Tag Archives: Sakura

Osaka Mint

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I thought I’d never see more Sakura this year. I planned on going to Kyoto but I canceled it because of the rain. I still don’t have a new job but I had other things that kept busy so I’ve been away from blogging world for a few days, and I didn’t have much time going around Osaka to see Sakura. Thanks to Osaka Mint. With 370 trees and 125 varieties of Sakura Trees, my short trip there was really worth it. They opened the place to the public starting today, April 16th, until April 22nd.

Here are some photos:


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Osaka Castle Park and Sakura

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The weather was great last Saturday so I went to Osaka Castle Park to take pictures. The Japanese love to do “hanami” or Sakura viewing, so the park was crowded. I couldn’t get decent photos of Sakura because some of the food stalls were placed near the trees. I think they spoil the beauty of the Sakura.

Last year, a couple of friends and I went to Kyoto for Sakura Hunting. Indeed, Kyoto is still far better than Osaka Castle Park for Sakura viewing. Anyway, here are my favorite close-up photos using my camera phone:


More photos:

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PhotoHunt: Curvy

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Lots of curves: a curvy path and the curves from the shrines…

Spring 2007 at Toji Shrine in Kyoto

Thank you for visiting and for sharing your photos! Have a nice weekend everyone!


[Especially to those who asked last Saturday]:
Same with almost all of the pictures in this blog and my header, this was taken using my cellphone: Sharp V604SH. It’s already been phased out late last year so I got this unit for only 1 yen upon subscribing from Softbank (formerly Vodafone). Now, they even have cellphones with 5-megapixel camera! But, I still love mine. :)

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Sakura Hunting Part 02

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Once again, the Sakura Hunters, equipped with 2-3 onigiri* each, headed to Kyoto for another Sakura adventure.

(1) Toji Temple
We just went there to see the 5-story pagoda but weren’t able to get close to it; not with the 1000-yen admission fee! So we just took pictures “within our reach”. ^-^



(2) Kyoto Botanical Garden
For the 200-yen admission fee, we got the chance to gaze upon Sakura trees, tulips, pine trees, etc. I think the place is much better than other Hanami spots because it’s less crowded than other places (probably because it closes at 5:00PM?).

(3) Kamigamo Shrine
We went there last week but the pink sakura was not yet in “mankai*” mode. Much to our disappointment, the pink sakura tree had just started to bloom:




We were uplifted when we saw a woman wearing a Japanese costume different than that of a geisha (I have no idea from what era that costume belonged to). I was impressed and grateful that the woman just kept on smiling even though many people crowded around her and took her picture. I was able to steal some shots:



(4) Lost
For the second time, on our way to Arashiyama, we got lost. But this time, we were happy we got lost because we found this gem that we assumed few people knew about:



(5) Arashiyama
This time, we arrived at Arashiyama before dark. We were able to climb the mountain and since most of the Sakura viewers were already on their way home, we have few rivals in posing in these beatiful scenes:



(6) Yasaka Shrine
This is near the train station so we designated this to be one of the last stops. The place was still very crowded that we had to make bold steps to pose behind this Sakura tree:



(7) Gion
Our last stop. Typical of our visits here, we walked through this old district hunting for geishas. Indeed, we saw more than 5 of them but they walked so fast that we were not able to get a clear picture. We even temporarily became “peeping toms” to steal a look at those ladies.



You could find more pictures in my Picasa Web Album.
And my favorite picture in this adventure:



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Japanese Terms:
onigiri = is a snack of Japanese rice formed into triangle or oval shapes and wrapped in nori (, edible seaweed?).
mankai = full bloom

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Sakura Viewing with an Umbrella

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Inspite of the rain, a friend and I went to the Osaka Castle for Sakura viewing. We agreed that the rain might have dispersed the crowd there, and it did. Too bad there’s not much Sakura trees near the castle; too bad the Sakura trees were no longer in full bloom. Nonetheless, our little excursion was fun. ^-^ It was very hilarious seeing people hiding under under tents; some under any shade the castle grounds had to offer; instead of enjoying the party under the Sakura trees.

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