As part of the process of renewing my visa to stay in Japan, I had to make an unplanned trip to Hirakata City Hall (about an hour's drive south) to pick up a copy of Fumie's koseki (family registry). On the way back, I came across the Yodogawa Kasen Koen, the Yodogawa River “Rivers Park” in Yawata City (Kyoto Prefecture), a mile-long raised berm in the middle of where three rivers join to create the Yodogawa River (which empties into Osaka Bay twenty miles later, a good mile in width by that point).

The park — the mile-long raised berm — is lined with hundreds of cherry trees along its entire length, making it a most pleasant place for a stroll.

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f/2.8 @ 55mm — ¹/500 sec, f/4.5, ISO 250 — map & image data — nearby photos
Yodogawa River “Rivers Park”

Photographically speaking, it wasn't a great day (it was exceptionally hazy, and the blossoms were just getting started), but it was short-sleeves warm, people were polite and relatively few, the air was not filled with alcohol, smoke, and drunken obnoxious laughter, there was no garbage, and overall, it was generally just really pleasant.

(Viewing the map link under any picture, you'll see the satellite photo of where it was taken, but you won't see the path on the raised berm because it's completely obscured by the trees.)

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f/2.8 @ 55mm — ¹/100 sec, f/9, ISO 250 — map & image data — nearby photos
North Bank of the Berm

The north bank was pretty much as you see it above. It went like that for most of the mile.

On the south bank, people enjoyed hanami (cherry-blossom-viewing picnics)

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f/2.8 @ 17mm — ¹/160 sec, f/11, ISO 250 — map & image data — nearby photos
Hanami on the South Bank

In some of the shots above it might seem as if the blossoms are filling out, but they're just getting going, as the branch in the next picture is typical of the current status of these trees.

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f/2.8 @ 38mm — ¹/640 sec, f/8, ISO 250 — map & image data — nearby photos
One out of 18 (so far)

These trees were transplanted here from Tokyo, sometime during the Edo period (from 1603 to about 1867), so they're at least 150 years old, and perhaps much older.

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f/2.8 @ 55mm — ¹/160 sec, f/7.1, ISO 250 — map & image data — nearby photos
Hanami

When I first ventured down the path, I had no idea what it was nor how long it was. One of the first things I found was a semi-permanent toilet and some unsightly signs nestled under the blossoms.

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f/2.8 @ 23mm — ¹/800 sec, f/2.8, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos

When this was the first thing I saw, I rolled my eyes, thinking that it was going to be a typically ugly cherry-blossom-viewing scene, filled with smoke, garbage, gaudy stands selling crap, and lots and lots of loud, drunk people. To my great surprise and greater appreciation, it turned out to be wonderful and, well, really pleasant.