Hanami

This year the sakura trees have taken their time about it, but the cherry blossoms are finally doing their thing. This weekend looks to be the peak viewing time in Tokyo and with the expected fine weather the crowds should be thick. I took a walk along the Meguro River and through Inokashira Park and got to avoid the crowds and to enjoy the hundreds of sakura trees that have begun blossoming. I took my camera and decided to see how I’d go shooting the scenes in black and white.

A cloud of cherry blossoms
A temple bell
Is it Ueno, Is it Asakusa?

A year later, the sakura season is here again: while the cherry blossoms are always beautiful, it’s a beauty often tempered by cold and wind and rain, but this year in Tokyo the elements came together just so to create alchemy. The fluffy pink clouds of sakura that have appeared throughout the city this week are breathtaking; they must be very much like the one that fired the imagination and poetry of Matsuo Bashō.