Kyoto: Petals Starting To Fall

We are now in the second week of April, and the cherry blossom frontline has reached the Tohoku Region where Fukushima and Sendai reported the opening of their first blossoms on April 5, 2019. Majority of the cities in Japan up to the Kanto Region reached full bloom last week, and the number of best viewing days remaining are slowly dwindling.

I went to Kyoto today to see how the cherry blossoms had progressed since the last time Andrew was there on Friday. Full bloom was officially reported in the city on April 6, 2019, and today, just a short two days after, I found that the petals had started to fall. Last night's rain very likely had an influence on the longevity of the blossoms. There were still lots of flowers to see when I was there, and it felt like the best of both full bloom and petals falling. Rain is forecast on Wednesday, and I expect that to take more petals down and bring on the beginning of the end of the best viewing period.

I started my day at the ever popular Kiyomizudera Temple where I found the petals to have started falling. There were still lots of blossoms in the trees and I expect the best viewing to continue for another day or two. Rain is forecast on Wednesday, and I expect that to affect the longevity of the blossoms and the best viewing period to not last beyond the coming weekend.

Moving on to the nearby Maruyama Park, I found many of the mainstream Somei Yoshino blossoms to have just started dropping some of their petals. However, there were still lots of blossoms for an enjoyable hanami party. Rain is forecast on Wednesday, and I expect that to take more petals down and bring on the end of the best viewing period.

Heian Shrine was one of the best places to see cherry blossoms. The weeping cherry trees in the paid garden behind the main buildings were at full bloom and I expect them to remain good to see through the coming weekend.

I walked along the Okazaki Canal to my final spot for the day, the Keage Incline. The cherry trees that line the slope had started to shed some petals, but there were still lots of blossoms to delight visitors. Rain is forecast on Wednesday, and I expect that to take more petals down and bring on the end of the best viewing period.