Sakura (Cherry Blossom) in Tokyo
 

According to Asahi.com web news, sakura is blooming now in Tokyo and will be in full blossom in about 8 days. This is 3 days later than average (and 13 days later than last year - last year was exceptionally early.)

I suppose those who are lucky to be in southern (than Toyko) part of Japan today are enjoying sakura now.

They also says the sakura forecast given on 16th March indicated 27th of March for blooming so the forecast was wrong by 4 days this year.

I hope alan64 is enjoying it! Lucky dog.

the sakura are not in full bloom yet. :(


http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/JN/sakura/index.html

>the sakura are not in full bloom yet.

NO, that will be in about 8 days according to asahi.com(& "in about 1 week " by the URL you posted.). They have just started blooming. That means those wo are in Tokyo can still enjoy them at least for a week from today.

kappa san, i will be in narita on the 13th, will it be too late?

Ooishi-san, sakura will be in full bloom around 7 April, so 13 April just may be too late. They say after full bloom, it will not last very long, espcially if it rains. You could go up to the north from Toyko where blooming comes 1 week or more later but that may not be the destination of your trip. I would like to be in Hirosaki, Aomori at the right time: They say sakura there is like out of this world and the whole scenery combined with Hirosaki castle....

kappa-san: my edo ninja tells me that it is still cold there(high 50s), and hana matsuri is still a few days away. so, i may be in luck, and celebrate hana matsuri in narita. that would be a treat.

emd; great report. loved your report of the baseball game. you made takusan points with your fellow fans. class act!!

post on your success of home made okonomiyaki.

ashi wa, ikaga desu ka?

Good luck ooishi san.

emd, how are your feet?

Ooishi san, you could well be lucky. A friend in Kyoto has just sent me an e-mail. She says "the sorte of sakura that bloom first before the other sortes are blooming only at 50 % today. That's very late compared to other years."

A bunch of night owls! (as our famous former mayor of D.C. would say)

Feet better, thank you. I'm off to L.A. for work soon and am afraid of "Big Foot, the Sequel", as no dignaosis yet.

Used all the new Japanese dishes and utensils yesterday, made (you guessed it) udon. But I want to do miso from scratch, how to do it? I went to Nishiki and asked if they had some paste you use or something, and they looked at me a bit funny and tried not to laugh. Haven't tackled the conglomeration of heavenly ingredients (how else do you describe oko. to someone?) yet. Will report on that.

I missed sakura, but I want to see fall colors! I've been looking- see:
http://www.outdoorandphoto.com/Japan...KyotoEn-2.html Have you all seen fall colors? What is that story about the Japanese man who set fire to a temple or something because it was too beautiful to behold? Crazy, yes- but I can see the heart in his thinking.

Thanks for the words on the report (w a slight bow). It was a bit of a catharsis, and I forgot how much I like to write.

Bonjour emd,

Glad to know your feet is getting better. Ki O Tsukete, Neh ! (Take care - get well).

Re. Miso: see this recipe
http://www.nsknet.or.jp/~chrkaji/yas...pe/miso_e.html

from Yasuko San Home Cooking ( http://www.nsknet.or.jp/~chrkaji/yasuko/index_e.html )


"What is that story about the Japanese man who set fire to a temple or something because it was too beautiful to behold?"

It relates to the Kinkakuji, or Golden Pavilion, that a deranged monk set to fire in 1950 (Yukio Mishima wrote about it). The present building was rebuilt on the original plans in 1955. Fortunately, the gardens and other buildings did not suffer and it is definitely worth a visit. More info here http://www.orientalarchitecture.com/...akujiindex.htm

Thank you, Florence. Oh my, I didn't realize it was Kinkakuji and a monk, that is truly tragic. And the arson (supposedly) at Jakkoin- I saw the shroud of the result of that and it was tragic too. I really wonder about Jakkoin- what happened? Did they catch the person? Why did they do it at that particular place? I needed to speak more Japanese on my visit to Ohara to be able figure it out. I am really puzzled by it though and would appreciate insight anyone has or gets on that.
I did not make it to Kinkakuji, but I am living w/a painting of it on the fabric I did at the textile center, and will definitely experience that next time, hopefully w/some bright orange and yellow leaves around it.

Now we hope to hear from alan64 on his sakura story.

I just got an email from gojapan and it has links to three live sakura cams set up in Tokyo, so you can see the blooming as it progresses. Link is below.

Apparently, the peak blooms of the sakura here in Washington D.C. will be this Sat., which is also the day of the National Cherry Blossom parade and the Japan-America Society's big Sakura Matsuri bash, w/an okoto concert and other music, traditional arts and crafts to participate in, and more sushi than I have probably ever seen. Hai!

See:
http://go.japan.about.com/od/cherryb...cams/index.htm

ttt for kitty. check out kmloke's website. i view it daily as i will be in narita soon.

kappa-san: edo ninja tells me he has the sake on ice, and oishii bento ordered for hanami on sunday at ueno park. sounds like i may luck out on wed.

emd; great website, but could not get to the cheeryblossoms area. btw, how can i see the whole list of guides available without having to refresh the page everytime.

well, kuranosuke-san, you may get the sakura and bentos in Ueno park, but Bill and I and anyone else here will get them and sushi (among others, the National Sushi Society is providing sushi, imagine that) at the D.C. tidal basin so we should all be pretty happy. Not sure about the refreshing, and am sorry you can't see the live cams! It looks pdg.

emd, Ooishi-san and eveybody else who are lucky enough to be anywhere with full sakura blossoms, Have a nice hanami with a glass of sake! Cheers!

Ooishi-san, sorry but who is edo ninja? Your friend in Tokyo? And what does that mean "he has the sake on ice"?

kappa, I will take pictures of the sakura matsuri here and as soon as I can figure out how to get them posted (hopefully later this weekend) I will direct you to them to enjoy.

kappa-san; edo ninja is otomodachi living in roppongi hills.

sake on ice means he is chilling a bottle of sake on ice. figure of speech, means sake being chilled in the fridge.

emd; i have been in dc during cb, and the walk around the mall was great. i also remember going to the festival, and eating alot of good food in dc. i think the festival use to be in may? don't they also have a parade down constitution ave? enjoy the sushi with bill, and do let me know how you like it.

Ooishi-san, thanks for explainning.

Accoring to Yahoo Japan news today, exceptionally early "summer day" has been recorded today on major parts of japan from kansai to tohoku (all in main island). The highest temp.recorded was in Yamanashi and Kanto (30.2 C degrees), Fukushima in Tohoku (29 C). Tokyo was one of the exceptions only at 23.5 degrees. Overall, this high tempreture will surely hasten sakura blooming. They have announced full blooming in Tokyo and Fukuoka(Kyushu).