The long-awaited sakura (cherry blossom) season has come and gone in a flash in most parts of Japan. Only the northern region is still experiencing the pink wave around this time. Cherry blossoms bloomed and peaked earlier than ever recorded.
Unfortunately, people around the world couldn’t enjoy it due to the ongoing pandemic. Even in Japan, folks couldn’t enjoy hanami without putting themselves and others at risk.
Below are some of the best sakura pictures taken this year. They include the three-century-old cherry tree named Ushinshiro no Miwume Zakura in Shizuoka, Okayama’s Daigo Sakura with a trunk circumference over seven meters, Kyoto’s famous Gion Shirakawa street, Shiga Prefecture’s Mii-dera Buddhist Temple and a solitary but gorgeous shot from Iwate.
Okayama’s Daigo Sakura
醍醐桜と天の川。#醍醐桜 #天の川 pic.twitter.com/MtjOUEZthZ
— 藤原嘉騎 / Walt Disney Company とフォトグラファー契約 (@y0shiki9) March 28, 2021
醍醐桜と天の川。
“Daigo-Sakura and the Milky Way.”
Kyoto’s Shirakawa Street
祇園白川
ここは本当に圧巻の夜桜をみせてくれる。 pic.twitter.com/sE57U2qZPG— Iori Takano (@_iori_xx21) March 27, 2021
祇園白川
ここは本当に圧巻の夜桜をみせてくれる。
“Gion Shirakawa really shows us the best part of cherry blossoms at night.”
Shimada’s tea plantation
https://twitter.com/hirokingraphy/status/1375764850526187521?s=20
今日は“さくらの日”だそうです
僕の一番好きな桜を見てください
“Today is ‘Sakura Day.’
Look at my favorite cherry blossom.”
Shiga’s cherry blossom temple
天台寺門宗の総本山三井寺の観月舞台がとんでもないことになってます！県指定の文化財の内側を、所狭しと爆発する桜、桜、桜！なかなか移動も難しい状況ですが、せめて写真で！#滋賀 #桜 #大津 pic.twitter.com/5vMyYbcOv6
— 別所隆弘 / Takahiro Bessho (@TakahiroBessho) March 30, 2021
天台寺門宗の総本山三井寺の観月舞台がとんでもないことになってます！県指定の文化財の内側を、所狭しと爆発する桜、桜、桜！なかなか移動も難しい状況ですが、せめて写真で！
“The moon viewing stage of the Mii-Dera, the head temple of Tendai’s Jimon sect, is incredible! It’s an explosion of cherry blossom everywhere inside this narrow cultural property designated by the prefecture. The circumstances make it difficult to travel around, but at least [you can view them] in a photo!”
Iwate’s Koiwai Farm
小岩井農場の一本桜(岩手) pic.twitter.com/fmLbmxe0Wr
— きれいな風景～Have a break～ (@new_rakuen) March 31, 2021
小岩井農業の一本桜(岩手)
“One cherry tree at Koiwai Farm (Iwate)”
Vocabulary for cherry blossoms
Here is a beautiful Japanese idiom to remind us of the fleeting beauty of cherry blossoms:
- 三日見ぬ間の桜
Literally, “cherry blossoms after three days.” The idiom means a situation in which things evolve very quickly, very much like sakura bloom and fall in the blink of an eye.
Are you a cherry blossom lover? Study this quick vocabulary list so you can know what to talk about next season!
| Japanese | Romaji | English |
| 桜前線 | sakura zensen | The cherry blossom front |
| 開花前線 | kaika zen | Flower blossom front |
| 満開 | mankai | Full bloom |
| 朝桜 | asazakura | The view of cherry flowers’ in the morning dew |
| 夜桜 | yozakura | Viewing cherry blossoms at night |
| 花霞 | hanagasumi | Hazy blossom with cherry flowers appearing like a blurred mist |
| 花吹雪 | hanafubuki | Cherry blossom falling like a snowstorm with the wind |
| 桜雨 | sakura ame | Rain during the cherry blossom season, which scatters the blossoms away |
| 花散らしの雨になる | hanashirashi no ame ni naru | Start raining and scattering the blossoms away |
| 花筏 | hanaikada | Flower petals on the water |
| 葉桜 | hazakura | Fresh green leaves of a cherry tree whose blossom has gone, sign the cherry blossom season has ended |
More vocabulary
| Japanese | Romaji | English |
| 天の川 | ama no gawa | Milky Way |
| 圧巻 | akkan | The best part, the highlight of |
| だそうです | da sou desu | It seems |
| 一番好き | ichiban sukin | Favorite |
| 観月舞台 | mizuki butai | Moon viewing stage |
| とんでもないことになる | tondemonai koto ni naru | Become an incredible thing (most often used negatively to refer to something terrible or trouble) |
| 文化財 | bunkawai | Cultural Property of Japan |
