Cherry Blossom Viewing

[lydamorehouse]

 
A train passing by a cherry tree in bloom in Koganei (小金井市, Koganei-shi), a city located in the western portion of Tokyo, Japan. 

I've heard that a dusting of snow may be coming and so I had a yen to virtually go see a part of the world where the trees are in bloom and the grass is green.

So I booked myself a tour on HeyGo. For those of you new to my blog, HeyGo is a virtual tour company that employs tour guides around the world to walk around with a camera on a selfie-stick and talk to people who are streaming in, live. The cool thing about HeyGo is that it is LIVE. You can type into the chat, "Hey, please tell me what that thing is to the left," and they'll tell you!

During the isolation of the pandemic, I found a lot of comfort in this virtual community. There's something about these little walks that feel very real, like you're actually there. 


Image: close-up on a pink cherry blossom

This particular tour was a morning stroll. Our guide, Yusuke, offered a walk around his own neighborhood parks. He kept apologizing that the blossoms were past their peak, but the park was still quite lovely. It turns out that Yusuke lives in Koganei, the part of Tokyo where Studio Ghibli is located.  Apparently, a number of the scenes in The Secret World of Arrietty/Karigurashi no Arietty were based on this park. According to Yusuke, this bridge makes an appearance. I've bookmarked the movie, but, of course, Amazon Prime wants me to pay to see it. 


Images: red bridge and cherry blossoms.


Image: white cherry blossom close-up

At any rate, Yusuke wandered around this park and talked a bit about cherry blossoms and the river that we walked near, Nogawa. Shaky cam, fading internet service and all, it really does feel like wandering around with a friend. (And, I should know! jiawen and I did this not long ago, together, in Taiwan.)  I am especially fond of these kinds of tours, where the guides just take you for a random walk in a nondescript neighborhood rather than trying to go somewhere famous. I mean, I also loved going with Yusuke to see Mount Fuji, but this was actually quite lovely. I really enjoy just seeing people's houses and what's in bloom and pass by people walking dogs, etc. 

I'm kind of a cheap date.


Image: cherry trees in the park

Comments

[sabotabby]

I'm fantasizing a lot about cherry blossoms this week. Work friend asked me if I could go anywhere, where would I go, and my immediate answer was Japan.

[lydamorehouse]

In this fantasy, I will come with you!

It's been on my bucket list forever, but it is expensive and far away... and all the things that make it impractical. But, man, I have planned the best trip in my head a thousand times.

[profiterole_reads]

Gorgeous! <3 I love cherry blossoms.

[lydamorehouse]

Yeah, we won't see blooms here for months yet and it makes me sad! I actually also really love plum blossoms.

[himeprincessa]

If you didn't know, but watch you know already lol, all Studio Ghibli movies are available on HBO Max if you don't feel like buying or renting a specific movie.