The spring in Japan starts with plum flowers and gets into full bloom with cherry blossoms. The plum flowers are more popular in China and were in Japan until shortly after Kyoto was made the capital from Nara or in the Heian period. Basically, while I love plums blossoms for their smell and beauty amongst snow and the cold, the modern Japanese preferred to sit under the cherry blossoms in full bloom with the warmth of spring, leaves and less smell. These flowers are much more abundant and leave the ground around them covered in a snowy petal blossom warm bath.
I personally enjoyed the Plum blossoms in early March this year, yet they usually come late February to mid March. Still the weather is a bit cold and the blossoms were late, as are the cherry blossoms, which come at the end of March are coming at the beginning of April.
Naturally the most famous places for flowers are the famous and my favorite expensive temple Kiyomizudera and the
Kyoto Botanical Garden, which is right near my house. I recommend this guide for cherry blossoms below, as they have a little about the many places to experience spring. It gives you the highlights on hanami or seeing cherry blossoms usually from a picnic like style.
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3951.html
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| view of tea house through plum blossoms garden 600 yen |
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| waterfall plums at tenmangu |
Personally, I find Tenmangu temple and shrine has the most plum blossoms and a great garden with some 30 different types of plums with the same tree having pink and white flowers. The fragrance of the whole event is impressive, as are the countless cameras snapping pictures and ladies in kimonos parading for the public to see their beauty with the flowers.
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| Tenmangu temple with plum blossoms in full bloom |
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitano_Tenman-g%C5%AB
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| Tenmangu filled with plum blossom lovers on holiday |
A short distance away from Tenmangu, you can find one of the earliest cherry blossom places to sit under the trees and enjoy a festival like atmosphere. Hirano has flowers throughout the winter and often has the first of the year. They are not the most impressive, yet are worth a visit in the beginning of cherry blossom season.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hirano_Shrine
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| 1st cherry blossoms perhaps |
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| Hirano shrine with plum flowers |
Maruyama park Yakasaka Gion area is famous for its garden and the oldest cherry tree. The tree itself is not much better than the rest of the waterfall cherry trees at Heian shrine, yet it is historical and carries a great value for the locals. They camp outside regardless of the weather being cold for weeks before the actual flowers come. These are mostly students or travelers, as they live under the trees until the flowers finally arrive.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maruyama_Park
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| old cherry tree with amazing waterfall blossoms |
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| Cherry blossom buds emerging |
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| students below old cherry tree waiting and reading (Occupy the cherry trees!) |
By far the most impressive and beautiful area of Kyoto is the philosopher's path, which has countless cherry blossoms and camellias from the winter to make your walk something to remember. The canal that leads down from the Nanzenji temple is also famous for its cherry blossom covered paths and of course the famous http://www.heianjingu.or.jp/ . So stroll down this path of great memories of being, which are best viewed in early April. If you have a bike, you must ride all the way north viewing the countless cherry trees lining the river!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosopher's_Walk
At Arashiyama you can view the hills ablaze with pink and reds welcoming the spring, yet they bloom later than the rest, as they are in the west behind the mountains.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arashiyama
Nannaji is great for late blooming cherry blossoms, as they were planted by the emperor for the nobility. It used to be only for nobility until after they fell. The special nature of the largest field of cherry trees is that they are short or less than 2 meters, which make for great sitting and a blanketing of the ground. They bloom late April and basically in May. This is great after a visit to the stone temple, as it is within a 10 minute walk and has an expansive temple grounds with many interesting buildings.
http://www.pref.kyoto.jp/visitkyoto/en/theme/sites/shrines/w_heritage/07/
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| cherry blossoms painting in emperors temple |
The Nannaji temple has some of the best paintings on sliding doors and well preserved. The garden and paintings make the entrance fee worth the price, while they are not really necessary.
When you enjoy plum blossoms, you are smelling and walking around a cold but colorful and fragrant garden, which reminds you of the strength of plums and their beauty to withstand cold and be beautiful. Still, this strength is not treasured, instead the cute fragile cherry blossoms mirror the ideal beauty in Japan, short, sweet, delicate and bountiful. The cherry blossoms are much more plentiful, the weather is warm enough to sit and enjoy the flowers with friends over food and drink, while the glistening petals slowly descend to earth to blanket spring with warmth. Basically, cherry blossoms allow the Japanese to eat outside and underneath the tree, so that they can enjoy the first opening to last petal fall, while not worrying about being cold. They only enjoy the beauty and let it got with a bathing of cherry petals.
I hope to live this experience, yet let us see, if the spring comes early enough this year for hanami to begin before I leave. Do you have any fun experiences with cherry blossoms or questions on the best temples etc? I just listed a couple of cherry viewing possibilities, yet there are countless. Do you prefer the plum blossoms or cherry and why?
The last word is that the most fragrant traffic stopping smelling plant is pictured here. I literally ride by one in the night or during the day to turn around and find this intense sweet honey smelling plant that I can add to the countless flowering plants that arrive at different times, yet continually throughout the year in Japan.
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| made me stop find it behind the wall near the kamo fork or V |
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