Cherry blossom

By some planning but also with a lot of luck our trip has coincided with the cherry blossom in full bloom. Ryan especially is thrilled to see it;

We do make fun of it saying "oooh cherry blossom" every time we see another tree but it is beautiful and we have taken loads of photos. You can track the progress of blossoming trees throughout the country online and there is also a website with advice about how to have the traditional picnic under the trees. We heard tannoy annoucements about the time picnics had to end. There were lots of young girls dressed up in kimonos presumably the 'thing to do' when visiting the blossom areas.