After the Hanami Season…
April 11, 2008 by Marie
The Hanami Season is not over yet! For those die-hard cherry blossom fans like me, Tohoku is the place to visit in the coming weeks. I’ve been longingly looking at a poster on my station’s wall featuring the places in the Tohoku and Yamanashi-Nagano area that will be in bloom from the middle of April to the beginning of May, and I couldn’t help but wish that the cherry blossoms lasted longer, and that I had enough time to see all these places. But as it turns out, I can only see a few places a year.
This year, I will be visiting Miharu in Fukushima to see the Takizakura. Other places on the poster were:
Koushinetsu (甲信越, Yamanashi, Nagano and Niigata)
Shinden no Ooitozakura in Yamanashi (mid- to late April)
Takatoo Castle Ruins in Nagano (early to mid-April)
Matsumoto Castle in Nagano (early to mid- April)
Yahiko Shrine in Niigata (early to late April)
Takada Castle in Niigata (early to mid-April), famous for its night lights
Southern Tohoku (南東北, Yamagata, Miyagi and Fukushima)
Okitama Sakura-Kairou in Yamagata (mid- to late April)
Yonezawa in Yamagata (late April to early May)
Hitome Senbon Zakura in Miyagi (mid- to late April)
Hanamiyama Park in Fukushima (early to late April)
Miharu in Fukushima (mid- to late April)
Aizu-Wakamatsu Tsuruga Castle in Fukushima (mid- to late April)
Northern Tohoku (北東北, Aomori, Akita and Iwate)
Hirosaki Park in Aomori (late April to early May)
Kanagi and Ashino Park in Aomori (late April to early May)
Kakunodate in Akita (late April to early May)
Chiaki Park in Akita (mid- to late April)
Kitakami Tenshochi Park in Iwate (mid- to late April)
Koiwai Farm in Iwate (late April to early May)
Tune in again for more information on flower parks and spring events!
In Miyagi there’s a small city called Ogawara that has a river lined on both sides with some beautiful trees. What makes it even more amazing is the view of Zao Mountain in the backdrop.
Hi billywest! Thanks for dropping by!
I’m guessing that’s the Hitome Senbon Zakura. It looks great in the picture! Haven’t been there myself… have you? How was it?
If it’s the same river, it must be a little way up the river from Downtown Ogawara, but yeah, it’s really beautiful. It’s featured in the opening to Sazae-san when they cover South Miyagi.
By the way, Ogawara is known for ‘Hagi no Tsuki’ (hope I spelled that right) which is usually thought to be a Sendai treat. It’s Sendai’s most popular Omiyage sweet.
Thanks again for visiting, Billy!
I’ve been to Sendai, but unfortunately, not Ogawara. I hope I get the chance to visit during the cherry blossom season someday.
I had Hagi no Tsuki when I was in Sendai, it was really good stuff.
Amazing piece of nature!!
Hope someday I will be able to see it with my own eyes..
Hi ann! Thanks for commenting!
I hope soo, too! Do you live in Japan?
Hello,
I came luckily across this blog. Am writing a piece about a man who hears koto music in a small town or small city and follows it to find the koto player. I have two questions: a friend told me that Takatoo is a good town to name: is that OK, or is there another I could use? It’s supposed to be a town with cherry trees blossoming up an alley that climbs a little into the hills, houses along the alley. Any suggestions?
Second question: I have the koto music as Rokudan. My friend says that is too stereotyped. Is there another koto piece that someone knows that is more subtle? Would Chidori be better? I was hoping for something with repeated notes, or a simple but elegant note structure.
Thank you so much–this is a “shot in the dark”–
Hi Jerry! Thanks for visiting!
While I did post this list of places to visit for cherry blossoms, I have only been to about 5 or 6 of them. Unfortunately, Takatoo wasn’t one of them… I hope someone who has been there will read this and verify if it does indeed have cherry blossoms that climb up to the hills from an alley.
About the koto playing… I’m not really familiar with the differences. I’ve only watched one performance before, and I never really had the chance to know anything about koto, apart from the fact that numbers are used instead of notes to read music… I hope someone out there could help with this, too…
Sorry I couldn’t be of much help…
Thank you, Marie. I’ll check in on this blog once in a while.
Thanks Jerry!
I’ll ask around then and hopefully get you some answers…