Friday, April 12, 2013

Pretty Sakura (Cherry Blossoms) at Kema Sakuranomiya Park, Osaka, Japan!

The darling and I have always wanted to visit Japan for some Sakura (Cherry Blossom) viewing, so almost a year ago we planned this trip for the second week of April which has historically been the peak Sakura viewing season. Some unseasonably warm weather in March this year, however, accelerated the flowers' full bloom by over a week. So when we got off the plane we dumped our bags at the hotel and immediately headed over to one of Osaka (and Japan's) favorite viewing spots - Kema Sakuranomiya Park!

Sakura or Cherry Blossoms at Kema Sakuranomiya Park, Osaka, Japan

We reach the park and are delighted to see that although some trees have started to shed some petals thanks to the rain and strong winds, most trees are still blooming strong! The park has something like 5,000 trees lining both banks of the river and make for an extremely scenic and enjoying leisurely stroll.

Sakura or Cherry Blossoms at Kema Sakuranomiya Park, Osaka, Japan

We're somewhat surprised to find out that there are actually close to twenty different varieties of Sakura / Cherry Blossoms all over Japan - with different colors, blooming periods and even number of petals and flower shape. The trees in Kema Sakuranomiya Park are mostly of the Somei Yoshino variety.

Sakura or Cherry Blossoms at Kema Sakuranomiya Park, Osaka, Japan

We also encounter a lot of multiple petaled, darker pink variety which we believe is the Yoshino variety. These are very obviously a later-blooming variety as the flowers look strong and sturdy and show no sign of giving up their petals to the wind ... yet.

Sakura or Cherry Blossoms at Kema Sakuranomiya Park, Osaka, Japan
Sakura or Cherry Blossoms at Kema Sakuranomiya Park, Osaka, Japan

Although we may have been a day or two late with the "peak" season for Osaka, we actually very much liked the conditions at the park - thanks to the hanafubuki (flower/petal blizzard) of "snowing" petals whenever the wind blowed. You can check out what it looks and feels like in the video below:


Of course we have to admit that it's a shame that the season came and ended earlier than usual this year (blame global warming, perhaps?) as we would have loved to personally experience the entire lifecycle of the sakura opening, blooming and the petals dropping. Maybe next year? :)

Kema Sakuranomiya Park has no admission fee and is just off the JR (Japan Railways) Sakuranomiya station in Osaka.

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2 comments:

  1. Lovely pics and video! Thanks for this write up. Joyce, I love your umbrella. Did you get it in Japan? Take care both of you.

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