Tag: cherry-blossoms

Elusive, Yes. Non-existent? Not at all!

On By tgentryfunk1 Comment

The search continued as the sun dawned bright on an unexpected cloudless day. I woke with a mission: to head toward some out-of-the-way parts of the city to locate cherry blossoms.

I started by trying to navigate to Hie Jinga located in Akasaka. I rode the Ginza line to Tameike-Sanno Station and hopped off. If you haven’t visited Tokyo, it’s easy to wander in the wrong direction when leaving a subway and that’s what I did on this day. I walked out of the station and THOUGHT I was headed for the temple. My iPhone Google map sent me in a direction and I walked, dutifully, toward the shrine…or so I thought. The map led me astray, and I soon realized that I was going in the wrong direction. Once I figured this out, I looked around. I was in the middle of some large buildings and structures, and I couldn’t quite place my location.

Then, I saw a Japanese sign pointing to the temple. It was small and once I recognized the characters, I started walking in that direction; soon enough, I turned a corner and was the grounds for the temple. The lesson was THIS: use your eyes and look around to find out where you’re going. From that point onward on this trip, I looked at a map on my phone and avoided using the guidance from the system! The Hie Shrine sits on a hill and a series of steps leads to the main complex. On this day, a food ceremony was happening and I stayed to watch as the priests performed the ritual.

From there I located the Inari – the red torii gates that are reminiscent of Fushimi Inari. The gates are around the back of the shrine and a small group gathered to take pictures of themselves in various poses on the steps. These tourists, like me, were intrigued. Unfortunately, their interest led them to attempt climbing on the posts and trying to balance between the spans. More than once one of the group fell to the ground with the rest laughing. They changed their approach and just started photographing each other in suggestive poses. A small group formed trying to make their way down the stairs and through the torii. The group angrily refused to budge and blocked the way. At some point, another person simply pushed their way past the photographers.

Photography at its finest.
The walk through the gates….really a wonderful spot in central Tokyo

The cherry trees were sealed shut and so I decided to find another location. The wonderful Hamarikyo Park was my new destination filled with the ancient Yoshino cherry trees. The game was afoot (literally, because I was walking).

Walking all the way to this Park was a haul. The miles I trekked took me past the Imperial Gardens and through Asakasa all the way to the Shiodome area.

Crossing the bridge over the Sumida and into the park, the grounds were filled with ponds whose levels changed with the tides. Originally a home to shoguns and later Meiji leaders, the buildings were destroyed and never rebuilt. In their place were trees of various types and the cherry trees, while few in number, were present near the entrance.

As I walked to my right after the entrance, I saw a group of Yoshino cherry trees and they were old, twisted symbols of ancient Japan. As I walked around the trees, I noticed a single blossom. I grabbed the shot.

First blossom in Hamarikyo Park

It may seem like a small thing, and this blossom changed my perspective in some way. Going into the park I was anxious, worried even, about my time in Japan. I had been led astray by the Google Map, felt like I was lost on the subway more than once, and just had a sense of unease as I walked through the city.

All of that sense and sensation dropped away when I saw this one bloom on the tree. Not far from this spot, groups of small tables were scattered in the trees and I found a place to sit and just be in the moment. My meditation began effortlessly and the crazy mind I had wrestled with for hours slowly dropped away. I watched, sat, and stopped. I’m not sure how much time passed as I sat there. I noticed the wind and chill sitting in the shade of a pine tree and a shiver passed through me more than once.

A place to sit at Hamarikyo.

As the day passed, I walked through the rest of the gardens and marveled at the simplicity and attention to every detail. The grounds are remarkable.

The Tea House at Hamarikyo
Shadows and Pine
Flowers cover a meadow at Hamrikyo

I walked out of the park as the sun descended and the light cast interesting shadows on the ground. The walk back to the train station was quiet and I boarded the Ginza line to Asakusa. My day was amazing and in small ways, transformational.

May you be happy, May you be well.

Of Cherry Blossoms and Expectations

On By tgentryfunkLeave a comment

It’s cold. The wind is blowing hard and my umbrella, purchased at iSetan is not doing its job very well. The rain comes in at a sharp angle and as I walk, I stumble as the umbrella is pointed directly in front of me partially blocking my view. I imagine I look ridiculous, umbrella facing forward as the wind and rain pound my legs and feet. The chill starts to take hold and I search for some indoor space and stumble into a crowded coffee shop. I looked outside through the glass and noticed people making their way through the storm. So, here I was in Tokyo not really prepared for the maelstrom in front of me. Hmmm.

I came to Tokyo in part to see cherry blossoms. The wonder of finding very inexpensive flights and a very cheap room made the trip possible. I couldn’t believe my luck!

As I landed in the city, rain soaked clouds filled the sky and the darkness at 3:30 PM made for a very solemn arrival.

I made my way quickly through customs and to the Keikyu line to Asakusa. The rain poured from the skies and I wondered about walking from the station to the hotel. Would I be soaked? I left my umbrella at home by accident and now wished I had one handy. No matter. I’d be fine as the walk was less than a 1/2 a mile.

The wind and rain battered me as I walked onto the busy sidewalk. I hurried across the street and down an alley I remembered as a shortcut to the hotel. I made it into the building just as the wind nearly blew me down! My expectations of sunny days and cherry blossoms were slow fading.

As morning dawned on that first day, I woke early, dressed for the rain, and walked the short distance to Senso-ji temple and the cherry trees all over the grounds. It was a cold, cloudy day and the wind crossing the Sumida River was fierce. As I made it to the Haruman Gate, it was early, about 7:00AM and few people were gathered. I grabbed some coffee and wandered around, just looking for some shots of the trees and the temple. As I approached the first tree just to the right of the main shrine, the buds were tightly closed. The cold weather of the past week had slowed their bloom and I caught the trees just before they opened.

I headed up the temple stairs and had the room to myself as few people were awake to see the sights. The quiet was remarkable, having seen this sample place literally filled with people in the past. I relished the time spent and decided to head toward Ueno Park, about three miles away. Surely I might find some blooms open in that location!

I chose sidestreets and neighborhoods to walk through to the park and was soon alerted to my phone buzzing an earthquake alert. I looked around and people were going about their routine. Some stopped for a minute to see what would happen. A mother and daughter biked together to school and they paused for the alert and kept going. Workers in an alleyway kept loading a truck with trash, and an elderly man glanced at his watch as it buzzed, and then kept shuffling along.

Earthquake, Tokyo Time

I’ve been in small earthquakes before and wasn’t too concerned, but the message caught me off guard and, as it turned out, a earthquake refuge was nearby, a small Buddhist temple. I went through the gates into the garden and looked around…photographing the grounds. A strange silence descended on the city and the birds I heard a few minutes before were silent. I wondered if they knew something I didn’t? As I looked around, I saw more signs of the day progressing normally and no one was obviously affected by the sirens and alerts. So, I did what everybody else was doing: I went about my day.

A refuge in Asakusa from the earthquake.

As I walked, the wind crashed between the tall buildings in near Ueno and it was intense. It pushed me around as I walked past an elementary school. Once on the main street, I could see the walking bridges that rose above the train tracks and city streets. I climbed the stairs and walked toward Ueno park in anticipation of finding the elusive cherry blossoms. Long lines of people made their way up the stairs and into the dedicated lanes for foot traffic into and out of Ueno. Lining the path were cherry trees, none of which had bloomed yet. The light rain and chill temperatures were testimony to their quiet and slow awakening.

Blossoms firmly closed in Ueno Park

As the day passed and I made my way to sushi and the hotel, I reflected on the situation I was in. Many of the things I wanted to do were rudely pushed to the side and what remained was me trying to recreate and reform what I wanted from this trip. That led me to rethink a few things:

  1. I had to brave the storm, no matter what.
  2. My choice of locations needed to change to accomodate some new ideas I had about what and where to photograph.
  3. To just let it all go…to allow these changes to happen without regret.

I decided to go on the hunt for cherry blossoms the next day, sure that I would happen upon a cache of these illustrious blossoms in some corner of Tokyo.

May you be happy, may you be well.