Today, the 19th, is a bit mild. The morning dropped to around 2°C, making it hard to leave the house, but by 2 p.m. the air was still chilly while the temperature had climbed to 12.4°C.
Drawn out by the weather, I stepped out of Palaceside Building and found Kawazu cherry blossoms beginning to open in the garden in front of neighboring Marubeni headquarters, across Kasuga-dori to the east—photo; Palaceside Building is visible beyond. Famous as an early-blooming cherry, Kawazu-zakura can appear as early as January, so this year may be a little late. At the start of the week the buds had swelled nicely; when I passed on Tuesday at noon a few flowers had opened, and today, as the photo shows, a good many have burst into bloom. Overall they are perhaps one or two tenths open—still plenty to come—but unlike Somei-yoshino, which vanishes in a blink, Kawazu-zakura can be enjoyed for about a month, so they will brighten the eyes of office workers strolling this neighborhood for a while yet.
The Kawazu-zakura that becomes a topic every year at this season was discovered by chance around 1955 in Kawazu Town, Shizuoka Prefecture, then propagated and planted across the country. It is thought to be a natural cross between an early-blooming Oshima-zakura strain and a Higan-zakura strain, and is known for a deeper pink than Somei-yoshino.
Kawazu Town has about 8,000 Kawazu-zakura trees. From February 10 the “Kawazu Cherry Blossom Festival” runs through March 10, with local farm produce and seafood stalls, illuminated cherry-lined streets, and on weekends events such as commemorative photos with “the Dancer of Izu.”
There are famous Kawazu-zakura spots near Tokyo as well. Here are a few.
・Miura Coast (Miura City, Kanagawa Prefecture)—About 1,000 trees line roughly one kilometer along the tracks from Keikyu Miura-Kaigan Station to Komatsugaike Park; the “Miura Coast Cherry Blossom Festival” runs through March 15.
・Matsuda-yama (Matsuda Town, Ashigarakami District, Kanagawa Prefecture)—About 260 trees on the slope where Matsudayama Herb Garden sits; the “Matsuda Cherry Blossom Festival” through March 15.
・Hota River (Kyonan Town, Awa District, Chiba Prefecture)—About 600 trees along 3.5 km of the riverbank; on March 7 the “Hota River Yoritomo Cherry Village Bamboo Lantern Festival” was held. “Yoritomo-zakura” is a nickname linked to the tale of Minamoto no Yoritomo, defeated at the Battle of Ishibashiyama, who landed at Ryujima Coast in the town and set out to rebuild his fortunes.
・Old Nakagawa (Hirai, Edogawa Ward)—A row of Kawazu-zakura near Komatsugawa Pumping Station opposite Kameido Park; upstream from the Kinoshita River Drainage Pump Station to Yurinoki Bridge (Higashi-Sumida, Sumida Ward) there are Kawazu-zakura as well.
Peak viewing at all of these seems likely this weekend through next. If you want an early taste of spring, why not go take a look?