Tenshochi Park

 

 

 

This year the cherry blossoms were blooming late, so instead of heading north to Hirosaki, we went south to Kitakami, Iwate to Tenshochi Park. It is one of the Three Best Hanami Spots in Michinoku and was also selected as one of the 100 Best Hanami Spots by the Japan Cherry Blossom Association! There are over 10,000 cherry blossom trees (twice as many as Hirosaki!) and 100,000 azaleas!

The blossoms were not fully bloomed when we went but it was still beautiful. In the above photo you can see the outside of the sakura tunnel. The outer trees’ blossoms were beautiful! They had a lot of vendors in the main park selling delicious festival food.

 

One special treat was this “monkey show.” Video to come.

This festival was held during Golden Week. These koinobori or carp streamers, fluttered in the wind over the Kitakami River. It is impossible to miss on your way to Tenshochi Park.

 

You can get to Tenshochi Park by following these Directions from Misawa Airport. Parking is very limited. We were lucky enough to have a nice elderly man let us use his rather large driveway!

Hirosaki Castle: Cherry Blossom Festival

I can’t believe it has taken me this long to update for the Hirosaki Cherry Blossom Festival! The weather was sunny and beautiful when we arrived but soon became overcast and quite windy! It seemed most of the cherry blossoms had already fallen by the time the we got to the festival, but it was still beautiful and we had a wonderful time. Cherry blossom season is my favorite time in Japan! Since Aomori is so cold, don’t be surprised if there is a mix of cherry blossoms and snow falling at the same time! I have heard it happens!

The Hirosaki Cherry Blossom Festival occurs between April 23 and May 5 every year.

Admission: ¥300 ( Castle Only) ¥500 (Castle and Botanical Gardens)

You can find directions to Hirosaki Castle in my other blog post.

Kakunodate- Little Kyoto

 

This past weekend we had an outing to Kakunodate in Akita prefecture. The cherry blossoms were in full bloom and it was a very warm day! Kakunodate is known both for its historic samurai mansions and the beautiful blossoming cherry trees that line the streets. Popular with tourists from all over the world, it has an atmosphere truly appropriate to its nickname of “ Little Kyoto.”

 

You can dress up in old fashioned Japanese clothing (like the young girl in the hat) for ¥2,000.

 

Many of the samurai houses are actually homes to samurai descendants. Others, you can walk through. This particular one is the Aoyagi Samurai Manor Museum. It costs ¥500 to enter. The Aoyagi lineage goes back as far as the 16th century. The fouder, Aoyagi Touemon, first became a vassal of Lord Ashina of Hitach (about 350 kilometers southwest of Kakunodate) in 1570. The family moved to Kakunodatefollowing Lord Ashina when the shogun overlord transferred the master to the Akita domain in 1603. The Ashina reign only lasted three generations, and the Aoyagi clan came to serve the second master, Lord Satake-Kita, in 1653. The new lord appointed Aoyagi to the important role of Nanbu Sakaime Yamayaku, or chief of Nanbu-area boundary guards.

In the next two centuries, the family enjoyed a steady growth, both inincome and political importance. Their men climbed up the social ladder and by 1868, when the Edo feudalism collapsed, Aoyagi’s fief had expanded to become the third largest among those managed by the vassals in the domain.

Although many samurai experienced economic distress under the rule of the new Meiji government, Aoyagi was able to survive as a landlord. In 1902, Aoyagi Tomokichi became the mayor of Kakunodate.

Hanami or Cherry Blossom Viewing

 

When I found out we would be moving to Japan, I was so excited for cherry blossom (sakura) season! We arrived in June so we missed it that year. This is our first year to see cherry blossoms. They have just begun to bloom and are already beautiful.

Hanami (literally translated as flower viewing but is synonymous with cherry blossom viewing) is an age old tradition in Japan. People go out and have picnics under the sakura trees.  Of course, the most beautiful spots are coveted and people travel to places like Hirosaki Castle and other sites.

Hanami can occur wherever cherry blossoms are…which is pretty much everywhere! I think this year hanami will take a particular importance since the aftermath of the earthquake tsunami. Cherry blossoms are extremely symbolic because of the transience of the blossoms. Their extreme beauty and quick death  have often been associated with mortality.

This year our “hanami” occurred close to home, at the Train Park in Misawa and the streets of Towada. We planned on going to Hirosaki earlier, but our tour was cancelled because the flowers are blooming late this year.

We won’t be in Japan for the rest of the cherry blossom season since we are attending a funeral overseas. It seems beautiful and poetic that we got a glimpse of beautiful sakura beforehand. After all, that is the lesson of the cherry blossom: you have to savor life while you can.