Strolling Among the Cherry Blossoms in DC

Last year, we were fortunate enough to be living in Asia during cherry blossom season. We saw the beautiful blooms in Seoul, Tokyo, and Osaka, along with the large, excited crowds that flocked to view and photograph them. We’re talking tripods and selfie sticks everywhere. But when you see them in person, it’s easy to understand why. The white and pink petals brighten up any landscape, as if straight out of a fairytale.

So when spring finally reared its head in Northern Virginia, we knew we needed to make the trip to Washington, D.C. to experience the short-lived cherry blossoms.

First, a little history on how these cherry blossoms even ended up in the United States. The existing 3,000 cherry trees arrived in D.C. in 1912, a gift from Mayor Yukio Ozaki of Tokyo. (The first batch of 2,000 trees arrived diseased in 1910.) According to the National Cherry Blossom Festival website, “in a simple ceremony on March 27, 1912, First Lady Helen Herron Taft and Viscountess Chinda, wife of the Japanese ambassador, planted the first two trees from Japan on the north bank of the Tidal Basin in West Potomac Park.” The annual festival celebrates the lasting ties between both countries.

I have to admit, we weren’t expecting much. After all, we’d seen “the real deal” in Japan — how could these possibly compare? I’m happy to say we were pleasantly surprised. We rode the motorcycle into D.C. to avoid any parking headaches, and made our way to the Tidal Basin, where we found eager throngs competing for the best photo ops.

Spring Showers & Flowers in Japan

I’m glad we went back to Japan. Our previous trip in February was fun, and we got to see much of Tokyo, but this time we got to experience springtime in Japan (including the beautiful cherry blossoms) and I was able to visit Osaka, Kyoto and Nara for the first time. Truly a trip to remember! Not to mention our smooth ride on the Shinkansen bullet train.

But, I’m getting ahead of myself. I have many photos to share with you, so I’ll split this into a couple posts and try to keep them brief — unlike last time!

First, we had a day in Tokyo (well, I did. Will had to work.) I revisited the Imperial Palace grounds, including the Imperial Palace East Gardens, where I got my first glimpse of Japan’s world-renowned cherry blossoms. It was late March, so it was still fairly early in the season, but I lucked out and managed to see numerous trees that were slightly full. The weather was great for a stroll.

Tokyo Day 5 (last day): Ueno Park & Views of Mount Fuji

Before leaving Tokyo, I wanted to check out Ueno Park, which had been recommended to me by a friend and I’d seen as a top destination on several websites (I use TripAdvisor a lot, by the way, for reviews and ideas).

Our flight wasn’t until later in the afternoon, either, so we took the train to Ueno Station, grabbed a quick bite, rented a locker and stowed our two suitcases so we didn’t have to roll them around the park. How convenient! It was a nice, sunny day, and it’s a pretty big park. You could spend hours there.

At the park you’ll find several temples, a shrine, a large pond with a fleet of paddle boats and swan boats for rent, a zoo (Ueno Zoo: Japan’s oldest zoo, known for its giant pandas), a small children’s amusement park, multiple museums, and more. Apparently, the park grounds were originally part of the Kaneiji Temple, one of the city’s largest and wealthiest temples during the Edo Period. The grounds were later converted into a Western-style park and designated in 1873 as the first park in Japan.

Tokyo Day 4: Kagurazaka, Akihabara, Kanda Myojin Shrine & sukiyaki

Luckily, we were able to meet up with an old college friend of mine during our time in Japan, as well. We met Masayuki at the Kagurazaka Station, which is located in a charming, European feeling neighborhood. Kagurazaka is an area known for its French population and its sloping street lined with many cafes, shops and French eateries. Masayuki, a Tokyo native, took us to a lovely cafe for some tea. It was a very windy day again, but the cafe staff were nice enough to bring out blankets for everyone waiting outside in the chilly conditions. (Service — one thing I noticed the Japanese are very good at.)

From there, we headed over to Akihabara, popular for its diehard anime and manga fan culture, as well as its many electronic shops. We didn’t linger long, mainly just walked around a bit and explored an arcade full of video games and near-R-rated anime figurines and prizes.

Not far from the busy entertainment area, we came across the  Kanda Myojin Shrine, a Shinto shrine with almost 1,300 years of history.

Tokyo Day 3: Shibuya/Shinjuku, okonomiyaki, Meiji Shrine & purikura photo booths

It’s fun to have friends in other countries. On our third day in Tokyo, Will’s friend Scott took the train up from Osaka to spend the day with us. Valentine’s Day, actually. 🙂 Aww.

First order of business? Find some okonomiyaki for lunch. We got off at Shibuya Station, and actually, first first, I had to pay tribute to Hachiko. You know, Hachiko, the Akita dog that would greet his owner daily at Shibuya Station when he returned from work, and continued to loyally wait there every day for nine years after his owner had died? (Sigh, so sad. Don’t watch the movie or you’ll cry your eyes out.) They have a statue of him there as soon as you exit the station via… the Hachiko exit. Then, we crossed the street — that is, the famous Shibuya crossing, one of the busiest intersections in the world! Many of you have seen it in movies, but here was our view of it:

View of Shibuya Crossing from Shibuya Station.

Paw prints when exiting via the Hachiko exit at Shibuya Station.

Hachiko. Someone left him a rice ball or something.

Sniff sniff.

Hachiko memorial of some kind.

Intersection madness.

Another view of the river of people.

Sooo many people. And yet, no one pushed or shoved me as would’ve happened in Seoul.

Will and Scott, looking for lunch.

I don’t know, something round and cute.

Disney store.

Hachiko bus!

View of Shibuya Station from across the street.

Tokyo Day 2: Sensoji Temple, Skytree, Tokyo Tower, Odaiba

On our second day in Tokyo, we took the train to Asakusa to visit the Sensoji Temple (Buddhist) and the Asakusa Shrine (Shinto). It was a beautiful, clear day, which made it nice to walk around. We pretty easily found our way to the Nakamise Shopping Street, a strip of shops/stands selling souvenirs, food, shoes, and more. It was pretty crowded! I saw a lot of trinkets and items that were cute and that I wanted to buy … but Will reasoned that we’ll find nicer stuff in Osaka (we’re planning a trip there later this Spring), so I resisted the urge. We also spotted various ladies just out and about in their kimonos, which I didn’t expect.

The Nakamise Shopping Street runs from the Kaminarimon Gate to the Hozomon Gate, the entrance to the Asakusa Shrine. Both gates had those large lanterns and the guardian deities on either side, as well as tons of people trying to take their photo in the same spot (naturally).

After visiting multiple temples on this trip, I observed there are similar rituals performed at each one.

Tokyo Day 1: Imperial Palace, Ginza, Capsule Hotel

You always hear about how amazing Japan is. They have robots, Anime, smart toilets, cherry blossoms, Mount Fuji, and on and on. I’ve been hearing some of this for years from Will who, as some of you know, lived in Japan years ago. So, it was only a matter of time that I’d end up visiting someday. And, conveniently enough, it’s only a couple hours (plane ride) from South Korea.

We traveled to Tokyo for just five days, but, surprisingly enough, we were able to see most of the top attractions and do most of what we wanted, including eating delicious food. That said, I’ll try my best to share with you some of the highlights of our trip in the next few posts.

Day 1

The flight over on Japan Airlines was short and sweet, and we were fed a meal (yay for free meals). Once we landed in Haneda Airport, Will used the Tokyo Subway mobile app to get us to our hotel, which seemed fairly easy. Already my first impression was, “wow, everything is so clean!” Seriously, everything. The floors, the public bathrooms, the trains. We checked into our hotel, dropped off our bags and headed back out since it was still early in the day.

We had some tasty ramen at the Marunouchi Building (in what felt like a business district, right by Tokyo Station), and walked over to the Imperial Palace.

Back from Nippon!

So, we just got back from a quick trip to Tokyo. It was my first time in Japan and I took over 700 photos … so let’s just say I have several posts on the way! Here’s a teaser:

Sneak peak of our visit to Tokyo.

Stay tuned!