Cherry Blossoms 2010: Kamakura Report (4/7)

Cherry Blossom Report 2010
by japan-guide.com

This is the official japan-guide.com cherry blossom report for 2010. Please visit also our guide to cherry blossoms for more general information about cherry blossoms and this year's forecasts and our schedule of upcoming reports.

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2010/04/07 - Kamakura Report
by schauwecker

While Scott and Francois will continue to report a few more days from the Kansai and Kanto regions, my visit to Kamakura today concluded the first part of the season's reporting for me. I will resume my hunt for cherry blossoms in more northern latitudes of Japan in a week or two.

Kamakura Daibutsu (Great Buddha)
April 7, 2010 - beyond the peak

There aren't that many cherry trees on the grounds of Kotokuin Temple, the home of Kamakura's famous Great Buddha. But one well placed tree to the right of the Daibutsu lets visitors beautifully combine the statue with cherry blossoms into photos.

The cherry blossom season in Kamakura is approaching its end, as petal blizzards have started to cover the ground with thousands of pink dots, and green leaves are emerging from between the blossoms. Squirrels contributed to the downfall of the blossoms at Kotokuin Temple today, as whole gangs of them jumped around the trees, biting off one blossom after the other for their sweet nectar (I assume).

Cherry blossoms and a squirrel at Kotokuin Temple

Genjiyama Park
April 7, 2010 - beyond the peak

Next I visited Genjiyama Park, a hilltop park along the Daibutsu hiking trail, which connects the Great Buddha with Kitakamakura. If the weather would have been better and the ground less soaked by recent rain, today could have been one last nice day for a hanami picnic.

Trees have lost already a considerable number of petals, but still make for quite a nice sight, especially in combination with the occasional petal blizzards (hanafubuki). I am afraid, however, that the rain, which is forecast for later today, may put a definite end to the cherry blossom season at Genjiyama Park.

Dankazura
April 7, 2010 - beyond the peak

I ended the report with a visit to Kamakura's most famous cherry blossom spot, Dankazura, the long approach to Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine, which is lined and covered by hundreds of cherry trees. Although the trees have already lost quite a few petals, the sight of the long cherry blossom tunnel was still spectacular.

At Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine I paid my respect to the fallen Oicho tree, the large ginkgo tree, which is said to have stood next to the stairs to Hachimangu's main buildings for over 1000 years, but which had grown too weak to stand through a stormy night earlier this year. After enjoying the tree's beauty on many past visits, including several autumn leaf reports, I felt rather sad on today's visit.