Today\u00a0our little group will be traveling from Tokyo in central Japan, via bullet train to Hiroshima in in southwestern Japan, thence continuing via ferry boat to Miyajima. \u00a0Thing is, we don’t board the train until a couple of hours after breakfast…<\/p>\n

So…<\/h3>\n

…we arose early (yawn) and headed out to Chidorigafuchi Park \u00a0(“Chee-dory-gah-foochee” was my best guess) well before breakfast to see if we could find some developed cherry blossoms to take a couple of pics of. \u00a0Sakura only occurs for around 10 days to two weeks in the Spring of each year. \u00a0 Planning a trip to Japan only for the cherry blossoms can be a real “crap-shoot” depending on the weather. \u00a0The weeks just prior to our arrival had been a bit cool, and that’s why the blossoms weren’t quite at peak.<\/p>\n

\u00a0After a brief subway ride, we pop our heads up above ground like prairie dogs to find some really pretty cherry trees, backlit by the rising sun. \u00a0No pun intended.<\/p>\n

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As we walked down the sidewalk and around a corner, a really nice view of the park appeared. \u00a0Yay. \u00a0My sleepy mode is turning to excitement. \u00a0This little side-trip may well\u00a0pay off with a couple of good images.<\/p>\n

The waterway in these images is the moat that surrounds the grounds of the Imperial Palace<\/p>\n

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These tree’s buds are still several days away from peak development, but still quite breathtaking.<\/p>\n

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As our little group dispersed to do their own things, I was left alone with my thoughts. \u00a0I found a place to sit down and pondered how completely this park was able to shut out the commotion, noise, and the orderly chaos of Tokyo.\u00a0\u00a0 I channeled\u00a0quiet and imagined solitude for a few peaceful moments. \u00a0Soft music was provided by the birds, joyfully singing their hearts out\u00a0in celebration of the gift of another day of life.
\nI took a few more solitary moments to be thankful that I, too, was experiencing one more sparkling new day of life. \u00a0 My old body gets tired much more quickly that it used to, and I experience pain every single day, but all-in-all…<\/p>\n

…it’s a good day to be alive.<\/h3>\n

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<\/p>\n

Rowboats are tied up, waiting for long lines of sweethearts to begin forming just prior to the opening of business at 11am. \u00a0During “the season” (Sakura), these boats rent for about 800 yen ($8 usd) per 30 minutes.<\/p>\n

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<\/p>\n

This Japanese stranger\u00a0and I were both quietly standing alone, lost in our own thoughts, staring at the vista across the moat.
\nWe both happened to turn at the same time and our eyes met.
\nWe both reacted instantaneously by raising\u00a0our cameras and taking each other’s picture. \u00a0Two photographers, from opposite sides of the world, bonded as friends in that instant, without exchanging a single word.<\/p>\n

There are lots of differences between the Japanese and we americans.\u00a0\u00a0But, on the other hand, we’re also so\u00a0very similar\u00a0at the same time. \u00a0I celebrate both our similarities and our differences.<\/p>\n

The time was nigh for our train trip to Hiroshima, but just before we ran for the subway, I looked down and shot one last image:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

This image is a nice note to end on. \u00a0See you in Miyajima.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today\u00a0our little group will be traveling from Tokyo in central Japan, via bullet train to Hiroshima in in southwestern Japan, thence continuing via ferry boat to Miyajima. \u00a0Thing is, we don’t board the train until a couple of hours after breakfast… So… …we arose early (yawn) and headed out to Chidorigafuchi Park \u00a0(“Chee-dory-gah-foochee” was my … <\/p>\n

Read more “Sakura in Japan – An early morning walk in the park”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7470,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/timdurhamphotography.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7471"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/timdurhamphotography.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/timdurhamphotography.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/timdurhamphotography.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/timdurhamphotography.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7471"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"http:\/\/timdurhamphotography.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7471\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7552,"href":"http:\/\/timdurhamphotography.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7471\/revisions\/7552"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/timdurhamphotography.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7470"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/timdurhamphotography.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7471"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/timdurhamphotography.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7471"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/timdurhamphotography.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7471"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}