So, unlike yesterday's gloom and rain, today was clear and sunny. The cherry blossoms are not yet near full, and they don't seem to be particularly good this year anyway (we had an extended cold snap just as they were starting to blossom, which seems to have messed them up in varying ways), but nevertheless, I took the tripod and headed out for the last evening of the local cherry-blossom lightup.

Last year I took shots from closer to my place, but this year I wanted to try the long view, from where the canal bends, so I made the [...]

The shot above is pretty horrendous, of course, but that's expected at 1/6th second handheld, freestanding, while on a bridge that quivers as people and vehicles pass. It pretty much reflects the mood for the cherry blossoms in Kyoto this year.

We were on track for a slightly early season, but just after some of the trees started to flower, we were hit with a long cold snap that continues, so the blossoms have been struggling. The cherry-blossom lightup that my area of Kyoto holds every year is scheduled for just three days this year (yesterday, today, and tomorrow), but [...]

This year's cherry blossom season in Kyoto is turning out quite odd, or, at least it seem so to my limited experience. Last week, matching up how the blossoms were shaping up compared to how they were in the month-long cherry-blossom timelapse I posted last year, it seemed that this year was a couple of days ahead, and indeed, one of the trees outside my window is getting full of blossoms.

But I was out and about quite a bit today, and from what I could tell, most trees were nowhere near as far along. Some trees had no blossoms [...]

So, I've still got my cold, although it's finally starting to get better. Hence, fairly light posts lately, and this one is no exception. It's a collection of photos from the same April 5th stroll last year that produced Cherry-Blossom Full Bloom Hits Kyoto and Cherry-Blossom Joie de Vivre in Kyoto, as well as the "darker-side" post, The Hanami was Nice, But.... It was a fruitful day, so here are a few more pictures that will serve as a Cherry-Blossom Preview.

The area near my place is glorious during cherry-blossom season, but the ugly cinderblock wall often spoiled photos, so [...]

Anthony had a school event near the Kitano Tenmangu shrine three miles away toward the north-west of town, so I took the opportunity to stop in with the camera for a few minutes. The shrine is famous for its collection of plum trees that blossom in pure whites and deep, vivid pinks, both due to its breadth (50 varieties) and scale (2,000 trees).

The shrine dates from 947, although their February 25th Plum Blossom Festival dates back only to 1109. This year will be the 900th anniversary.

Today's visit was my second. I wrote about my first trip in two [...]