A week under cherry blossoms（桜の下で過ごした一週間）

4/05/2015 Béné (ベネ) 0 Comments

The sakura (cherry blossom) season just ended in Fukuoka and many other places in Japan . This year, the weather was not kind with us at all and the blossom lasted just about a week which is very short. Here's a review of a week under the cherry trees in Fukuoka, from hatching until the end of the season.

福岡を始め、日本の色々な場所で桜の季節はそろそろ終わります。今年は強風が吹いたり、雨が降ったりしてお天気はあまり良くなかったです。そのせいで、桜は一週間しか見れなくて少し寂しいです。しかし、無事に見れました！
咲き始めた頃から花が落ちてた頃にかけて、桜の下で過ごした一週間を紹介します！

The beautiful weather and high temperatures we had at the end of in March granted the flowers to hatch. In almost a day we went from buds to about 50% of open flowers. I went to see the famous cherry tree in the Tocho-ji temple (東長寺) in the Gion district, close to Hakata Station.

It is a well known viewing spot because the temple itself it famous and one of the most popular place in the city but also because the tree is majestic. This is the first time I went just before the full bloom but it was still very pretty. The advantage to come when the flowers are still half open is that we can see pretty shades of pink : a vivid pink for flower buds to a very pale, almost white pink for fully open flowers.

素敵なお天気のおかげで花が早く咲けるようになりました。1日で大体半分が咲いていました。
博多駅の近くにある東長寺の有名なでかい桜の木を見に行きました。

東長寺は結構有名です。観光地だけではなく、桜の木のおかげで多くの人が毎年見に行くそうです。今年は満開の前に初めて来ましたが、とても綺麗で満足しました。
満開ではないお花の良いところは色々なピンクを見る事が出来ることです。つぼみはビビードピンクで満開の花は白に近い薄いピンクですね。

Cherry tree "sakura" at Tôchô-ji temple, Fukuoka

The unusually high temperatures continued and cherry trees reached full bloom on Wednesday, April 1st. So it was a weekday and I had not the opportunity to admire the flowers other than the ones that were on my way to work. The idea of getting up at dawn to go to a park momentarily crossed my mind, as well as taking a half day off but it really was not reasonable. It is in those moments that I realize that I should more enjoy this kind a moment when I was a student. When you are working and full bloom is on a weekday, you can not really enjoy it and just have to say see you next year dear sakuras !

The advantage of these in-town sakura is that　it is not crowded at all, there are just some people like me briefly stopping for a picture.

季節に珍しい暖かい温度うがつ続いていて、4月1日にお花は満開になりました。平日は仕事なので大きな公園とかでも行く事が出来なくて辛かったです。でも、仕事の行き道の小さい公園や道りの桜の木などを見れて嬉しかったです。
日の出の時間に起きて仕事前に大濠公園でも行こうかと考えていましたがやっぱり無理でした。この時は学生立ちに羨ましいです。お休み中なのでどこでも行けます。社会人になってから「また来年」しか考えられません。

まぁ、小さい公園までの良いところは人が居ない事ですね！私みたいに写真を撮る人くらいいました。

From April 2nd, a heavy rain, thunderstorms and strong winds have hit the city and in only one night, 25% of the flowers falled down. I was really scared that nothing would remain in Saturday. Fortunately, there was still pink on the trees but also the ground : I was literally walking on petals carpet.
Although I like the full blossom, I also appreciate when the petals fall down : they are dancing in the wind. Moreover, the verb used in Japanese is mai ochiru (舞い落ちる), mai comes from mau (舞う, dancing) and ochiru means falling down. It looks like snow but it is cherry blossoms petals. They cling to the hair, I tried to catch them, it is a very poetic moment. And I love watching children having fun with this pink snow.

This time again, I went to Maizuru Park (舞鶴公園). This really is the best place in town for plum and cherry blossom. I never get tired of the beautiful contrast of pink flowers with the castle walls stones.

4月2日から、天気が急に悪くなってきて、一晩の間にお花の4分の1が落ちてしまいました。土曜日まで残るかどうか心配していました。
しかし、木がまだピンクでした！そして、落ちている花びらが多くて花びらのカーペットの上に歩いたという感じしました。
満開の時期が好きなくせに、舞い落ちてる時期のも大好きです。雪みたいですが花びらです。髪の毛にだり、取ってみたりしてとても詩的な瞬間でした。そして、花びらと遊んでいる子ども達を見るの燃好き！

今回も舞鶴公演に行ってきました。個人的に舞鶴公演は福岡市内の最も良い花見スポットです。薄いピンクとお城の壁の石のコントラストがたまらない！