Sakura Sakura on the Shakuhachi

Played Sakura Sakura under our Somei Yoshino Sakura tree with the birds chirping along...  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzfcuyIpoTc

2026 Somei Yoshino Sakura blooms

Our Somei Yoshino Sakura tree in full bloom. 
 うちのソメイヨシノの満開です。

Sakuras at the hillsides...

Sakuras again??

Thanks to the previous owner for the 'strategic' positioning of our house, we are privileged to view wild sakuras blooming on the hillsides, without having to do much of a walk...

This picture was taken in the morning, when the sun was lighting up the hillsides...

The pond (in the middle) is used for irrigating paddy fields... it is one of about 15,000 such ponds found in Kagawa Prefecture...

A shot of our 'inner' garden... see the goldfish pond (dug by yours truly) in the foreground? 

My sweeto haato was very excited upon seeing this rainbow-like lining...

Throughout the six years we have been here, this was the first time for us to see such a phenomenon...

This is another lovely scene that we enjoy...

The terraced fields provide me with lots of photo opportunities throughout the seasons...

Moved the camera slightly and we get another scene...

This is a rather unusual wild sakura...

The flowers being whitish compared to the somewhat pinkish others...

And when the petals begin to fall... it is time to catch them floating at the pond water surface...

See here for close-up shots of the blooms...

Sakuras in full glory...

The weekend of 14th and 15th April was pure bliss...

Our Somei-yoshino sakura tree, in full bloom... and cloudless blue skies in the backdrop...

This angle probably captivates me the most...   

But this angle too, is equally nice...

Move a few steps, and we see onions and rape flowers in the field...

Still, the water body beckons...

Now, my missus says the top picture is the best...

and I wouldn't argue with that either...

The Somei-yoshino sakura is purportedly the most popular sakura in all Japan...

It is a hybrid between two (wild) species, the Oshima sakura (found around Izu area) and the Ezo-higan sakura (found in Hokkaido)...