Blue Lotus has been writing about hanami (cherry blossom viewing) and it reminded me of something special and completely unexpected that had happened during our holiday to Japan. You see, cherry blossom trees are really beautiful and delicate, and while I really wanted to see some, I didn’t hold out much hope since we weren’t visiting during the optimum 2009 flowering months (late March/early April).

So imagine my surprise when we rounded a corner of a park in Ueno in early February to discover five professional-looking Japanese men snapping photographs of trees. As we walked closer, I suddenly realised they weren’t just any trees, they were flowering cherry blossom trees, with hundreds of pretty little delicate pink and white flowers blooming in amongst clusters of twigs and branches.

The trees had a mixture of full blooms, flowers that were just starting to open, and buds that were tightly closed. I hurridly snapped some close-up photos from a few angles and in retrospect, I wish I had taken some more time. The reason I felt I had to move quickly was because at this point, there were about ten of us, all trying to get photos and I didn’t want to, as they say, hog the trees.

I’ve never seen cherry blossoms close up before, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. At first I didn’t even realise they were cherry blossom trees! I was trying to figure out what the heck was so interesting about a bunch of trees that there would be five photographers all (politely) jostling for the best shot.

As we stood and watched, we noticed how the photographers would stand back and allow each other to get in there and take some photos. That’s something we saw a lot of in Japan – people would go out of their way to avoid walking through your photos, and would always offer to take your photo, snapping two just in case the first one didn’t turn out.

I remember being so thrilled to see cherry blossoms that afterwards, I was all grins. Our Japan holiday was full of unexpected surprises, from catching a glimpse of Mount Fuji to seeing cherry blossoms about a month before they were due to flower. It was hard walk away from the trees – I kept wanting to take “just one more photo” because I had a feeling this was the only opportunity we’d get to photograph them.

Japan itself is full of wonderful surprises. You’d be walking down a busy road, dodging bicycles and pedestrians, then turn a corner and find yourself in a beautiful serene park, crunching along a gravel path lined with benches, the peace and quiet almost making you forget you’re in such a busy country. If you looked to your left, you’d see a shrine; to your right would be someone sitting quietly with a book.

I really miss it. The serenity and friendliness. And reading Blue Lotus’ posts and seeing the photos she’s taken of the cherry blossoms in full bloom, I wish I was there to have a second shot at photographing them.

Maybe then I’d get a close-up in focus, dammit.

Edit to add: Lulu pointed out in the comments that these flowers are most likely ume, not cherry blossoms! Oh no! I was so certain they were cherry blossoms, but either way, they are certainly very gorgeous. I guess I will have to save cherry blossom viewing for my next trip to Japan!