Sakura

Sakura (cherry blossoming) season is upon us here in Tarui!  Adam and I have been trying to make the most of it by going out every day to see the progress of the sakura.  Unfortunately, we've been getting a lot of rain lately.

I believe that our town is one of the 100 best spots for viewing sakura in the Gifu Prefecture, or something like that.  Everything is ranked in Japan and everyone is aware of the rank.  On both banks of the Ai river there are cherry trees.  They hang Konobori across the river in March and will have them up until May to give a more festive look to the river.  Konobori are rather large carp streamers.  Konobori are put up for children's day (May 5) because parents want their children to grow strong like carp, or so I've heard.

In Tarui, we also have Asakura park.  This park has baseball fields, playgrounds, tennis courts, etc. and all around the park they have cherry trees.  This past Saturday, Adam and I biked along the Ai river admiring the cherry blossoms and then had a picnic at Asakura park in a gazebo.

Here are some pictures that we took of the sakura.

Thursday, April 2.

Konobori across the river.

That's how big some of the konobori are.

They aren't 100% in bloom yet.

Other flowering shrub

We really like the flowers on these trees, they're huge!

These shrubs are all over the place!

Friday, April 3
Giant Torii Gate in Tarui

Nangu Shrine

Asakura Park

Flowering shrub

Saturday, April 4
Full bloom!
You can see Mount Ibuki in the background with a little snow on it's peak.

Notice the blue flowers on the ground too.

Gazebo where we ate our picnic.
Asakura park