{"id":411,"date":"2007-04-03T00:45:48","date_gmt":"2007-04-02T15:45:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2007-04-03\/411"},"modified":"2007-04-10T00:20:02","modified_gmt":"2007-04-09T15:20:02","slug":"cherry-blossoms-in-the-middle-of-three-rivers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2007-04-03\/411","title":{"rendered":"Cherry Blossoms in the Middle of Three Rivers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n

As part of the process of renewing my visa to stay in Japan, I had to<\/span>\nmake an unplanned trip to Hirakata City Hall (about an hour's drive south)\nto pick up a copy<\/span> of Fumie's koseki<\/i><\/a> (family\nregistry). On the way<\/span> back, I came across<\/span> the Yodogawa Kasen Koen<\/a><\/i>,\nthe Yodogawa River “Rivers Park” in Yawata City (Kyoto\nPrefecture), a mile<\/span>-long raised berm in the middle of where three rivers\njoin to create the Yodogawa River (which empties into Osaka Bay twenty\nmiles later, a good<\/span> mile in width by that point).<\/p>\n\n

The park — the mile-long raised berm — is lined with\nhundreds of cherry trees along its entire length, making it a most<\/span> pleasant\nplace for a stroll.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

<\/a>Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f\/2.8 @ 55mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>500 sec, f\/4.5, ISO 250 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>Yodogawa River “Rivers Park”<\/span><\/div>\n\n

Photographically speaking, it wasn't a great<\/span> day (it was exceptionally\nhazy, and the blossoms were just getting started), but it was short-sleeves\nwarm, people were polite and relatively few, the air was not filled with\nalcohol, smoke, and drunken obnoxious laughter, there was no garbage, and\noverall, it was generally just really pleasant<\/i>.<\/p>\n\n

(Viewing the map link under any picture, you'll see the satellite photo\nof where it was taken, but you won't see the path on the raised berm\nbecause it's completely obscured by the trees.)<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f\/2.8 @ 55mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>100 sec, f\/9, ISO 250 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>North Bank of the Berm<\/span><\/div>\n\n

The north bank was pretty much as you see it above. It went like<\/span> that for most of the mile.<\/p>\n\n

On the south bank, people enjoyed hanami<\/a><\/i> (cherry-blossom-viewing picnics)<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f\/2.8 @ 17mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>160 sec, f\/11, ISO 250 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>Hanami<\/i> on the South Bank<\/span><\/div>\n\n

In some of the shots above it might seem as if the blossoms are filling\nout, but they're just getting going, as the branch in the next picture is\ntypical of the current status of these trees.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f\/2.8 @ 38mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>640 sec, f\/8, ISO 250 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>One out of 18 (so far)<\/span><\/div>\n\n

These trees were transplanted here from Tokyo, sometime during the Edo period<\/a> (from 1603 to\nabout 1867), so they're at least 150 years old, and perhaps much older.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f\/2.8 @ 55mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>160 sec, f\/7.1, ISO 250 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>Hanami<\/a><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n\n

When I first ventured down the path, I had no<\/span> idea what it was nor how\nlong it was. One of the<\/span> first things I found<\/span> was a semi<\/span>-permanent toilet\nand some unsightly signs nestled under the blossoms.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f\/2.8 @ 23mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>800 sec, f\/2.8, ISO 100 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n\n

When this was the first thing I saw,<\/span> I rolled<\/span> my eyes, thinking that it\nwas going to be a typically\nugly cherry-blossom-viewing scene<\/a>, filled with smoke, garbage, gaudy\nstands selling crap, and lots and lots of loud, drunk people. To my great<\/span>\nsurprise and greater appreciation, it turned out to be wonderful and, well,\nreally pleasant<\/b>.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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).<\/p>

The park -- the mile-long raised berm [...]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,2,6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/411"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=411"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/411\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=411"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=411"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=411"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}