Cherry Blossoms - Tokyo In Bloom

My trip to Tokyo was timed perfectly - in terms of seeing the famed Cherry Blossom trees in all their glory.  If you have ready anything about them this year, there was concern that they were emerging 'early' - officially - five days earlier than average.  Here in Illinois, we have our little 'blossom season' going on with the widely planted Cleveland Pear tree.  They're the trees that are blooming white flowers like crazy all over the suburbs.  They're a common tree planted in the front of new houses and in parkways and along parking lots.  They grow in a tight area and they are quite show-y during this period of time.  We had a Cleveland Select Pear tree in the front yard our old house and I loved it.  Loved it so much that I bought a few more.  (And we've included one in our plan for the new place.)

But, back to these Cherry Blossoms.  We don't live in Seattle or DC - where these things are present.  So, I haven't really experienced 'blossom season' in person.  I was surprised by how long the flowers cling on and how weather-proof they are.  Sure, they lose flowers in the wind, but if they started in late March, I was surprised that the trees were still in full glory when I was there.

The other aspect that surprised me was just how many of these trees there are all over Tokyo and Nagoya.  I mean...they're everywhere.  And that's the spectacular part.  Sure, they're in parks and in gardens.  But they're also in the grittiest, urban settings.  Look at that image above.  I took that on a walk in Nagoya.  And right at this busy four-lane intersection with an overpass for a highway up in the air, and a subway tunnel heading subterranean is this beautiful tree.  Just stuck there and thriving.  Scenes like this play out all over the place.

Below is another photo, taken at a factory (well...on the walk up to a guard shack at a factory) and you can see, just outside the security fence:  a whole massive row of Cherry Blossom trees.  Beautiful!

Here's another urban scene.  All hardscape all around.  And then...these beauties rise up and just glow.