Of sakura, snow and castles

It is my third April in Japan. Two years ago, I would never believe I’d be saying this. My third year. My third spring. My third contract. One day I should go home, but not when there is still the most amazing country out there to explore.

So the part of the country to explore this time was Fukushima. You might remember Fukushima from such times as: oh the time there was an awful earthquake and tsunami that threatened a nuclear plant and everyone was worried about radiation. Yep, same Fukushima. I’m not knowledgeable enough to report on the current state of the reactor but I do know that outside of the near proximity of the plant is safe and asking for tourists to return. And that’s just what we did. Note: we were at least a hundred kilometers from the no-entry zone.

So off we were on a rainy morning to the bus stop to see the last of the sakura as 2013. At least we could count on sakura unlike the last time we ventured out in the rain on a similar tour and were deprived of the flowers. The rain I can deal with. Now, the snow, in spring, IN APRIL, after having a brief fortnight of summer in March… now that, I was entirely unprepared to cope with. So along the expressway we are driving on the bus when Mr. tour guide announces the roads are closed for SNOW! I still kinda can’t believe it. So, we get off that expressway and take another which was also eventually closed for SNOW! Still in disbelief we slipped off the toll roads and onto the local ones and there it was: the perpetrator… SNOW!

Eventually we made it to Aizu-wakamatsu in Fukushima, but we were two hours late. In the end this was worth it for by the time we stopped for lunch at this collection of samurai houses, the sleet had soften to a light misting. The samurai house was really cool, especially in the snow and sakura. It belong to the retainer of the castle lord which I do believe was the Matsudaira clan, a family branch of the Tokugawa, because Matsudaira Katamori was from these parts. He was one of the awesome samurai who stayed loyal to the shogun even when hope was fading. The place, while beautiful, has a dark shadow over it in that when the castle fell at the end of the Boshin War, rather than disgrace their husbands and sons the woman all took their lives there… In the end, they were on the losing side of the war and this battle marked one of the last stands against the Imperial forces on Honshu. The last stage of the war, where the remaining Aizu clan and Shinsegumi resolved to begin their own country: the republic of Ezo, was a battle in Hokkaido at Hakodate. I hope to go there. Maybe this summer.

 

  

Next we went to this museum for some drama airing right now about a samurai girl from that time period. Not totally exciting, but they put us on this cool television green screen with feudal Japan in the background. And after Sheena and I played with petals in the snow.

And then, the clouds parted. The gods answered my prayers or the power of positive thinking came through or maybe the clouds had just sleeted themselves out. Point is, suddenly it was the most beautiful day with the sun so bright and the sky so blue it alomost brought me to tears. I had been preparing to deal with a dreary grey sky but also hoping and imaging just the sky we got. It was perfect! Few things are quite as perfect as that afternoon spent under the clouds of pink beside that dazzling castle. The light was perfect, the sun, perfect, the sakura, the castle, the company the everything!!! Perfect!!! I just wanted to spin circles in the puddles and praise the gods for creating such a glorious moment.

And so, after a wonderful photo shoot it was time to begin returning south but not before our last stop. The best way I could possibly think to end the day was with a 1000 year old weeping cherry tree. It was magnificent even if we had lost the light by the time we arrived and I couldn’t help but wonder what sort of interesting people had been there before me. We had only a little time but I insisted in covering the circumference around it and climbed up to this crest of sakura trees catching the last rays of sun before it slipped behind the snowy mountains. It was incredible.

Thoroughly pleased with the day, and grateful even for the two hour delay for had that not happened we would have missed the blue sky at the castle, I grabbed a hurricane potato and some karage at a food stall and we made our way back to the bus. It was a long trek home to Fujiyoshida but I fell asleep smiling. And we all lived happily ever after, except my boots, which soaked through and died, and ended up in the garbage.

Konnichi wa Fujiyoshida

I bit belated of a Hello to my new town, or rather, city but here it is. We were off to a rocky start with some super cold days and lots of rain but it seems we have our footing now. Met with my new schools and while much bigger, I think we have hit it off. This year I only have two compared to the seven I have last year. And it's kinda nice to have more than one grocery and clothing store to choose from. Here are a few pictures from my phone of my new house, school and that magnificent mountain.

I've also been able to go on lots of little little adventures about town as the sakura blooms early and the warm days freckle the cold ones. I went to my favourite little shrine on a windy day that turned into a really cool rainstorm. There was sun and blue skies all around except this storm cloud overhead which showered on me in the whipping torrents of rain like a dragon god's rage. it was pretty awesome. And then it was blue skies again as quickly as the storm came up.

 

 

Fujiyoshida is also good at night. Something Otsuki kinda lacked unless you wanted to eat, which we often did. So one evening as a sat in my apartment I decided that a little adventure was in order. So, I went to another of my favourite shrines, the one on the hill with the pagoda to see the sakura with lanterns.

A third adventure took me to the north end of Kawaguchiko to try and get Fuji framed in sakura. It was  mostly a success but the blossoms haven't fully bloomed this year due to the warm weeks we had which abruptly turned cold... still made for some nice pictures.

I have apparently been exercising my camera a lot since moving here for I have a few more to show off to my older self who may have forgotten how beautiful this country was and how lucky I am to live here. I revisited the pagoda shrine again the week after the lantern to find most of the sakura was falling (even before fully blooming) and took some pictures then. Later, with the other Sarah, we went to Oshino and I was pleasantly surprised to find the long green banks of the river by the ponds was a bloom with sakura and daffodils!

 

 

And so, it had been quite easy to settle in, after some minor altercations with misfortune, when I live in such an amazing prefecture and especially Fujiyoshida which is always lovely for it's in the shadow of Mt. Fuji!

The only day of spring break

So Dad's gone home and I've moved to Fujiyoshida. Spring break was so busy what with travelling with Dad, packing, moving, paperwork, settling in, meeting new schools and company meetings that it hardly felt like a break at all. That's why when I saw that I actually had the first day off school I totally did the happy dance. It was such a beautiful warm day too. A perfect spring break day. Sheena, Rachel (the new Fujiyoshida ALT that joined us) and I went to Kofu to bask in the glory of peach blossoms. They are like cherry blossoms but pinker! 

 

After the first park we went to Kofu castle where I really wanted to get this shot of the castle park with Fuji in the background but the contrast was a bit off and it wasn't quite the photo of my dreams, still nice though.

Last we went to the fruits park where I had my one and only hanami session this yea under a weeping blossom tree. We hung out there for a long time soaking up the warmth. And while it's not visible in the picture really, the view was spectacular. The valley was carpeted in pink and in the distance behind the hills was Mt. Fuji.

 

Finally, we headed home, refreshed after a bit of spring and ready to start the new school year.