Kyoto Sakura Report, March 27, 2015

Hi Everybody!

I’m so excited! The sakura are just beginning to pop out of their buds, and the weather is beautiful! You can feel the excitement in the air in Kyoto.

Today, we went to the Gion District of Kyoto, Walked along the Kamo Gawa River, and took another stroll through the Imperial Palace to show some visiting friends the gardens, there.

Here are some pictures from today’s walk around the Gion District.

Gion District, Kyoto

Gion is one of the most famous districts in Kyoto, and a wonderful place to see sakura, or Japanese cherry trees, in blossom. You can also see maiko in all of their exquisite makeup, engaged couples, and groups of Japanese women wearing yukata, all posing in front of the sakura trees and shrines.

Kamo Gawa River

These are pictures we took today along the Kamo Gawa River. Next week, this riverbank will be covered in pink and white blossoms. Today, you could start to see just a few flowers opening up.

The most famous sakura species in Japan is called “someiyoshino”. These trees are mostly what line the Kamo Gawa River, and the very picturesque Shirakawa Minami Dori street, in Gion. Mixed in with these are weeping sakura tress.

Right now, it is the very beginning of the sakura season for the someiyoshino trees. Most of these trees have only 1-10% of their blossoms open. Change will be coming very soon, as they all open in the next week, or so!

And here are today’s update photos of what’s blooming in the Imperial Palace weeping sakura gardens that we visited three days ago.

This is a lovely time of year in Kyoto. It is still cold, but it seems to get just a little bit warmer every day. This week, we will see more and more spectacular sakura blossoms opening up, too!

Check back, soon. I will be posting my Kyoto Sakura Reports every day that I can in the next two weeks.

Bua