Kyoto in bloom

The Philosopher's Path

The Imperial Palace park

Sanjusangendo temple garden

The Kamo river

Very old cherry tree needing a lot a support, Daigo-ji (temple)

Daigo-ji

Nijo castle night-time illumination

Cherry trees on the bank of the river at Gojo

Kiyamchi street at night

This is a small selection of the hundreds of photos I was compelled to take during sakura (cherry blossom) season. It's my first ever spring in Japan, and I did not imagine that it would be so spectacular, but the sweeping, arching trees bursting into beautiful pastel blooms will remain imprinted forever on my mind. I understand now why there is a blossom forecast, much like the weather forecast, beamed out through televisions into every home in Japan. I became one of the avid photographers who scrutinises the tree, trying to judge when the 80% bloom will become 100%, trying to capture the fleeting beauty on film. Then there were the hanami parties, picnicking under the blossoming trees. Rather than a rowdy affair laid out across the jarringly blue tarpaulins that have become a common sight, I enjoyed lovely lunches with a few friends sitting in a quiet spot, in the middle of a dome of flowers which cascaded all around me. Sometimes it felt like I was in a fairy-tale world of trees, honestly!

My advice to make the most of this natural phenomena:

• 1.       Regularly check online reports of the sakura hot-spots with updates of the percentage blooms of trees to let you know when they reach full bloom. The blooming times for different types of trees and trees in different areas varies.
• 2.       Visit the most popular spots as early as possible in the morning – ideally before 9:30am. Soon afterwards hordes of tourists may arrive on buses and ruin the peaceful atmosphere!
• 3.       Watch the weather forecast and make the most of sunny days – a rainy day and strong winds can cause many blossoms to fall.

The Japan guide offered regular reports on the progress of blossoms in Kyoto:

http://www.japan-guide.com/blog/sakura13/130404_kyoto.html

For beautiful sakura photos from all over Japan, inspiration for 2014:

http://www.facebook.com/sakurainjapan

Kyoto cooking circle

photograph: Kyoto Cooking Circle

Today I attended the Kyoto Cooking Circle's monthly cooking class, in the gleaming kitchen of the Wings Kyoto building. It was absolutely fantastic, from the professionalism of the all-volunteer staff to the delicious food and warm, chatty company. The class is held once a month, with a new menu each time. For Japanese participants the class costs 2000 yen, for the foreigners whose participation they actively encourage the cost is 1000yen. We made an onion salad, easy miso soup and tri-coloured chicken, egg and snow pea rice 'donburi', which was delicious and I will be definitely trying this out at home. For dessert, uguisu-mochi; a traditional Japanese sweet made essentially from rice flour and red bean paste, that requires deft handling of burning hot sticky rice paste, but is actually not as complicated as I thought to make. I'll definitely be trying this out for my wagashi-loving mum! Everyone receives the recipes in Japanese and English to take home with them.
There's a limit to how many people can participate and the classes always seem to book up, so to reserve a place head to their website:
http://kcc.fc2web.com/e_main.htm

Plum blossom festival, Kitano Tenmangu shrine, 25th February

Geiko and maiko served bowls of thick green matcha during a special tea ceremony among the blossoming plum trees of the shrine. It was an utterly enchanting experience, before I had only ever glimpsed them scurrying down the narrow streets of Gion between evening appointments. On this day we were able to appreciate their beautiful kimono, the artistry of their make-up,  from inches away and even talk to them. This hardly diminished their mystery however, I find them even more fascinating now that I felt the presence of the real women and young girls who choose to enter such an intriguing profession, surely one of the most little known in the world.  The graciously smiling Maiko were wearing longer obis and more brightly patterned hair ornaments and kimono, while the senior Geiko appeared in more sombre-toned dress, with short obis and a simpler hair dress; their dignified poise was commanding enough. Seeing them made me wonder, why is their ideal of beauty to be painted so white, their lips, eyebrows, corners of their eyes drawn a startling bright red?  Who are the men they entertain? 

The plum blossoms,  just starting to bloom, seemed soft and delicate. There is something very special about celebrating nature with a festival like this; the simple beauty of the blossoms, the new spring life they symbolise, things which  can be appreciated by everyone, all ages and cultures. Now I’m waiting impatiently for the first cherry blossoms to appear!

Kyoto after dark

Kyoto at night, from the middle of the 大 of Daimonji, my friend Daniel