has a great mix of cherry blossom trees, including the early flowering ones which would be nice to look at as well.
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