The cold days of winter will soon be over. We soon will feel the warmth of sun again. After several months cocooning in thick jackets and dealing with the cold weather it’s just about time to wear light again. We all are looking forward to spring and embrace the warmth of the sun again. It’s also about time to see the flowers blossoming again.
We expected to see some flowers when we chose the date to fly to Japan. None ever know for sure when the flowers will come to bloom but at least we can always check the weather forecast. The forecast said the temperature would rise slowly then became really warm by end of February. It was good for us as Hanna is not accustomed to brutal winter days. So, we chose end of February as the departure date to Japan. This time we went to Japan as tourists, hunting early spring sakura. Last year, we went to Kawazu in Izu peninsula in mid February when the early spring sakura full bloomed. Kawazu Sakura usually comes to full bloom in mid to late February and last for a week. Lucky for us, this year the kawazu sakura fully bloomed even on March 1st.
This year we wanted to go to a closer place to see the pink sakura. There’s a place called Miura Kaigan in Kanagawa prefecture. It’s a home to early spring sakura. Miura Kaigan is a perfect place for travellers who do not want to travel too far from Tokyo to see Kawazu sakura. Miura Kaigan is easy to reach by train from Tokyo station and the ride lasts 1.5 hours only. Takes any JR train to Shinagawa station then change to Keikyu Limited Express train heading to Misakiguchi and get off at Miurakaigan station then you’re good to see kawazu sakura. It is not a long ride neither a long walk to view the kawazu sakura.
By the time we walked out from the station, the pink sakura were already fully bloomed. The main site to view the Kawazu Sakura however is located about 15 – 20 minutes walk from the station. It was easy to locate where the main attraction was at this time of the year. Simply follow along the crowd who walked at the same direction.
The main spot of Kawazu Sakura spanned along the right side of the street, colouring the pedestrian path with pink.The first point of picture taking is at the stairs on the opposite side of Kawazu Sakura. This spot gives a panorama view of the pink flowers.
After pictures taking, cross the street and stroll along around 1 kilometre where the Kawazu Sakura trees are. On the left side of the flowers is a high wire fence separating the pedestrian path with the railway. Taking picture of Kawazu Sakura, canola flowers and a passing train is part of photographers’ main intention visiting Miura Kaigan.
Before reaching the bridge, there’s a small path to Komatsugaike Pond where another group of Kawazu Sakura is located. Here too a spot that should not be missed. It took us 10 minutes walk from the pedestrian path to reach to this pond.
After spending enough time at the pond, we headed back to the main spot of Kawazu Sakura and walked to the bridge. There were quite number of photographers sat by bridge shoulder with their cameras fixed to tripods. They had been sitting there for how long we did not. For all we knew they were there to get picture of the passing red train. There would never be too many pictures for professional photographers so an hour or two would not matter for them.
We too spent a little bit of time on the bridge, trying to get the best shots of the red passing train. The trains passing by every 10 minutes or so but the red coloured train did not pass by.
It was a great opportunity for us to visit Miura Kaigan at this time of the year. We never thought it didn’t take that far to view Kawazu Sakura. With baby Hanna who was still suffering from jet lag, short distance travel was the best decision to make.
What flowers bloom in your city at this time of the year?
