Sublime Sunday ~ Sakura Madness, Cherry Blossoms Abound! ~ Beautiful Japan

My entry for this week is a round up of my cherry blossom photos, plus a few new ones that I hadn't posted yet.

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This week and last have been the weeks of Yoshino Cherry, Someiyoshino, which are the most common type of cherry blossoms and are likely what you think of when you think of the flower.

Every city in Japan really goes overboard with these trees, planting them everywhere, so much so that for a week or two in spring they are everywhere.

There is a river in my adopted city that is spanned by over a thousand of the trees. They run for over eight kilometers!

At the wider part of the river:

and at the narrower part:

and here is one of those Yoshino Cherry petals upclose:

Even though someiyoshino are the most common type, there are other types as well as other kinds of blossoms.

Here is a Yoshino Cherry next to peach blossoms and Higan Cherry.

The Higan Cherry blooms a bit before so it usually fades first, but the peach blossoms can outlast both (unless rain takes them down)

There are also Double-petaled Shidare Cherry Blossoms. They tend to bloom a few weeks before both and are often gone before Someiyoshino even bloom.

Whereas Someiyoshino trees only live about 50 years, Shidare trees can live much longer.

Then there are the Kawazu Cherry Blossoms which bloom before any of the others. These often bloom at the beginning of March, even in February. The ones I photoed here came and went a few weeks ago.

But anyway, back to the Yoshino Cherry. Although all of their short life is lovely, the most beautiful part is at the end, when the wind blows them off.

Cherry Blossom Blizzard!!

Leaving us with plenty of this

Well, sometimes. When wind takes them instead of rain. In that case they aren't nearly as pretty when they hit the ground.

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Anyway, while I have many many many thousands more cherry blossom photos on my hard drive, let's leave it at that. Hope you enjoyed! And hope you all are having (or had) a great Sunday!

	David LaSpina is an American photographer and translator lost in Japan, trying to capture the beauty of this country one photo at a time and searching for the perfect haiku.