So this is what everybody talks about. Cherry blossom in Tokyo is magical. The tiny pink and white cherry flower completely fills the sky and in some areas the rows of trees just keeps on and on. All I can say is -Wow!
For regular tourists that visits Tokyo for a week or two, must have a big portion of luck to be able to see the cherry blossom in its full glory. The blossoming only last for a week in Tokyo and that week varies from year to year depending on the weather and temperature, adding to that is the fact that you often book flight tickets month ahead makes it not that easy… Luckily the season for cherry blossom in Japan is quite long so if you are prepared for some travel time to see the blossom you shouldn’t miss it.
As soon as the cherry blossom starts Tokyo prepares itself for an intense party time. In every park or street that has cherry trees the area under the trees is covered by people celebrating the return of the cherry blossoming. Notice that in this picture a group of people have reserved an area and has marked the spot by placing three boxes with beer… I can just imagine what would happen here in Stockholm if I in a public park full of people, left tree boxes filled with beer all by them self… Anyway, this is Japan and apparently this is how they do it!
This guy has made a business out of selling grilled fish to bypasses.
Some of the streets had special lighting in place during the cherry blossom so you could walk around under the trees during the evening. Very spectacular to see and it felt like you took part of a really special event in Japan.
And then a couple of day after it has started, it went from spectacular and new to just ordinary and daily for most Japanese.
And then a week later all the flowers fell off like snow and piled up on the street bellow. So now Tokyo has 51 weeks left until the next Cherry blossom 2013 starts!
/Thomas Tanisawa
