Cherry Blossom Festival at Dam Park Ohno, Nantan City, Kyoto

Cherry trees beside Ohno Dam

I went to Cherry Blossom Festival (さくら祭り: Sakura Matsuri) at Dam Park Ohno with my friend on 17th April. Ohno Dam is in the mountains of Miyama Town of Nantan City*, located to the north of Kyoto City. It means that it is cooler than lower land like my town, so, we can enjoy them yet. We rode there because public transportation in this area was poor. It usually takes us about an hour and a half by car.

Before we reached Ohno, we dropped in at Woody Keihoku, one of the Roadside Stations (道の駅: Michi no eki) . If you drive a car in Japan, "Michi no eki" are very convenient. You can see them here and there along highways and trunk roads in suburbs or outskirts, and can rest there, also puchase special products of the distincts. I sometimes buy some rare, fresh vegetables at Woody Keihoku, but today, we viewed cherry blossoms there.

* Nantan is one of the cities of Kyoto Prefecture, too. It was newly born by the merger of several towns like Miyama Town in 2006, which had belonged to Kitakuwata District, Kyoto Pref. before.

The cherry trees were in full bloom

Somei Yoshino

A plum tree were in full bloom, too

Yukiyanagi, snow spirea blooms in the cherry blossom season

Beni Shidare

Some birds were coming

Cherry trees are planted along rivers and paths

After a break, we rode and reached at Dam Park Ohno. According to its webpage, there must have been some small events, but we could not see them in our area. Instead, we enjoyed lots of blossoms as we like. There were people playing some sports, picnicing, walking and fishing under much blossoms in full bloom. 

Some trees were blooming at mountainside

Lots of blossom

Koinobori, carp streamers for Boys' Festival on 5th May

Ohno Dam

Mitsuba Tsutsuji, a kind of azaleas
I often see this variety in the mountains of Kyoto at this season

From a small arbor

Thank you for reading !

Benishidare Concert in Heian Jingu 2011

Sakura, or cherry blossoms are the most beloved flowers among Japanese people, as you know. We usually go hanami (a woman would usually say "ohanami", a more elegant word), or cherry blossom viewing in some parks and also on the riversides and roadsides from 25th March to 10th April around. They fall so soon that we must always take care with the forecast of blooming which TV news and papers announce every day in spring. We enjoy to see cherry blossoms blooming and falling and to sometimes imagine various kinds of waka poetry from them so that we feel human's encounter, parting and evanescent life.

I went hanami with my friend to Heian Jingu Shrine in the evening on 10th April. It specially shows us cherry blossoms lighted up in modest music after daytime on only few days of this season every year. This is the best place and event of all that I have experienced for cherry blossom viewing, because the variety is quite different from the usual blossoms, and the garden is superb.

We usually love only one variety of sakura named Somei Yoshino the most which blooms without any leaves. When you come to Japan in early spring, you can enjoy to view its single, very pale pink petals blooming here and there. However, there are a lot of Beni Shidare in the garden of Heian Jingu Shrine. We were able to admire the other beauty of cherry blossoms with their branches weeping and their double, deep pink petals open.

It was Ogawa Jihee XII (1860-1933) called Ueji who dealed with these magnificent but delicate blossoms very well. He is a well-known garden designer who laid out Maruyama Koen Park, the garden of Murin'an Villa and so on. He offered this sacred garden, or Shin'en for two Iimperial Deities of this shrine in 1895.

Entrance to Shin'en

Heian Jingu Shrine was built in 1895 to commemorate the transfer of the capital from Nara to Kyoto 1100 years before. People in Kyoto was disappointed that the Emperor Meiji moved from their town to Tokyo, which meant they lost their status of the capital dwellers at that time. Instead of it, this grand shrine has consoled them.

Beni Shidare Yae Zakura

Beni Shidare Yae Zakura
This cherry tree was presented by Endo Yoji, the Mayor of Sendai in 1895, when Heian Jingu Shrine was build. Originally, it was called "Ito Zakura", or a thread cherry tree, kept in Konoe Family, one of the highest aristocrats in Kyoto, but the Lord of the Tsugaru Clan took and grew it into his domain in Aomori Prefecture long time ago. So, it sometimes called "Satogaeri Zakura", or the returened cherry tree.
Tanizaki Jun'ichiro, a famous novelist, wrote about this tree in his work of "Sasame Yuki". We regard it as a symbolic cherry tree of the spring of Kyoto, and is the most popular here of Shin'en.

The total views of Beni Shidare

Weeping trees are shaped with trellis made of bamboo

Blossoms appear in light

They are reflected in the water, too

Ueji was a master garden designer of water flow from the canal of Lake Biwa. This canal was too, new built as well at that time. He often used it in his works. We also enjoyed reflected blossoms in the pond.

Splendid tunnel filled with Beni Shidare

Branches are weeping

This is Yamazakura,
whose purity touches me a lot

Ueji knew the true beauty of sakura. A few Yamazakura touched us deeply after we viewed much of gorgeous Beni Shidare. Yamazakura is one of the simplest kind of sakura. Its petals are single and very pale pink, its branches are not weeping and they blooms with several leaves. However, the ancient people admired it the most in waka poetry. I used to think of it as the lack of improvement, but I recognized for the first time how beautiful this variety was. He might mixed a few Yamazakura into Beni Shidare on purpose. We began to see more again, after a breath with this pure blossom.

the Moon

A small concert is held at the guesthouse
It is reflected in water with Beni Shidare

The two Deities are the Emperor Kanmu (reigned 781-806) who relocate the capital to Kyoto in 894, and the Emperor Komei (reigned 1846-1867) who prepared to finish the Edo period in 1867.

It took us 2000 yen, but it was well worth the fee.





Date: 7th-10th April*
Time: 6:15 p.m.-9:00 p.m. (last entrance 8:30 p.m.)
Fee: 2000 yen
Access: 10 minutes' walk from the Higashiyama Station of Subway Tozai Line

*It changes every year, please reffer the following URL;
http://www.heianjingu.or.jp/index_e.html




Thank you very much for reading and I am sorry for my poor English!