Everybody loves Sakura

All of Japan seems to catch spring fever when the cherry trees bloom. This year it seemed much shorter than last, due to rain and wind. I feel like I blinked and all of a sudden the cherry blossoms were gone! But here are a few pictures--

Many parks have large grassy areas surrounded by cherry trees. The sky is hidden by a cover of blossoms, and towards the end of the week, they flutter down like snowflakes. The picture below is a small park near us--Komaba Koen.

This is the moat that goes around the Imperial Palace. You can even rent a row boat! The cherry trees go all the way around. It was a beautiful walk.

One of my Japanese friends told me that cherry blossom season brings back many bittersweet memories for her. The Japanese start their new school year in the beginning of April so there are a lot of sad goodbyes and new hellos this time of year. The kids get a two week vacation, the last week of March and first week of April and then start the new school year. Today the crosswalk guards and police were out in force for the first week of school. I saw many kids walking to school with their parents in new school uniforms, with cameras etc. It was really cute.