cherry blossom – awordfromjapan

土曜日 doyoubi—Saturday

Published on April 5, 2015April 5, 2015 by daraconnolly1 Comment

This blog post is being written at 280 km/h as we speed through the countryside in the 新幹線 Shinkansen train from Osaka to Tokyo on Easter Sunday morning.

Our destination today is Sendai, in Japan’s 東北 touhoku (north-east) region. Even at Shinkansen speeds, it will take 5 or 6 hours to get there. Sendai is much cooler than Osaka right now (about 14°C difference), so we had to pack winter clothes for Sendai as well as short sleeves for Osaka.

Yesterday morning we decided to visit Osaka Castle Park to see the 桜 cherry blossoms. They are earlier than usual this year so we expected that we would arrive in Japan too late to see them. But in fact our timing was perfect: the flowers were 満開 mankai—fully open when we arrived. The blossoms were beautiful against the backdrop of the castle and the blue sky.

通り抜け　toorinuke—cherry blossom viewing at the Osaka mint

Published on April 15, 2014 by daraconnollyLeave a comment

The Osaka mint dates back to the 1870s, a time when Japan was opening up to outside influence after centuries of self-imposed isolation. There is an Irish connection – some of the buildings were designed by an Irishman called Thomas Waters, including this elegant reception hall, the Senpuukan, which was built for the visit of the Meiji emperor, who came here in 1872.

The tradition of toorinuke (cherry-blossom viewing at the mint) dates back almost as far – for 140 years people have come here in mid-April to “pass through” the tunnel of cherry trees when they are in full bloom. This is called 通り抜け　toorinuke (from a verb meaning to pass through).

The cherry-blossom route is around 500 metres long, and comprises hundreds of carefully-tended trees of over 100 different varieties. They are osoizakura—late-blossoming cherries; while the cherry trees in the various parks around Osaka reached their brief moment of glory 2 weeks ago and have since shed their flowers in a flurry of pinkish petals, at the mint the cherry trees are only now in full bloom.

Yuko suggested that we should get up early to beat the crowds, and she was right. Even at 9 a.m. on a Saturday morning, we were among hundreds making our way from the metro station to the entrance gate.

The toorinuke operates as a one-way system (south to north), with staff-members with megaphones constantly exhorting people to keep moving along the route and not to stop.

However, only the first 100 metres or so of the route was congested, after which it freed up a lot and it was possible to enjoy the experience in a more relaxed way.

Carved into a rock alongside the route is a short poem about the toorinuke:

大阪に　花の里あり　通り抜け

oosaka ni hana no sato ari toorinuke

In Osaka is found the home of flowers—toorinuke

During the toorinuke, the Mint museum and buildings are closed to the public. However I would like to come back here another time to visit them.

滋賀県長浜市　Shiga-ken (part 1): Nagahama

Published on April 9, 2013 by daraconnollyLeave a comment

Lake Biwa is the largest lake in Japan, 60 kilometres long. It lies to the north of here, in a prefecture called Shiga. On the shore of the lake is a charming old town called Nagahama, with a beautiful castle in a park on the water’s edge.

Today we drove on a day-trip to Shiga in the glorious April sunshine. Arriving in Nagahama, we discovered that while the cherry-blossom season here in Osaka has come to an end, in Shiga, thanks to its more northerly and more inland situation, the cherries are now in full bloom.

A bride and groom in traditional wedding outfits posed for photos in front of the castle.

The dogs were delighted to jump straight into the lake after the long drive, without even waiting to take off their leads.

Nagahama attracts a great many tourists every year, and the centre of town (around Kurokabe Square) maintains an “old-time” feel, with streets of wooden houses, lots of souvenir shops and museums.

There may be even more tourists next year, because an upcoming Taiga Drama will be set in this area.

This interesting modern building stands across the road from the Music Box museum:

A short distance from the historic centre, we spotted this “Nagahama Tower Building”, with a lot of (now rusting) ironwork on the exterior:

We took the opportunity to have a late-season hanami bentou (picnic lunch) under the cherry blossoms in the castle park.

A note on the word of the day:

Japan is divided into “prefectures”, equivalent to counties. There are 47 prefectures, from Hokkaido in the north to Okinawa in the south. The Japanese for prefecture is 県　ken, so normally (with a few exceptions) a prefecture is named with the suffix -ken as in 滋賀県　shiga-ken.

The 4 exceptions are:

東京都　toukyou-to—the metropolis of Tokyo;
大阪府　oosaka-fu, 京都府　kyouto-fu—the urban prefecture of Osaka/Kyoto;
北海道　hokkaidou—Hokkaido (道　dou literally means “road”)

梅　ume—plum

Published on March 16, 2013March 16, 2013 by daraconnolly4 Comments

It’s almost a year since I wrote about o-hanami, the time in spring when Japanese people enjoy viewing the cherry trees in full flower, sit out on the grass under the trees, eat and drink and admire the beauty of the flowers. Now the year has come almost full circle, and it’s almost cherry-blossom time again.

But before the cherry blossom comes the plum blossom, which has its own delicate beauty. Different types of plum trees bloom at different times in late February and early March; some are past their peak while others are only now in full bloom.

Here is a collection of photos, mainly taken by Yuko during the past few weeks.

In Kouzen Park (Sakai city):