The long-awaited sakura (cherry blossom) season has come and gone in a flash in most parts of Japan. Only the northern region is still experiencing the pink wave around this time. Cherry blossoms bloomed and peaked earlier than ever recorded.
Unfortunately, people around the world couldn’t enjoy it due to the ongoing pandemic. Even in Japan, folks couldn’t enjoy hanami without putting themselves and others at risk.
Below are some of the best sakura pictures taken this year. They include the three-century-old cherry tree named Ushinshiro no Miwume Zakura in Shizuoka, Okayama’s Daigo Sakura with a trunk circumference over seven meters, Kyoto’s famous Gion Shirakawa street, Shiga Prefecture’s Mii-dera Buddhist Temple and a solitary but gorgeous shot from Iwate.
Okayama’s Daigo Sakura
醍醐桜と天の川。
“Daigo-Sakura and the Milky Way.”
Kyoto’s Shirakawa Street
祇園白川
ここは本当に圧巻の夜桜をみせてくれる。
“Gion Shirakawa really shows us the best part of cherry blossoms at night.”
Shimada’s tea plantation
今日は“さくらの日”だそうです
僕の一番好きな桜を見てください
“Today is ‘Sakura Day.’
Look at my favorite cherry blossom.”
Shiga’s cherry blossom temple
天台寺門宗の総本山三井寺の観月舞台がとんでもないことになってます！県指定の文化財の内側を、所狭しと爆発する桜、桜、桜！なかなか移動も難しい状況ですが、せめて写真で！
“The moon viewing stage of the Mii-Dera, the head temple of Tendai’s Jimon sect, is incredible! It’s an explosion of cherry blossom everywhere inside this narrow cultural property designated by the prefecture. The circumstances make it difficult to travel around, but at least [you can view them] in a photo!”
Iwate’s Koiwai Farm
小岩井農業の一本桜(岩手)
“One cherry tree at Koiwai Farm (Iwate)”
Vocabulary for cherry blossoms
Here is a beautiful Japanese idiom to remind us of the fleeting beauty of cherry blossoms:
- ぬの
Literally, “cherry blossoms after three days.” The idiom means a situation in which things evolve very quickly, very much like sakura bloom and fall in the blink of an eye.
Are you a cherry blossom lover? Study this quick vocabulary list so you can know what to talk about next season!
桜前線 sakura zensen The cherry blossom front 開花前線 kaika zen Flower blossom front 満開 mankai Full bloom 朝桜 asazakura The view of cherry flowers’ in the morning dew 夜桜 yozakura Viewing cherry blossoms at night 花霞 hanagasumi Hazy blossom with cherry flowers appearing like a blurred mist 花吹雪 hanafubuki Cherry blossom falling like a snowstorm with the wind 桜雨 sakura ame Rain during the cherry blossom season, which scatters the blossoms away 花散らしの雨になる hanashirashi no ame ni naru Start raining and scattering the blossoms away 花筏 hanaikada Flower petals on the water 葉桜 hazakura Fresh green leaves of a cherry tree whose blossom has gone, sign the cherry blossom season has ended
More vocabulary
天の川 ama no gawa Milky Way 圧巻 akkan The best part, the highlight of だそうです da sou desu It seems 一番好き ichiban sukin Favorite 観月舞台 mizuki butai Moon viewing stage とんでもないことになる tondemonai koto ni naru Become an incredible thing (most often used negatively to refer to something terrible or trouble) 文化財 bunkawai Cultural Property of Japan
