Neighborhood sakura (and other flowers)

I'm really lucky to live in a area full of cherry blossoms. They're everywhere: lining the three kilometre long street that runs from Oizumigakuen station to my neighborhood (shown above, a few days before they were in full bloom),

overlooking the parking lot of the convenience store down the street,

in the garden of a large house nearby (I love the little katteguchi, a traditional service entrance far too small to fit through comfortably and only used for those not priviliged enough to use the driveway just one metre away),

on the other side of the intersection in front of our building (if only there were cherry trees on our side),

lining the street that runs from that intersection to Camp Asaka, a Jieitai (Self Defence Forces, Japan's defacto army) base,

right inside Camp Asaka (in fact, the best cherry blossoms of all are either inside or lining the base),

and at Wakojurin Koen, the park next to the base.

For now the flowers are staying on the trees, but there are a few fallen petals here and there, pretty reminders of the pink carpet we'll be seeing next week.

 

Cherry blossoms aren't the only flower out, of course. The petal below is from otometsubaki, a kind of camelia that blooms around the same time as sakura.

It's a lovely flower that unfortunately tends to get overlooked due to its timing and pale colour.

Yamabuki (kerria rose) is another flower that comes during sakura season, but it's very hard not to notice its blindingly bright colour.

And of course there's hakumokuren (yulan magnolia), which usually starts before the cherry blossoms but you'll often find them hanging on until mid April.

The cherry trees on the grounds of the fire station on the other side of the park were not yet at their peak when I passed by last week, but I had to take a picture of the firemen doing their training.

It makes me feel nice and safe having all these well-trained fire fighters nearby, not to mention a base full of soldiers (both will come in handy when the long predicted major earthquake hits Tokyo).

Oh yeah, and all those cherry trees aren't bad to have around either.

JapanSoc it!

Comments

[Carlyn]

Amy;
What lovely photos and what a beautiful neighborhood!!! How fortunate you are to live in such a great area!!!! The flowers are so pretty....We are still cold in New England and I am really anxious for some warmer weather....

[Mooshi]

Hi Amy,

What lovely pictures you have here!!! We are forever green and tropical in Singapore so it is a luxury for me to see the seasons and flowers that you photographs and described so vividly in your posts.

I feel so happy now! =)

Thank you!

[Lynne]

your neighborhood is lovely! makes me wish there's some greens on my street...

loving the flower pics!

food and flower postings...one of the more reasons why i love your post!

[zee]

Very lovely neighborhood.. Especially like the cherry-tree-lined street pictures.. Like a fairy tale.. *Sigh*..

[Amy]

Thanks for the comments! Between freezing New England and tropical Singapore, I feel lucky to experience Japan's early spring.