The Japan Bloom of Cherry Blossoms 2015

This time of year is a great time to visit Japan.  Their festivals are famous world-wide.

Hanami is an important Japanese custom and is held all over Japan in spring. Hanami literally means viewing flowers, but it generally indicates cherry blossom viewing. It's said that the origin of hanami dates back to more than one thousand years ago when aristocrats enjoyed looking at beautiful cherry blossoms and wrote poems.Nowadays, people in Japan have fun viewing cherry blossoms, drinking and eating. It is like a picnic under the trees. People bring home-cooked meals, do BBQ, or buy take-out food for hanami. In popular hanami spots, there are even competitions for the best spots. If you do not like a crowd, you can go to neighborhood parks, gardens or other quiet places. The most popular kind of Japanese cherry (sakura) tree which can be found everywhere in Japan is somei-yoshino (Yedoensis). 

Sakura trees bloom at different times throughout Japan, and the blooming period of somei-yoshino is usually short. Cherry blossom festivals take place all over the country. Most of them are held between March to May, though other regions have them in January, February, and June, based on their location. Festival dates are usually determined with reference to cherry blossom forecasts and vary from year to year. Gorgeous flowers are main attractions of the festivals, but a variety of traditional Japanese performing arts presented in many festivals can't be missed. Joining tea ceremonies held under cherry trees can be a memorable experience as well. It's fun to stop by festival vendors which sell various food and souvenirs, including regional crafts and specialty food in the region. It's notable that many cherry blossom festivals hold light-up events in the evening.

There are many gardens throughout Japan that are worth seeing during a visit to the beautiful country.

Sengan-en Gardens Kagoshima

Senganen Garden, also known as Isoteien, is a Japanese style landscape garden along the coast north of downtown Kagoshima. One of the garden's most striking feature is its use of Sakurajima and Kagoshima Bay as borrowed scenery. The garden also includes small ponds, streams, shrines and a bamboo grove.

Senganen was constructed in 1658 by the wealthy Shimazu Clan, one of the most powerful feudal clans during the Edo Period (1603-1867). The Shimazu ruled the Satsuma domain (present day Kagoshima) for almost 700 years until the end of the feudal age in 1868. They continued to be influential into the modern era as some of the earliest adopters of Western science and technology.

At the center of the garden stands the Iso Residence. The residence was originally built in 1658 along with the rest of the garden, but the current building mostly dates back to a reconstruction of the mid 1880s. After the end of the feudal age, the Iso Residence became the main residence of the Shimazu family, and its rooms are preserved in the way they were used in the 1890s. The interior of the residence can only be seen on a paid tour that includes tea and a snack at the end.

Outside the main garden area, and included in the admission price, stands a long stone building that used to serve as one of the earliest Western style machinery factories in Japan. Today it houses the Shoko Shuseikan Museum with exhibits about the culture and maritime activities of the Shimizu Clan and the early factory and machines which contributed to Japan's modernization in the 1800s.

Let Rawhide Travel and Tours help you get there to see the wonderful gardens and beautiful Cherry Blossom flowers. Call us at (602) 843-5100 or visit our website: rawhidetravel.com.

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Rawhide Travel and Tours Inc.
6008 West Bell Road # F105
Glendale, Arizona 85308-3793
602-843-5100
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