Cherry Blossom Season! Himeji Castle

I don't think words can even begin to describe how incredible Spring has been so far in Japan! It is such a relief to actually be warm for once (which is now in the mid 60's for me). Everything you've ever heard about cherry blossom season in Japan is true: they are absolutely phenomenal!

I've been doing a lot of travelling this week to experience the blossoms, and I have taken many photos! I'll sort them by locations, within different posts; all of these photos have been taken between March 29th and April 2nd. I still have some more trips planned for spring vacation, but I'm taking advantage of my first restful evening in the last week.

The scaffolding is coming down fast at Himeji Castle! Sometimes you can see the castle peeking through the steel beams, and it still manages to look impressive despite the construction surrounding it. I've visited it twice so far this last week: on one day it was a bit rainy, and today it was just a bit cloudy instead. The castle grounds are filled to the brim with people picnicking and enjoying the cherry blossoms! And there's been a lot of weddings taking advantage of the beautiful scenery (and of which I, politely, didn't take photos of).

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Shinzaike Honcho Festival, Friendship Festival, and the Countryside!

Lots of photos and a few videos incoming! The Shinzaike Honcho Festival was the local neighborhood festival. The shrine was just down the street from Shirasagi, and all of us ALT's walked to it. It was a lot of fun! Three other neighborhoods were also having their festivals at the same time, which meant that we ran into their portable shrines along the way now and then. Everything culminated at the park on top of the hill next to Shirasagi, with performances by the kids and some portable shrine "dancing." The portable shrine was alternately carried and pushed/pulled along the route we took, which circled through most of the area around the Shinzaike Honcho main street. We marched in lines behind the portable shrine, chanting "Yo Ya Sa" along the way (the equivalent of "heave ho!"). The entrance to the shrine. (^ Some detailed photos of the portable shrine. ^) (A lion dance performance at the start of the festival.) ...

Scarecrows and Swordsmen Make for an Exciting Weekend!

This weekend I had two consecutive day trips! On Saturday, November 9th, I went to Aioi to watch a swordsmith make a katana and viewed the Scarecrow Festival; I also went on a bit of a hike, and visited an art museum! Aioi was about an hour away from Shirasagi by car. It was at a higher altitude, so it was a bit chilly in the morning. Once the sun came out, though, it got much more comfortable! The autumn leaves were absolutely stunning; there's nothing quite like seeing mountainsides dotted with colorful trees! The entrance to a main area of Aioi. The view from the window of the smithy. The swordsmith at work! He was a junior apprentice, which meant he had to do all the work himself, using this machine to pound the steel. Apparently the grand masters are allowed to have apprentices pound the steel manually for them. A pond outside the smithy! A watermill fed into it. An ivy-covered house! Starting a hike to view a shrine in ...

Autumn Leaves and Castle Cats

Here's a bunch of long overdue photos from the last two weeks! The autumn leaves have been absolutely stunning! The mountainsides are turning all sorts of colors, which makes them even more stunning than usual. I did my best to photograph the one that you can see from Shirasagi's garden, which is right outside of my apartment. The leaves are finally starting to fall from most of the trees these days, but the colors were beautiful while they lasted! Below are a bunch of photos of the bike paths next to the Himeji Castle Moat, which were surrounded by trees in stunning shades of red and gold. This is definitely the scenic route to get to downtown in Himeji! Unfortunately, I'm still not quite sure of all of the twists and turns through neighborhoods that it involves to get to the back entrance of this pathway, but once I'm on it I can orient myself via the castle. This area is always full of joggers, bikers, and... cats. Stray cats, for t...

Daley-sensei's Adventures in Himeji, Japan.

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