Biking and Hiking in Okutama

Bessa came with me for a bike ride and a hike up to some waterfalls in Okutama. It was too cold to swim but we did have a paddle (totally froze our feet).

The final sakura post...

Hanami with friends in Yoyogi park. Along with thousands of other people, I've never seen anything like it...

Yet more Sakura...

With bonus Alice and Spiderman...

Sakura in Ueno Park

Next, I moved on to Ueno Park which had some great little stalls for food and random second hand stuff...

Sakura in Naka-meguro

Last year the sakura bloomed unusually early and was at it's best within days of my landing. Consequently I didn't actually get any photos. I had no idea where to go to see it or when exactly would be the best time to go out and shoot, so really you could say that this year was my first hanami in Japan. It's safe to say I made up for last year, starting in Naka-meguro....


Setting off earlier in the morning makes for unusually quiet trains...