Sakura, Sakura

Asahi newspaper said  in VOX POPULI two years ago, 

 "In romantic relations, it is said that when your are kept waiting by another person, you develop stronger feelings for that  person. Apparently, this year's spring goddess is playing with our motions." 

How true it is!! This spring also, it seems that Spring Goddess kept us waiting and playing  hide-and-seek with us. At last, Sakura or cherry blossoms started to bloom. One day pastel pink mists and clouds appeared here and there like mirage, and gave us a  supreme surprise. But,  but already they started  to flutter. 

Sakura blossoms in the early stage look like shy girls at early adolescence.

Sakura have been long loved by people in Japan. Sakura bloom and fall. And we love from the beginning (even before the beginning)  to the end, every phase of Sakura blossoms. We see beauty in those blooming Sakura, and admire scattering Sakura as 花吹雪‐flower blizzard. Fallen petals on the water are appreciated as 花筏‐flower raft.Transience of nature,  transience of our life.
 I visited Sakura in Nara one rainy day. Maybe, you do not like to go out in a rainy day, especially when you want to take photos. Lights are so weak that scenery seems dim and hazy. But, how serene  the air is  and how comfortably the  sounds are absorbed by rain drops!

Great Buddha Hall of Todai-ji Temple. The Hall is the largest wooden structure in the world.

The footsteps and conversation sound quietly.

 I feel everything so peaceful.  My lens has a rain drop in the centre.

Sakura blossoms near me look more vivid in a rainy day, but a scenery

far away looks hazy. Many petals are fluttering with rain drops.

People are listening to a tour guide at the approach to Great Buddha Hall. 

 Sakura trees are welcoming and listening together with them.

Weeping cherry tree.

In front of Great Buddha Hall there is a huge space surrounded with  many different types of Sakura.

They are in  bloom.

Under Great South Gate, the main entrance gate to Todai-ji Temple,  

the deer take shelter sometimes and go out to welcome the visitors..

The mist is rising and laying among mountains. There are small dots on the grass field.
They are birds. In a spring rain, both deer and birds are resting together.
In Nara Park, Sakura are here and there.

Here is Kasuga Grand Shrine. Kasuga means Spring Day. The shrine has been a strong guardian deity of Nara since it became the capital of Japan in 710.

weeping cherry tree

Part of the corridors of the shrine.

In Kasuga Grand Shrine, there are about 3000 lanterns;  two thousands stone lanterns

and 1000 metal lanterns. But, nobody knows exactly  how many lanterns there are.

So, it is believed that if you can count the exact number of the lanterns at night,

you are promised to be very rich.

One rain and one wind accelerate Sakura falling.

The deer are eating Sakura.

My blogs about Sakura

Sakura・・・

Farewell Sakura

Nothing lasts forerever, Sakura

We know little about Sakura

Sayonara, Autumn leaves

Nothing lasts forever. Now is the time to say Good-Bye, Sayonara to autumn leaves. I enjoyed not only the countless hues of autumn colours on the trees but also myriad of autumn colours of carpets of fallen leaves.

In autumn the maple front comes down from north to south while in spring the cherry blossom front goes up from south to north. 

But autumn of this year was unusual because of the recorded high temperatures. The sharp coldness  and the temperature difference between day and night are needed for the trees to create brilliant autumn colours.  Many people sighed saying " Too slow and blurry."

When authentic coldness came at last,  many of the trees  seemed to be  bewildered  whether they would turn autumn colours or fall leaves down.

Some of them are  hanging on the trees and others are on the ground.  Regardless whether autumn leaves are brilliant or blurry, whether they are on trees or the grounds,  I enjoy them with deep thanks to the nature.

 The fallen leaves on the bottom of a shallow river.

Migrating wild geese are resting their wings here. The scenery looks like glowing crimson. 

 Ginkgo leaves on a stone basin, this world is small. But while gazing at them,

I feel it represents something more.

 Thanks, autumn leaves, see you again!

I am going to Osaka to stay with my mother for a while because of her health problem and will not be able to use PC probably. When I come back, I'll catch up .

Nothing Lasts Forever, Sakura・・・・

It is said there are more than 300 or even 400 different varieties of Sakura or cherry trees in Japan.  Some flowers of them have already fallen and others have just started to bloom. Petals of Sakura floating in water are admired as 花筏-flower raft. The flower rafts and a reflection of Sakura are on a pond.

While time passing, the reflection is changing and the flower rafts look different.

The flower rafts also tell us the transience of time -  nothing lasts forever. 

This is an aesthetic beauty made by the cooperation of light and Sakura.

Here is my secret place where scarcely people visit to view Sakura,

so I monopolize this view!!.