Globetrotters Monthly Challenge

Meeting Cherry Blossoms In Central Japan

My revenge travel with cherry blossoms

Prettier than pink, sparkling than white/ Photo by the Author

Did I end up going to Japan?

Yup! My travel plan for the year became a reality.

Sometimes it’s better to have an average-sized dream than to have a big one and be frustrated.

Japan is only four hours away from the Philippines. I have travel stamps in my passport and that makes all the processes I have to go through as a Filipino traveler a lot easier. ( except the budgeting part)

Did I end up going to the places I planned to be in Japan? Nope.

None of them to say the least. Blame it on my ever-changing mind, hate-of-crowd-attitude, videos I had watched on YouTube and my frugality.

The bottom line. I asked myself: what do I really want? To see snow ( I have seen snow many times) or to see cherry blossoms for the first time? I want both.

I am not a drama queen but I felt it was dramatic to be in Japan on the last day of Winter and on the first day of Spring. But the forecast for the first bloom of cherry blossoms for most of the prefectures was beyond those dates. I needed some kind of divine intervention.

Heaven was so good to me. I know I’m not among the favorites but heaven knows better and became my “partner in crime” in my revenge travel.

Why? First, Sakura came earlier than the forecast. Second, there’s still snow somewhere out there that is near and unfamiliar.

I’m not an emotional person but this one made me emotional: I had both the snow and the cherry blossom.

Finally, we’re together / Photo by the Author

Where in Japan did I ended up? Nagoya was my entry and exit point. I’ve spent half of my trip there, the last day of winter in Shirawakago, the first day of spring in Takayama in Gifu Prefecture and the rest in Nagiso in Nagano Prefecture.

It feels like Spring.

When I arrived, Nagoya was still in the last days of winter. I had seen a video of a Japanese vlogger visiting a shrine for the cherry blossom. That’s supposed to be my first destination. But when I went out of the train station, I already saw a tree. That made my day. I had a red-eye flight.

My first cherry blossom /Photo by the Author

I was halfway for the shrine but my feet were screaming, so I settled on the fact that I should be contented with what I had.

More Cherry Blossoms

The next time I saw cherry blossoms was when I returned to Nagoya from Gifu. Shirawakago was still in winter mode. Takayama was half-winter and half-spring.

This photo may seem to be out of place from the cherry blossom photos but worth sharing. A sweet gesture at the entrance of the Takayama train station. /Photo by the Author

And both have stories to tell.

The day after Takayama

It was a battle between Inuyama Castle and Gifu Castle. Inuyama is nearer, it won. The best part is, it did not disappoint.

At Inuyama/Photo by the Author

The road to Inuyama Castle/Photo by the Author

What a strange feeling to be alive underneath cherry blossoms…..Kobayashi Issa

Photo by the Author

Cherry blossoms are short-lived once they bloom. That’s why they symbolize the impermanence and temporary nature of life.

Though short-lived, they bloom at the right time, the beginning of spring. This year, they came earlier than the forecast dates. More excited than we are?

Pink cherry blossoms are associated with both platonic and romantic love, affection and good health.

Just a hand away/ though some things in life are just a hand away, so near and yet so far/Photo by the Author

White cherry blossoms are associated with hope, innocence, purity and rebirth.

This made me pondered the thoughts of how temporary and short life is. If I will not travel now and be affected by the negativities and antagonists of life, when will I? Just pack and leave and no turning back, no ifs and buts. Go!!

More cherry blossoms

I told myself not to be greedy with cherry blossoms. Meeting them twice is more than enough. But why end my journey with twice when I can have more?

So…

At Noritake Garden in Nagoya /Photo by the Author

At Nagoya Castle / Photo by the Author

I’m supposed to visit Higashiyama Park but when I saw them on the side street I changed my mind and saved myself ¥500 entrance fee😀/ Photo by the Author

I wasn’t able to stay longer and waited for their full bloom but it doesn’t matter. I went to Nagoya which is not the most popular place to be for Sakura season. But hey! It’s not overcrowded there. Most of the time it’s just me and the cherry blossoms. And that made my meetings with them more meaningful.

All of us blossom when we feel loved and wither when we do not feel loved.” – Gary Chapman

That’s me/ The Author mastering the art of selfie

When we travel, we blossom like flowers because we feel that life loves us and we love life. When we blossomed, hope overflows as if telling us to hang in there when the world is too much to handle. And we wither when life is spent running in circles.

Experience the magic of the Sakura season through the words of Vincent Van Patten

The Magic of Hanami: Japan’s Deeply Rooted Spring Tradition

and Darren Weir

In Search Of Sakura In Japan