A Trip to See Cherry Blossoms in Japan part 2

Hi everybody.
We meet again 😄.
Surely everyone has returned to their daily lives after the Tet holiday, right?
Everything alright?

After the holidays, I'm pretty busy. My clients are in Japan, they take almost two weeks off, so the work is piled up a lot. That's why, until today, I have continued to write the second part of cherry blossom viewing in Japan.

In the previous post, I introduced you to two famous flower viewing locations with two different styles of flower viewing. One is walking the small trails in the Koishikawa Korakuen garden. The second is boating to see the cherry trees on both sides of the river at Chidorigafuchi Park.

Today we will go to the cherry blossoms at Ueno Park and Yasukuni Shrine (Kudanshita).

The first is Ueno Park. It also has a famous zoo, so when it's not cherry blossom season, people often come here to see the animals. When I was in Japan, it was famous for having a panda. And it seems that the Japanese love this animal so much that they often wait in long lines just to see that bear. I also think that pandas are really cute animals.

During the cherry blossom season, this place becomes a beautiful flower forest.

So what are people going to do here?
In addition to walking around and taking pictures, you can spread the canvas and sit and drink and talk with friends here. Try to imagine the scene while sitting under the cherry tree looking at the flowers, enjoying a glass of beer, and talking with friends. It's great, isn't it?
People can talk about past memories, future plans or discuss the beauty of cherry blossoms. Writing here reminds me of my friends in Japan. It will probably be a long time before I see them again.

In addition to watching flowers, people can also go to pagodas here. We often tease each other that if I pray in Vietnamese, will the Gods of Japan be able to understand 😄. But in my opinion, the Gods will definitely understand the intentions from the inside of each person's heart, so don't worry.

The picture of a little girl is very cute, isn't it?
By the way, I will tell you briefly about going to the temple in Japan.
Usually in temples and pagodas in Japan there will be a small water tank. Before entering the temple, you need to wash your hands and rinse your mouth there. People say this is used to purify one's body and soul. There will be a wooden or bamboo ladle for you to scoop water, but you should pay attention that absolutely do not drink directly from the ladle. Take the water and pour it into your hand and drink it.

😄Another interesting thing in the photo above is that you can see the yellow water bottles in the picture. I don't know if it's beer or tea. I guess it was the tea they prepared for those who went to see the flowers or go to the temple. I think it's free.

Ueno Park is very large and really crowded. As far as I know, if the relevant locations are included, this place has more than 1200 cherry blossom trees. If you like a lively, bustling atmosphere, this place is very suitable for you. Come and experience the upcoming cherry blossom season.

As mentioned at the beginning of the article, the next place I want to introduce to you is Yasukuni Shrine (Kudanshita).

This shrine is a place of worship and memory of the soldiers who fought and served for the emperor of Japan. I found out information from Wikipedia, as of October 2004, there were 2,466,532 Japanese soldiers and Japanese colonies enrolled in this temple.

The shrine is notable for having a rather large tori gate. I guess it will be difficult for some people to recognize because this gate does not look like the red-painted tori gates you usually see ⛩.

And we come to the main topic of the article.
Entering the campus, you will see a grove of cherry trees inside.
There are about 500 cherry trees planted here.
Let's see their beauty.

Here, you won't be able to spread a tarp and eat under the trees, but there will still be a few snack shops inside.
Mostly people come here to take pictures and see the flowers. They, like me, were attracted by the ancient beauty of this place. You also feel here has a completely different color from other places, right?
It's hard to describe. If you have a chance, come and see for yourself.

Another special thing about Yasukuni Shrine is that at the entrance to the temple, there will be a monumental bronze statue. This is the statue of Omura Masujiro, I found out on the internet that many people consider him as the father of the modern Japanese army.

So in this article, I have introduced you to two famous cherry blossom viewing locations for you to choose from. Hope it helps you if you decide to go flower viewing in Japan. If you come here, please recount your own experiences. I'm sure I'll love reading it.

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Thank you for reading the article.
Hello and see you in the next posts ❤️.