sakura!

after a long winter, finally the sakura are blossoming here and there!

The weather has been bad in kansai area, especially on weekends, so here are some pictures that a friend sent me from Tokyo.

april 2nd:
sakura2
tsubomi: beginning of blossom with prominence of florets

april 5th:
sakura5
mankai: full blossom. This is actually a photo of one of my favorite hanami spots: the Meguro-gawa.

april 7th:
sakura7
chiri-sakura: gorgeous. the trees are still completely white but many petals are falling on the ground. The perfect symbol for the ephemerality of beauty. The peak is also the beginning of the end.

For those of you interested, you can find all you wanted to know on sakura blossoms viewing and real time forecasts on this site:
http://sakura.weathermap.jp/en.php
MG_Tokyo
details are in japanese only. Here is a collection of graphs relative to the Tokyo area:
http://sakura.weathermap.jp/area.php?city=Tokyo
If you still not have enough of sakura viewing you can migrate north little by little and enjoy the peak of cherry blossom viewing everyday!

If you are not yet in Japan, do not be sad: if you go to Hokkaido you will still be able to catch up with the cherry blossom as late as up to the mid of may!