April 5, 2014

• Spring has Sprung!

  April 3 - By the end of the day 91.000 people had gone! We were not among them.

  "Visitors flock to see cherry blossoms along road opened at Imperial Palace" - You can see the original article here.

  Crowds of visitors enjoyed gazing at cherry blossoms along an Imperial Palace road that was opened to public on April 4 to celebrate Emperor Akihito's reaching the age of 80 last year.

  

  The Imperial Household Agency decided to open Inui Avenue -- which extends about 750 meters from the southeast Sakashita Gate to the Inui Gate on the north side of the palace -- from April 4 to 8, when cherry blossoms are expected to be in full bloom. About 80 cherry trees, including popular someiyoshino trees, line the avenue.

  As of 12:30 p.m. on April 4, some 23,000 people had enjoyed viewing the blossoms.

  Members of the general public can usually walk along the street only on Dec. 23, the Emperor's Birthday, and when the palace is opened to allow people to greet the Emperor and other members of the Imperial Family during the New Year period.

  

  Visitors can enter the palace grounds between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. They must leave through the Inui Gate by 4 p.m., and through the Higashi Gyoen gate by 4:30 p.m. Further information is available by calling 03-3284-6780.

  April 4 - Today is Friday which both DH and I have off, so we went to Jindaiji Botanical Garden to see how much of spring has sprung before the weekend cherry blossom rush.

  

  Our first stop is at Rakuyaki, a place where you can glaze and fire ceramics of your own design. Someone had made some Kabuto helmets, traditional decorations for Children's Day which is coming up at the beginning of May. I would have gotten the one in the middle with the fish on it, but at $28.00 the price was a bit steep.

  

  Small Cat Pitchers - Dern, I should have gotten some for my daughter in law. Maybe next time!

  

  Here are some Jindaiji Rakuyaki style chopstick rests.

  

  This fellow is hawking the famous soba noodles served inside this shop. I wonder how long he has been employed there. This is his partner below.

  

  

  Let's go into the garden for a look at how spring has sprung!

  

  

  

  

  

  

  April 5 - Around the Neighborhood

  

  Hey, who needs to make a special trip to view cherry blossoms when we can see this from our veranda?

  

  Well, DH thinks he does, so off we went to a local park. There were some kids' soccer league games going on, so we stopped for a look.

  

  DH is not planning to perform any surgery in the park. He wants to keep the pollen out.

  • 12:54
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